HONESDALE, PA — Sometimes, the best help you can offer someone is giving them the support they need to help themselves. 

That’s the premise behind a program for Pennsylvania’s long-term care facilities, called Pennsylvania’s Empowered Expert Residents (PEER). 

PEER trains residents of long-term care facilities to advocate for themselves and their fellow residents, giving them the tools they need to improve their quality of life. 

In December 2024, eight residents of Ellen Memorial Health Care Center, a long-term care facility in the Honesdale area, graduated as fully trained PEER advocates. 

“What your expertise [is] for is to make the quality of life and quality of care better for everyone around you,” said James Miller, administrator of Ellen Memorial. 

The PEER program has trained residents in over 225 nursing homes in the commonwealth, said Miller. “We are very happy here at Ellen Memorial to be one of those now.”

The program is run in partnership with Pennsylvania’s ombusdmen, the outside group that works to answer and resolve any concerns or issues from residents at long-term care centers. 

The concept of PEER is for residents to be trained to advocate for themselves or their fellow residents about anything that affects their quality of life, said Linda Kugerski, the ombusdman coordinator for NEPA with Servins Seniors Inc. 

The residents at Ellen Memorial who graduated from the PEER program had five weeks of training sessions, each session covering a specific topic. 

The focus of the training is on the residents, said Kugerski. “We want to make sure that they’re comfortable enough in their home and that all of their needs are met and they have great quality of life.”