Long-Term Care has a special tool for continuous quality improvement that has always been there: The input and feedback of its residents and their close families and friends. Their voices and advocacy for individual residents’ matter but, they get lost in creating solutions that affect the resident community experience. Fast forward: Resident and Family Councils is a structured mechanism/pathway of elevating the conversations which feed into decision making for the collective resident community benefit.
While it may seem obvious to large corporations that engagement with stakeholders is effective in decision making outcomes, it has only recently reached the conversations in healthcare, and now long-term care.
In BC healthcare, patient engagement now involves actively including patients, families, and caregivers in decisions, design, planning, and delivery of healthcare services. This collaborative approach empowers “patients” * as informed decision-makers, leading to improved health outcomes and a more efficient healthcare system. Patient engagement also helps to ensure that research is relevant to the needs of end-users.
*patient refers to an individual who is actively involved in their own healthcare and treatment decisions (“residents” in long-term care)
Key Aspects of Patient Engagement in BC:
Patient-centered approach:
Recognizes and values the unique experience and perspective of each patient.
Shared decision-making:
Involves patients in discussions about their care, allowing them to participate in treatment choices.
Patient partners in research:
Engages patients in research design, planning, and evaluation, ensuring research is relevant and useful.
Patient Voices Network:
A BC organization that provides opportunities for patients to share their experiences and contribute to healthcare planning and decision-making.
Health Quality BC:
An organization that supports patient engagement initiatives and provides resources for improving healthcare quality.
Focus on equity and accessibility:
Strives to make healthcare more accessible and equitable for all, including marginalized populations.
In long-term care, one form of engagement has been recognized in the
Community Care and Assisted Living Act and the Residential Care Regulations (59.-59.2): the right to learn about and form a resident and/or family council.
Still, not all long-term care home operators and staff know what family councils are.
They may even have preconceived ideas of what they are.
– Quarterly Town Halls coordinated and led by staff
– Family Group Meetings to update families and residents on care home changes
– The “floor police” or the “coffee club complainers” …out to get, not out to care.
While these views are not the intent of the regulations nor the best practice design, it may be their reality.
In order to help implement the vision of our Ministry of Health, a grass roots organization of people, with lived experience in long-term care and family councils, formed during COVID when decisions were being made without consultation of those the policy decisions affected.
The Independent Long-Term Care Councils Association of BC (ILTCCABC) is a registered nonprofit society supported by our Ministry of Health set up and run by volunteers to help councils form effectively.
ILTCCABC has 5 regional associations of family councils who are also run by volunteers, with lived experience, in long-term care,
The work ILTCCABC does to support the education, promotion and implementation for resident and family councils is designed to align with healthcare movement towards a relational approach. Deborah Bakti’s work to define, educate, mentor, consult and implement is well aligned to include resident and Family Councils as examples of the movement towards a relational approach in long-term care.
Her TOP TEN REASONS YOUR HOME NEEDS THE RELATIONAL APPROACH is a “must have” program.
Recently, she reached out to Lisa Dawson, Vice-President of ILTCCABC for an interview on her latest Relational Approach Podcast Series: https://deborahbakti.com/podcast-2/
In her words: The first time I spoke with Lisa Dawson, this week’s guest on The Relational Approach™ podcast, I was struck by her intriguing balance of personal drive and pragmatic approach – a powerful combination for creating meaningful change in long-term care.
Lisa is someone who didn’t just experience long-term care through the eyes of a family caregiver; she saw firsthand the gaps, the frustrations, and the opportunities to do things differently. And instead of accepting the status quo, she leaned in. She became deeply involved in her family council, eventually stepping into the chair role, and from there she’s played a key part in expanding and strengthening family councils across British Columbia.
What I love about Lisa is how she brings her lived experience into her advocacy work. She truly gets it, both emotionally and practically.
We both know there are long-term care homes where Family Councils are embraced and work as partners with the long-term care team, and others where the relationship has been strained, or worse, where leadership would rather not deal with one at all because of past negative experiences.
So Lisa and I have an aspirational yet grounded conversation about what’s possible.
We talk about how family councils can sometimes get stuck in that “blaming and complaining” cycle, and how, with a shift in approach, they can become powerful allies in creating a better experience for residents, families, and staff.
Lisa shares:
- Why building trust is the true foundation of any successful family council (and how to get there)
- How Appreciative Inquiry can shift the whole tone of family-staff conversations
- The simple, but often missed, steps homes can take to make family councils feel like a partnership, not a battle
This conversation is packed with real stories, practical strategies, and the kind of honesty I think we all need more when it comes to care relationships.
I hope you’ll give it a listen. It’s one of those conversations that stayed with me long after we wrapped up.
You can access this episode, and the full show notes here.
The family council’s work in starting up, growing, attracting other family volunteers, and influencing decision making has less to do with what we say but how we say it. “How” we show up and engage in conversations has everything to do with where we land in our care home relationships. Relationships evolve through distinct stages, each influencing how decisions are made, and conversations unfold.
● The initiation stage focuses on attraction and compatibility (establishing resident quality of life as common ground)…
● While the exploration stage involves learning more about each other (building trust, transparency and honesty)…
● As the relationship deepens, decisions open communication is crucial for navigating the challenges of requests and change, at the same time ensuring a shared future outcome.
The ILTCCABC Appreciative Inquiry approach truly sets the foundation for successful conversations, deepening relationships and building the trust necessary to move through the other stages of collaboration and action.
Family Councils are indeed a benefit to long-term care homes supporting a relational approach between its residents and families and the rest of the care home community.
To learn more about establishing resident and family councils in long-term care, contact ILTCCABC: iltccabc@gmail.com or connect with your local regional association:
ILTCCABC’s member Regional Associations of Family Councils
Fraser Association of Family Councils fafc.regional@gmail.com
Interior Association of Family Councils interiorfamilycouncils@gmail.com
Northern Association of Family Councils nafc.regional@gmail.com
Vancouver Coastal Association of Family Councils vcafc.regional@gmail.com
Vancouver Island Association of Family Councils viafc.regional@gmail.com
