Page 61 - Ombudsman Participant Manual Optimized_Neat

Whether you are starting a resident council from scratch – or helping residents transform the existing residents’ council –
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there are many resources available for you use. Attached list resources resident council we encourage you
to become familiar with them.

Finally, when a nursing home is in the survey process, the surveyors from the Department of Health will convene a

resident council meeting. The local ombudsman office is invited to attend. Our role in this meeting is very different

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compared typical, routine resident council meeting. When we attend a resident council meet ing convened for survey

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– our role strictly observe and take notes. The surveyor will facilitate the meeting and sometimes will ask the
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ombudsman brief review their role and services for the residents attendance. During routine resident
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interject,

council meeting – not convened as part of survey – the ombudsman may ask for permission to ask questions, or

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offer information. When the council meets during survey, there is no facility staff present. routine resident council

meetings, there is usually facility staff present – although residents have the right to always meet without staff. Again,

each council is different, and the residents may not know they can meet without staff; they may be afraid to ask the staff

to not attend; they may want staff present to assist with concerns.

Documentation Expectations: We document every instance of working with resident councils. There is no standardized

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form capture this information. Speak your mentor regarding the norms and expectat ions for your local office. We
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always capture information n date/duration/residents attending and some anecdotal summary about the topics

discussed/covered and plans for any follow up activity. There is specific guidance in the OmbudsManager desk refere nce

regarding how these activities should be captured.

Office of the LTC Ombudsman
Office of the LTC Ombudsman
Version 1.0 September 2020
Version 1.0 September 2020
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