The Caregiver - Celebrating Family Council at Carveth Care Centre Featured
My name is Jim Taylor and my wife, Helen, is a resident at Carveth Care Centre (CCC).
I am a member of the Family Council, a volunteer organization that is established and supported by CCC to act as an advocate for residents to enhance their quality of life and quality of care.
We meet once a month to discuss and discover various issues that concern residents. Meetings last about 1.5 hours. The members of Family Council are either family members of residents or designated and interested caregivers.
In the past years, we have addressed issues such as guest speakers from the Alzheimer’s Society to help us better understand dementia and Alzheimer’s; guest speaker from newly appointed Care Coordinator, Sherri Deschamps, who described her role to help residents; review and discussion on bathing schedules and frequencies; concerns regarding sign-in and security procedures with visitors; and concerns over residents unauthorized leaving of the building.
Family Council has received great support for our work from Carveth staff and its administration, who respond to questions and requests that require follow-up.
We have an average of six to eight people at each meeting and welcome more. Family Council is a great opportunity for caregivers to meet, share experiences and discuss concerns; all for the overall welfare of our residents.
In the New Year, we would like to continue our work to support the welfare and needs of the residents at Carveth Care Centre.
We try to meet the third Sunday of the month at 2 pm in the Fireplace Room. For anyone interesting in learning more about Family Council, please contact Shannon Buell, Activity Director, at 613-382-4752 ext. 107.