The COVID-19 pandemic underscored the imperative for meaningful family involvement in long-term care, aligning with policy and safety standards while enhancing outcomes for caregivers, residents, and staff. The objectives of this article are as follows: (1) a case study report on implementing a family involvement intervention designed to facilitate the formal and safe engagement of family caregivers in resident care and (2) the pilot evaluation of the intervention. We used Knapp's six-step implementation science model to guide and describe intervention development to provide insight for others planning family involvement projects. We employed sequential mixed methods, including surveys with quantitative and qualitative questions before and after program implementation for providers, and surveys and interviews with family caregivers a year after. We used the Mann-Whitney U test (p < 0.05) to assess differences in health providers' perceptions pre- and post-education. Families and staff perceived that the Family Involvement Program was important for improving the quality of care, residents' quality of life and family/staff relationships. Providers' perceptions of the program's positive impact on residents' quality of life (p = 0.020) and quality of care (p = 0.010), along with their satisfaction with working relationships with families (p = 0.039), improved significantly after the program. Qualitative data confirmed improvements in family-staff relationships. In conclusion, we documented the design of this family involvement initiative to encourage family caregivers and staff to work together in residents' care. Youville's Family Involvement Program gives families and family caregivers an explicit role as partners in long-term care. The mixed methods pilot evaluation documented improvements in staff and family relationships.
Keywords: family caregivers; family caregiving; family involvement; informal care; long-term care; nursing homes; quality of life; residential long-term care.