Resident and Family Engagement in Nursing Homes

The devastating impacts of COVID-19 on nursing home residents across Canada has drawn public attention to systemic problems and the restricted rights and freedoms of citizens residing in nursing homes. As governments, researchers and the public contemplate nursing home policy reform, there is an urgent need to ensure that residents and family carers can meaningfully engage in policy and service design. User engagement initiatives, which broadly refer to involving people with lived experience in service or policy development, have gained prominence in the health sector to promote quality improvement and democratic processes. In nursing home settings, resident and/or family councils are commonly required as a mechanism for engaging service users. However, little known about these forums, or the extent to which they enable residents and families to influence program or policy changes. My postdoctoral research will address this gap through a comparative ethnographic study of user engagement in nursing homes in two Canadian provinces (British Columbia and Manitoba). Using a combination of document analysis, participant observation and interviews, the purpose of this study is to explore whether and how resident and family councils enable residents and family carers to assert their rights and engage in decision-making processes, and to identify strategies to enhance user engagement in nursing homes.