There is a national effort to promote quality of life in nursing homes. Residents have more a moral and legal right to be treated with dignity and respect. They also deserve to be able to make choices about their care, to the extent possible.
North Carolina is making strides across all avenues of services to seniors and family caregivers to ensure that services and support systems promote independence, choice, dignity, and flexibility for individuals. It’s the concept of not only addressing the needs of the nursing home staff (health, safety, measurability, liability, etc.) but also identifying and satisfying the needs of the individual receiving care (choice, personal preferences, values, respect, etc.). The goal is to improve the quality of life, on every level, for the person needing care. The expectation is that both parties will benefit. The nursing homes will benefit from clients who are much happier and relaxed and the care recipient will benefit by retaining some level of choice and dignity and respect in a situation that, historically, has not paid attention to that aspect of quality care. The terms used for this effort are Person Centered Care and Culture Change.
Since 1987, federal law has helped ensure that residents have the opportunity to organize and be heard. The method put in place is the opportunity to form a Resident Council. Though the terms Person Centered Care and Culture Change are relatively new, the Resident Council format is a great example of how residents can become empowered to improve the quality of life in their facilities using already established methods.
| Residents want to feel heard and that they matter. Residents want to have choices. Residents want to feel that they haven’t lost all control over what happens in their lives. Resident Councils offer residents a unified voice. They offer residents the opportunity to share with each other and devise strategies for effectively communicating their needs and wants – all within a legal umbrella. Resident Council concerns and ideas must be acknowledged and acted upon in some way by the facility, per federal law. |
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This can have a huge impact on the quality of life for the residents – all directed/requested by the residents.
Family Councils also have a legal basis within nursing home life. They provide the families and friends of nursing home residents a way to discuss ideas and concerns and to be heard by nursing home staff.
There is a lot of information about Person Centered Care and Culture Change available and there is a lot on Resident and Family Councils. Triangle J hosts a blog devoted to exploring the nature and changing face of Culture Change in long-term care facilities. It is an opportunity to learn and to share. As we all become more informed, the chances that we take action to ensure the opportunity for person centered thinking within long-term care facilities increases. We hope you will become a part of the solution.
Find out the who, what, where, when, and why for Resident and Family Councils by using the links below.
Resident Councils
Family Councils
Person Centered Thinking and Culture Change in NC
Culture Change Blog
Triangle J Area Agency on Aging
Your governmental non-profit source of information for older adults and family caregivers.
www.tjaaa.org
www.fullcirclecare.org
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Posted by Triangle J Area Agency on Aging 
