Family Council Center

Family Council Center Information, Tips and Tools
Family members in a facility can join together to form a united consumer voice which can communicate concerns to facility administrators and work for resolutions and improvements by forming a family council. Family councils can play a crucial role in voicing concerns, requesting improvements, supporting new family members and residents, and supporting facility efforts to make care and life in the facility the best it can be.  Join and support the family council at your loved one's facility!  If no family council exists, join with other family members to form one. This page contains information on NCCNHR Projects related to family councils, family council rights that are protected by federal law, regulations applying to long-term care facilities, effective council advocacy, and tools for forming an effective council.   If you have any questions about these materials, family councils, or how to advocate for good care in a nursing home, please contact NCCNHR at 202.332.2275.   * Some of the information on this webpage was developed as part of a project funded by the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene -  Office of Health Care Quality (a 5 year project to develop and strengthen family councils in MD). Materials gathered from family councils and citizen advocacy groups are included on this site.  You can download the items to use in your family council work.  If you would like to share family councils materials with us, and possibly other councils across the country, please send them to jbrill@nccnhr.org.   For best results in printing use PDF format. (PDF format requires Adobe Acrobat. Click Here to get Adobe Acrobat Reader for Free).  Información en español.
Family Council Tips Family Council Rights and Federal Laws & Regulations Learn and Take Action! Fact Sheets NCCNHR's Family Council Projects NCCNHR Consumer Center Family Council Exchange Long-Term Care Ombudsman Programs Family Council DVD Additional Resources
Family Council Tips
Below are materials you can use to assist you as you start a family council: Why Family Led Family Councils Benefit Residents Family Members and Facility Staff Continuity and Communication in Family Councils Key Components of Family Councils Leadership in Family Councils Making Meetings Meaningful Overcoming Obstacles to Family Council Development Promoting Participation in Family Councils The Rights of Family Councils in Nursing Homes Family Council Successes Inviting Speakers to Family Council Meetings   BACK TO TOPICS
Family Council Rights and Federal Laws & Regulations
Consumer Fact Sheet: The Rights of Family Councils in Nursing Homes The following links connect you to what the federal law and regulations say about particular issues regarding long-term care. OBRA '87 (The Nursing Home Reform Law) 20th Anniversary Read a summary of OBRA '87, the full federal regulations, and the Medicaid and Medicare provisions. BACK TO TOPICS
Learn and Take Action!
Improve long-term care in your area, and across the U.S.! Visit NCCNHR's Action Center: View up-to-date information on Congressional Hearings, Bulletins, Legislative Proposals, etc.   Learn and advocate for restraint free care as part of NCCNHR's California California Voices for Quality: Strategies in the National Campaign for Excellence in America's Nursing Homes project: The project provides information and tools to train ombudsmen to engage consumers in quality improvement, by educating and engaging consumers to advance better quality care in nursing homes. Consumer-oriented materials, including fact sheets, have been developed; training programs and educational conference calls were held; and materials are posted on the website.  Advocate Effectively: Read a list of suggestions for advocacy tips as you advocate for yourself or your loved one, including how to document concerns.  Contact the long-term care ombudsman program in your state: In addition to acting as an advocate for residents, ombudsmen can educate residents, families and friends about resident rights, state surveys, and federal and state laws that are applicable to nursing homes and other long-term care facilities.  Participate in the in the Advancing Excellence in America’s Nursing Homes Campaign: NCCNHR encourages all consumers to participate in this national campaign. This is an opportunity to promote quality care practices in every      nursing home in the country. Learn more about NCCNHR's involvement in the Campaign, and ways you can get involved!   Visit NCCNHR's Government Policy website: Learn about staffing issues, view an action center, etc. Visit NCCNHR's Culture Change website: Learn about the grassroots movement to transform the culture of aging in America. Also visit the Pioneer Network's website. Visit the Nursing Home Compare website: This is a tool on the Medicare website that displays quality measure data, deficiencies and other information about nursing homes. It is organized by state and county to help you search for facilities near   you or anywhere in the country.   BACK TO TOPICS
Fact Sheets
Find consumer-friendly information on issues affecting residents such as residents' rights, malnutrition, the use of restraints, and changing the culture of long-term care facilities. Maryland: Tips for the First Weeks in a Nursing Home Maryland: Sugerencias y Información para las Primeras Semanas en el Asilo de Ancianos (en Español) BACK TO TOPICS
