OUR FAMILY COUNCIL

 “Families working together to provide support, share experiences and seek to create a better environment for the residents; this is a Family Council.”

The Family Council provides many valuable services to residents, but they must never be replacements for adequate staff.  Also, a Council should not provide items or services that the home is required by law to provide.
The main purpose of this Family Council is to improve the quality of life of residents and to give families a voice in decisions that affect them and their loved ones in the Home.

• Support for families
• Education and information
• Discussion and action on concerns
• Communication with the staff on the Home and residents

Family council involvement can benefit residents who are physically or mentally unable to voice their concerns and needs as well as those without family.

The F.C. is there to establish a meaningful line of communication.  Staff may be able to use the Family Council as a sounding board for new ideas.
Residents benefit from the Council efforts to improve the quality of life in the Home.

Examples of what can be done as a “Council”:

• Redesign rooms; furniture placement, improve space to get around in a wheelchair
• Council members work closely with Community Care Access Centre to develop user friendly manuals regarding the placement process, care and Home
• Organize meetings for families to ensure family input
• Members can review and revise the placement process

• Establish your resources
• Collect names of staff and family members to involve
• Have some preliminary idea regarding goals
• Work closely with administration
• Handpick parties to help recruit
• Make the staff aware of the existence of the Family council
• Plan your meetings to stimulate conversation and make participants feel that they are not wasting their time
• End all meetings with time, date, location and tentative agenda for the next meeting
• Educate family members as much as possible as to what the Council is all about
• Post flyers and have them available to visitors
• Make use of any existing newsletters to advertise
• Invite guest speakers when needed
• Allow for time for members to mingle with each other
• Serve some food, refreshments
• Set an agenda but do not make it too heavy

• Have a plan
• Have a written purpose statement
• Make sure that people know that the Family Council is there to improve the quality of life for residents
• Plan simple activities: movies once a month with popcorn and drinks
• Establish a way for members to communicate with each other through newsletters and posted news events
• Communicate with other Family Councils in the area when possible
• Show that the Home is interested in Teamwork
• People will want to be on the Council when they feel that they make a difference
• Setup am email system to communicate quickly and efficiently
• Family Council members, when in the Home, could carry badges or name tags to identify themselves to residents and family visitors
• Make sure you inform the community that the Home has a Council
• Nothing is more effective than a personal invitation
• Make it possible for residents of other cultures to be able to feel good about their Home