Volunteer Training:

Shifting to a Task-Based Training Culture

Preparing volunteers with the information and skills they need to successfully educate, assist, and counsel clients of all ages--including Medicare beneficiaries--is a difficult task. There are so many complex health needs, so much Medicare knowledge to learn, and so much at stake. That is why Washington State’s SHIP program, Statewide Health Insurance Benefits Advisors (SHIBA) HelpLine, is shifting from a volunteer training culture that centers around content knowledge to one that trains volunteers based on the tasks of their volunteer roles. 

Tobi Johnson, Director of Washington State’s SHIBA HelpLine, and Audrey Pitchford, SHIBA’s Curriculum Developer, delivered a presentation on SHIBA's shift to a task-based training culture at the SHIP conference in May. In case you missed it, Audrey has described SHIBA’s evolving volunteer training program and some of the lessons they’ve learned along the way in the following Best Practice package:

• Q&A: Audrey Pitchford, SHIBA's Curriculum Developer
• Presentation: Learning by Doing - Moving from a Knowledge-based to a Task-based Volunteer Training Culture
  
  
• Model: Task Analysis, Long-Term Care Counseling
• Model: Training Goals, Long-Term Care Counseling
  
  
• Tool: Volunteer Self-Discovery Quiz
• Tool: Long-Term Care Counseling Steps Quick Reference Card 
• Workbook: Long-Term Care Options
• Tool: Training Feedback Form