Community Meetings Really Build Community

The recognized culture change practice of the community meeting does wonders to build community.

Besides community and community developer mentioned in CMS Tag F679, historical use of community meetings aides in great compliance with CMS requirements for quality of life and quality assurance and performance improvement. Most state nursing home regulations mimic federal and state assisted living requirements also have many of the same components as these good federal regulations.

The Artifacts of Culture Change data collection, benchmarking and self-assessment tool debuted originally in 2006 funded by CMS Division of Nursing Homes. The community meeting practice was included in the original as well as the Artifacts of Culture Change 2.0/Assisted Living created in 2021.

Artifact 107. Community Meetings* are held on a routine basis, at least weekly, bringing residents, team members and families together as a community. The community decides together on content, such as inviting new residents and new team members to introduce themselves, celebrating life events, solving problems, planning future events, reviewing policies.

A further definition from the Artifacts of Culture Change Guidance:

*Community Meetings were developed by the people who lived at and leaders

Debbie and Barry Barkan of Live Oak Living Center. These meetings were, and are ideally, intentionally held every day for residents, team members, and any families able, to gather as a community to build connection by:

• discussing issues of mutual interest and concern;
• celebrating life events and birthdays;
• having new residents and employees introduce themselves;
• remember/mourn;
• share goodbyes before someone leaves;
• acknowledge gains/progress, life passages, losses, illness/recovery from illness, return from absences;
• the role they take on in the community e.g., someone gives a news/sports/weather report or tells a joke each time;
• review of policies and procedures in layman’s terms (excellent QAPI practice);
• planning future events; and
• anything the community decides to do.

Artifacts 2.0/Assisted Living and Guidance: https://www.pioneernetwork.net/artifacts-culture-change/

Notice the great potential for compliance with the following requirements.

CMS Tag F679 §483.24(c) Activities.

The facility must provide, based on the comprehensive assessment and care plan and the preferences of each resident, an ongoing program to support residents in their choice of activities, both facility-sponsored group and individual activities and independent activities, designed to meet the interests of and support the physical, mental, and psychosocial well-being of each resident, encouraging both independence and interaction in the community.

From CMS Tag F679’s Guidance:
It has been reported that, “some culture changed homes might not have a traditional activities calendar, and instead focus on community life to include activities.” Instead of an “activities director,” some homes have a Community Life Coordinator, a Community Developer, or other title for the individual directing the activities program.

Tag F675 Quality of LifeQuality of life is a fundamental principle that applies to all care and services provided to facility residents. Each resident must receive and the facility must provide the necessary care and services to attain or maintain the highest practicable physical, mental, and psychosocial well-being, consistent with the resident’s comprehensive assessment and plan of care.

Tag F865 Quality assurance and performance improvement (QAPI) program.Each LTC facility, including a facility that is part of a multiunit chain, must develop, implement, and maintain an effective, comprehensive, data-driven QAPI program that focuses on indicators of the outcomes of care and quality of life.

Tag F565 The resident has a right to organize and participate in resident groups.

• The facility must provide a resident or family group, if one exists, with private space; and take reasonable steps, with the approval of the group, to make residents and family members aware of upcoming meetings in a timely manner.
• (ii) Staff, visitors, or other guests may attend resident group or family group meetings only at the respective group’s invitation.
• (iii) The facility must provide a designated staff person who is approved by the resident or family group and the facility and who is responsible for providing assistance and responding to written requests that result from group meetings.
• (iv) The facility must consider the views of a resident or family group and act promptly upon the grievances and recommendations of such groups concerning issues of resident care and life in the facility.
• (A) The facility must be able to demonstrate their response and rationale for such response. (B) This should not be construed to mean that the facility must implement as recommended every request of the resident or family group.

“The community meeting is not an activity” says developer Barry Barkan. This is because it is more than a typical group activity. These meetings are purposefully designed to build community and camaraderie for all who live, work and visit there. This is such an important practice I want to spread out the learning about them and invite you to share this article with your leadership/administration/management team. I will share many more details and more of the very positive outcomes of spending time so very wisely when a community commits to building community.

For more information, look for Live Oak Regenerative Community on YouTube. A three-year grant in Colorado produced many videos.

Carmen Bowman, MHS, Regulator turned Educator of Edu-Catering: Catering Education for Compliance and Changing Institutional Culture is an activities/engagement/community life, regulatory compliance and culture change consultant.  She offers new or not-yet-qualified activity director consultation and personalized continuing education for professionals/teams/associations. Also, a new blog and eResource GUARDIANS OF NORMAL LIFE: How Activity/ Recreation/ Engagement/Community Life Professionals can Save the World of LTC at  www.edu-catering.com. At the Edu-Catering YouTube channel, see how turning rigid schedules into flexible ones creates all the outcomes everyone wants!