Introduction

Care Team Ministry
Replication Education Module

Background on Care Team
   Concept Development
History of Care Team Ministry
Definitions
Description and Parameters
Where Can Care Team Ministry
    Be Established?
How Do Teams Work?
Why Only 1-2 Hours?
Referrals
Calling Volunteers
Risk Management/Background
    Checks
Training
Care Team Established
Support of Volunteers
Ongoing Reporting
Cycle of Care Teams
Lessons Learned
Forming a Care Team Ministry -
    How to Get Started
Orientation for Organizations:
    Step 1, 2, 3
Media Information
Research & Resources
Conclusion and Sending Forth
Care Team Ministry Forms

Care Team Ministry
Volunteer Guidebook

Where Can Care Team Ministry Be Established?

The Normandale Care Team Ministry approach is a simple ministry. It can be established in both faith-based and secular settings.

In a faith community setting, Care Team Ministry strengthens the fabric of the faith community as the seniors’ needs are recognized and volunteers from the faith community help meet these needs. This helps maintain an often important connection in the senior’s life—that connection with his/her faith community. For example, many of the seniors served by Normandale’s Care Team Ministry have been members of Normandale Lutheran Church for decades. It is important to them to keep ties with their “church home.” From the perspective of the pastors, visitation pastors, and lay ministers, these “shut-in” seniors are on the “radar screen” when Care Team Ministry is in place. The Care Team volunteers keep the Care Team Ministry Coordinator informed of visible changes in the senior. The Coordinator then contacts the family caregiver if changes are of concern. The Coordinator can also determines when it is appropriate to inform a pastor of changes that might increase the church’s outreach to the senior.

Care Team Ministry is equally effective in a small faith community setting as well as a large faith community setting. Normandale has replicated Care Team Ministry in faith communities with memberships of less than 600 to churches with memberships of more than 6000.

In a senior residential community, the Care Team Ministry can help new residents adjust to their new home. The new resident usually goes through a period of transition—not only in place of residence, but often also in daily living patterns, lifestyle, social network, and community. The Care Team volunteers can be recruited from the senior’s residence/facility, the surrounding neighborhood, or a local church/synagogue/mosque and the volunteers are matched with new residents.

Normandale has had good success in working with an assisted living facility for several years to organize a Care Team Ministry program there. The facility now has over 11 Care Team volunteers and has also developed a New Residents Orientation program, which was an outgrowth of the Care Team work.