Here’s my latest article on McKnight’s Long-Term Care News: Opening the door for ombudsmen Last week during a talk at the Pennsylvania Department of Aging 2017 Ombudsman Conference, audience members told me that they’re having difficulty speaking to administrators and other senior staff when they visit the facilities. In fact, some people reported that the … Read more
Here’s my latest article on McKnight’s Long-Term Care News: 3 surprising reasons to strengthen your resident council When it comes to resident councils, it’s often thought that an active resident council might seem good in theory, but that it’s offset by the amount of staff time required to devote to the process and concern that … Read more
Here’s my latest article on McKnight’s Long-Term Care News: 7 powerful ways to deliver family-centered care When families seek mental health treatment, it’s often because of a “problem child.” Family therapists consider this person to be the “identified patient” and recognize that the troubled individual is part of a family unit whose members all benefit … Read more
In Part One of the Family Council posts, Karlin Mbah of FRIA discusses the role of the Family Council in improving the nursing home environment. In today’s follow-up post, she addresses ways in which to organize families to create a Family Council. In addition to her suggestions, some of the tips I provided in my … Read more
Today, guest poster Karlin Mbah, of the New York-based organization Friends and Relatives of the Institutionalized Aged, explains what Family Councils are and how they can work with nursing homes to improve care for the residents. In a later post, she’ll discuss ways to create a successful family council. Background on FRIA and Karlin Mbah: … Read more
The Last Post in a Three-Part Series In the first two posts, I outlined why most Resident Council Meetings fall short of their potential (Why Most Resident Council Meetings Are a Sham) and offered suggestions for nursing homes to improve them (How to Run Effective Resident Council Meetings). Today’s post is for the residents. Since … Read more
Part Two of a Three-Part Series (Part Three: For Residents: Reclaiming the Resident Council) Resident Council Meetings, as I discussed in my previous post, Why Most Resident Council Meetings in Nursing Homes Are a Sham, often can be improved to become a powerful tool for change in nursing homes. Giving residents a true voice within … Read more
The First of a Three-Part Series (Part Two: How to Run Effective Resident Council Meetings; Part Three: For Residents: Reclaiming the Resident Council) *If you don’t know what a Resident Council Meeting is, see the Prequel, posted earlier today. I must confess, the only time I’ve actually been to a Resident Council Meeting was when … Read more
Prequel to a Three-Part Series For those of you who don’t know what a Resident Council Meeting is, I offer this brief explanation. If you have additional information about the meetings, please add it to the comments section. Each floor/unit/neighborhood of the nursing home has a resident who acts as the representative to whom others … Read more