- Home
- About Us
- Better Care
- Our Book
- Introduction
- Chapter 1: Before Your Mother Enters The Nursing Home
- Chapter 2: The First Day
- Chapter 3: Your Mother's Room and Her Property
- Chapter 4: Making the Most of Visits
- Chapter 5: What Should Happen in the First Weeks
- Chapter 6: Planning Your Mother's Care
- Chapter 7: The Care Plan Conference
- Chapter 8: Working With a Hospice
- Chapter 9: Activities
- Chapter 10: Paying For Nursing Home Care
- Chapter 11: If the Nursing Home Wants to Discharge Your Mother
- Chapter 12: Dealing With Problems Yourself
- Chapter 13: Getting Help With Problems
- Fact Sheets
- Minimum Staffing
- Our Book
- Family Councils
- What is a Family Council?
- Why are Family Councils Important?
- Benefits of a Family Council
- What Do Family Councils Do?
- The Rights of Family Councils
- How to Start a Family Council
- Why Smart Nursing Homes Want Family Councils
- Tips to Nursing Home Staff for Starting a Family Council
- Where Can I Find a Family Council?
- Resources for Your Family Council
- Looking for a Nursing Home
- Getting Help
- Advocacy
- Support Us
- Contact Us
Why are Family Councils Important?
Let's make up a silly example. A family council decides that the brown colored walls are depressing, and cause the resident's health to decline. They propose to paint the walls yellow, and will donate time to help the facility. The nursing home agrees, and the walls are painted. The bright yellow cheers up the residents so much they start skipping through the halls, and signing up for extra activities.
Ok, this is silly, but who did this family council action affect? Just my mother? Just the relatives of the people in the family council? No. It affected every resident of the facility.
When someone moves into a nursing home, they need their family more than ever before. Almost half of residents have no one to visit them. Some residents are physically or mentally unable to understand their rights to quality care and a dignity of life. Many are unable to advocate for themselves.
A family council reviews and works on common concerns. By doing so, they improve the life for their family members, those with no family members, and those who are not physically or mentally able to speak for themselves.
A family council is:
- The best prevention against abuse and neglect,
- The best vehicle to tell a facility the need for culture change,
- The best way to assist the activity director to increase community participation,
- The best way to provide ongoing appreciation for staff, and
- The best way to address systemic issues regarding changes in laws, regulations and policies that affect residents in facilities across the state and nation.
Many family council members have stated "I want to improve this nursing home, so that when I live here, it will be to my standard."