Manual an excellent information source for family councils: LEC
Wednesday March 12, 2008 -- Deron Hamel
It was at a regional family council meeting in Perth in October that Karen Coulter first heard about a manual designed to help start and maintain family councils at long-term care homes.

Coulter, the life enrichment co-ordinator at OMNI Health Care-owned Village Green, says the manual, A Guide to Starting and Maintaining Your Family Council, is providing her with a resource to help increase the family council membership at the Selby long-term care home.

“Having this tool is going to help me in all areas,” she says. “It’s giving me direction. It’s giving me a great tool to use, and it’s giving me the contacts and so much reference to be able to say, ‘OK, how do I maintain and recruit?’”

Coulter, who attends the monthly council meetings as a facilitator, says one of her goals for this year is to double the current council membership from four to eight. She has recently started looking at the manual, which is produced by the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care, for guidance in her mission.

A major focus in the manual is recruitment, with tips offered on how to plan a publicity campaign. Sending out personal invitations, discovering your audience and holding recruitment events are some of the ideas encouraged. It also suggests that January and September are the best times to recruit members.

Other key areas covered in the guide include:

• What is a family council and what is its purpose
• The benefits of family councils
• How to get started
• Planning meetings
• Developing mission statements and goals
• Elections and processing concerns
• Role of staff members
• Cultural diversity and family councils

The guide is available through the Ontario Family Councils’ Program, an initiative which, according to its website, “facilitates the development and sustainability of family councils in long-term care homes and regional family council networks in Ontario.”

Council members can contact the program for support and resource material to help start and maintain their council.

Many homes throughout the long-term care sector struggle to maintain family councils. Coulter stresses the important roles family councils play in the lives of residents. Because family members don’t spend as much time in homes as residents and staff, they have a perspective of homes that differs from what residents and staff members see, she notes.

The more family members engaged in councils, she says, the better staff members can be at providing residents with the best quality of care.

“As a family member coming in, you might see things that we don’t see,” says Coulter. “If the family members are coming in and they have concerns or suggestions, (family councils) give them the chance to voice their (ideas).”

More information on the guide and family councils can be found at the Ontario Family Councils’ Program website.

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