Enhancing Care, Enhancing Life: Administrator and Staff Assistant Views of Council Impact
by Family Councils Ontario
This is part 4 in our series of posts on the Change Foundation Resident Councils and Family Councils Project report.
Continuing our series on the Change Foundation’s report Enhancing Care, Enhancing Life, developed in partnership with OANHSS, OLTCA, OARC and FCO, this week we’ll be discussing Administrator and Staff Assistant views on the impact of Family Councils from the Sub-Report: Administrator and Staff Assistant Views of Residents’ Councils and Family Councils in Ontario Long-Term Care Homes.
Family Councils have incredible impacts on the culture, functioning and operation of the Home. Councils help support resident- and family-centred care, promote effective problem solving with Home staff, and work to improve quality of life for residents through education, activities and supporting families. Most of the Administrators and Staff Assistants surveyed agreed that Family Council is important to the Home’s culture, functioning and operation. Council’s impact on the culture of the Home was seen as providing a space for family members “to share their thoughts and concerns;” a way to promote “customer satisfaction;” and helps to shape “strategic direction that helps to set annual goals.” This demonstrates that Family Councils are seen as having impacts that while not always tangible, are important to how a Home feels and how families are included and engaged in the Home.
With regards to functioning and operation, Administrators and Staff Assistants surveyed felt that the Family Council “provides valuable input, is accountable, and has a follow-up mechanism that allows for positive change in how residents are cared for.” Family involvement in a Long-Term Care Home demonstrates the principle of “two heads are better than one.” Long-Term Care residents’ families bring a wealth of diverse experiences, knowledge and expertise to the table. When a Home authentically engages families and Family Councils in working collaboratively to improve care and life in a Home, residents benefit. You can find a list of specific changes to programs, operations and infrastructure reported as a result of having a Family Council in the sub-report.
A goal of an effective Family Council is to support positive, effective relationships amongst residents, families and staff of a LTC Home. It’s through working well together that we can effect the greatest change. Many Staff Assistants and Administrators reported that the Family Council has a positive impact on the relationship between staff and residents; specifically “that they felt that families play an active role in the life of the home: they advocate on behalf of the residents, they try to explain things to staff—forming relationships on behalf of their resident(s)—and they keep the home accountable.” Family Council should be working to improve the quality of care and life of ALL residents of the Long-Term Care Home. It is encouraging to see this understood by Administrators and Staff Assistants.
Family Councils can have incredible impacts on the culture, functioning and operation of a LTC Home. Working together positively with Home staff is an essential component to successfully carrying out the work of a Council. The Sub-Report: Administrator and Staff Assistant Views of Residents’ Councils and Family Councils in Ontario Long-Term Care Homes is encouraging as it tells us that Home staff have positive views of Family Councils and truly believe in the value of family engagement in Long-Term Care. Next week we’ll wrap up our series on the Change Foundation’s report Enhancing Care, Enhancing Life. You can share your thoughts on this blog series with us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FamilyCouncilsOntario/