NCCNHR Family Council Projects
Learn more about NCCNHR projects related to family members and family councils.  Free Educational Conference Calls for Family Council Members: Growing & Maintaining a Strong, Stable, Independent Family Council - Thursday, November 13, 2008: 3pm and 7pm ET              REGISTER NOW!   NCCNHR's Family Councils for Quality Long Term Care: Support, Strengthen and Empower project: NCCNHR works with Virginia family councils, providing mini-grants, and with national family councils, providing support, networking, and education. Subscribe to Family Councils for Quality Long-Term Care Email: Visit this group This discussion group is a listserv that enables you to send messages to others in the group, and look at previous discussions. It is for family councils across the U.S., and allows family council members to network with one another, share successes, accomplishments, and challenges, converse and get feedback, and learn about resources and opportunities available for family councils through NCCNHR.This discussion group/listserv is confidential – it is only open to family council members and family members. It is not open to ombudsmen and facility staff. NCCNHR's Illinois Family Council Project: NCCNHR partnered with Illinois Citizens’ for Better Care (ICBC) to help family members of nursing home residents in Illinois to organize family councils. NCCNHR's Giving Voice to Quality project: The project trained nursing home residents and their families nationwide through: a series of six teleconference seminars during 2006; a web-based consumer education center and the development and electronic distribution of materials to seminar participants. Calls are available on CD for purchase, and address the following topics: Resident-Directed Care Planning; Restraint-Free Nursing Home Care; Residents' Rights; Communication; Eating with Dignity; Incontinence and Quality Care. NCCNHR's Maryland Family Council Project: The project supported family council formation and development in Maryland. Read the Family Matters Newsletters. BACK TO TOPICS
NCCNHR's Consumer Center
Visit NCCNHR's Consumer Center for more information, including information on the following topics: Residents, Family Members and Councils Residents' Rights Fact Sheets Federal Law and Regulations Making a Difference: Learn, Take Action, and Advocate! NCCNHR Publications The Long Term Care Ombudsman Program BACK TO TOPICS
Family Council Exchange
View family council laws and legislation across the U.S. During NCCNHR's work with family members in Maryland through the MD Family Council project, family councils shared materials that other family councils might find useful. They have given NCCNHR permission to post them here for others to view and use.  Feel free to print or cut and paste from the materials below to use for your own family council.  If you have materials that you think might be useful to others in Maryland, please let us know! Survey Used to Identify Common Concerns, Formulated by the family council at Westminster Care and Rehabilitation, Carroll County, MD, May 2000 Family Council Bylaws, Formulated by the family council at Holy Cross Nursing and Rehab Ctr., Burtonsville, MD Membership Form, Formulated by the family council at Holy Cross Nursing and Rehab Ctr., Burtonsville, MD Sample Flier BACK TO TOPICS
Long-Term Care Ombudsman Programs
Find contact information for the long-term care ombudsman program in your state.  In addition to acting as an advocate for residents, ombudsmen can educate residents, families and friends about resident rights, state surveys, and federal and state laws that are applicable to nursing homes and other long-term care facilities.   BACK TO TOPICS
Family Council DVD
NCCNHR's DVD "Strength In Numbers: The Importance of Family Councils in Nursing Homes" is an important tool for any family member interested in working with others to improve conditions at their loved one's nursing home.  Enhance your knowledge of what a family council is, how to build a strong one, or how to advocate effectively as part of a family council. The DVD contains a companion booklet - Program Leader’s Guide with discussion guidance, additional resources, fact sheets, and other information. Price: $30.00 per DVD or 4 DVDs for $100.00. Contact NCCNHR at 202.332.2275 to order a copy. BACK TO TOPICS
Additional Resources
Family Council Manual and Toolkit: A Guide for Creating and Sustaining Effective Family Councils in Nursing Homes, by FRIA, the voice and resource for eldercare with dignity in  New York . It is a basic, how-to manual for those wanting to take on the job of family council leader and a comprehensive resource for experienced leaders facing new issues. It includes a CD-Rom Tool Kit, consisting of reproducible sample materials and templates that will help save time and make it easy to create written materials. The manual can be used and is available to Family Council leaders nationwide. FRIA is an independent, not for profit advocacy and service organization dedicated to improving long term care in New York State. The cost of the manual is $30.00, including shipping. To order a copy, please email FRIA at http://fria@fria.org or call 212.732.5667. View additional resources (organizations and printed materials) for information for Family Councils. BACK TO TOPICS