Highlights From This Year So Far
by Family Councils Ontario
It’s hard to believe that we are halfway through 2016! It’s been a busy 6 months for FCO and Family Councils alike. With many Councils breaking for the summer and FCO staff taking much-anticipated vacations, the time is right to reflect on all that has happened so far this year. Here are just a few highlights from this year so far.
FCO had a number of incredible opportunities to meet with Councils and stakeholders in the spring and early summer. In March we were at the 2nd Walk With Me Culture Change conference in Edmonton, Alberta. Our session, The power of working together: walking with your families on the culture change journey, was presented to a full, standing-room only crowd! This conference was an incredible opportunity to connect with residents, families, LTC staff, stakeholders, and decision-makers from across Canada and spread the word about the power of Family Councils.
The spring was a very busy season with lots of Family Council gatherings taking place across the province. In early May, FCO co-hosted a Family Council Education Day with Dufferin Oaks Family Council in Shelburne. The guest speakers shared their ideas for improving seniors’ care and then we shared ideas on how to effectively recruit new Council members. You can read more about the event here.
In late May, Trillium Retirement Residence and Care Community in Kingston hosted a Networking Day for Kingston-area Councils to gather together to learn, share, and network. We spent time learning about Family Council Advocacy Best Practices, discussing shared challenges, and talking about Council successes. For more on the event, read the blog post.
On May 11th and 12th FCO participated in the Culture Change Exchange. The two day exchange event had over 45 speakers from across the Long-Term Care sector sharing insights and inspiring experiences along with practical ideas about how they are seriously challenging traditional institutional models of care by moving toward a social model of care. This was another fantastic opportunity for FCO to connect with LTC staff and stakeholders to talk about resident and family centred care. We look forward to even more opportunities to share this important message.
This year we released our first Annual Report, launched our Twitter channel, recorded and archived our most demanded Family Council presentations, started filming our new Family Council Intro Video, and more! We have lots more project, resource and webinar ideas that we’re excited to launch in the upcoming months. Stay tuned for the release of these details via our website, monthly e-bulletin, and social media.
We’re taking a break from blogging over the summer and will be back in September with all new content. September will be Family Council Structure month and we’ll be blogging and educating on topics related to Family Council structure. Stay tuned for notices of webinars in our July e-bulletin! We’ll also be releasing the next issue of Family Council Dispatch in the fall so send us your articles and photos. Full submission guidelines are here.
Have a wonderful summer! We look forward to starting another amazing season together in the fall.