Abstract
This project was a collaborative effort in which the work and decision making was equally shared by the researchers. Resident advocacy is a role in which several facets of care are embedded. The research conducted considered the different foundational aspects of the business model, social service model and medical model in the creation of a handbook. The models typically embrace opposite philosophies, which create an adversarial environment. Research was conducted via a survey method among the 26 skilled nursing facilities located in San Joaquin County as well as 28 volunteer Ombudsman serving the same county. Of those invited to participate a total of 21 completed surveys were collected from volunteer ombudsman, 12 from Directors of Nursing, and 15 from facility administrators. By researching common themes among the three models an advocacy handbook was created that integrated each disciplines foundational philosophies in a meaningful way.