Family Council is comprised of families and friends of the residents who meet with the purpose of welcoming and informing other families, exploring concerns, sharing ideas, acting on issues, and communicating effectively within Hamilton Home. The Family Council is committed to monitoring and increasing the well-being of all residents.

Family Council assists in facilitating and enhancing communication between families, staff and residents and to provide mutual support for family and friends including those that are new to the Lodge. Family Council advocates on behalf of all residents and families and provides forums for relevant issues.

The council meets on a monthly basis. Notices are posted in the Activity Calendar, on our website and on the Activities Calendar in the Home. All Family members are welcome to attend. Meeting minutes are posted in the activities area of the home.

Family Council would like families to know that it is important to understand that your loved one’s personality may appear compromised and that you need to understand that it is the disease process and not the person that is presenting in an unfamiliar way. Understanding this factor may help you understand your feelings and emotions too; frustration, anger, humility and sadness are but a few.

Visits to residents brighten their days and are strongly recommended, remember to laugh, chat and touch; residents enjoy closeness and love. Family members who wish to bring a gift but are unsure of what is appropriate may wish to consider the following:

• A small bouquet of flowers
• New Pictures of Family Members in their recent activites
• Old Pictures of Resident’s Life – It can be fun to look back over old pictures and try to figure out who is who
• A subscription to a newspaper
• Coloring books/crayons/puzzle books
• A guest book to remain in your loved one’s room for communications amongst visitors. While visiting, read some of the comments that have been written; residents always enjoy hearing these comments.
• A seasonal door display
• A gift card for shopping at Target, CVS,
  When visiting in person, you may entertain the resident in the Library, any of the sunrooms or take a walk indoors or outdoors (remember to sign out if you leave the building).

When families and friends are unable to visit there are still a number of ways to communicate with their loved ones. A few examples are shown below. Some of our residents have iPads. If they do, you can FaceTime/Skype/email/text them directly. If your resident does not wish to use an iPad, you can contact our caregivers and they will share the message with the resident. Please use the contact information below if your resident does not have an iPad.

• Phone calls – (916) 990-1748
• Facetime – hhredlands@icloud.com
• Skype – HHRedlands
• Email – caregiver@hhredlands.com
• Text Message – (909) 978-7622 or hhredlands@icloud.com (iMessage)
• Cards : 940 Stillman Ave, Redlands, CA 92374 – Addressed to Resident
• Social Media (Facebook/Twitter/Instagram/Flicker) – We post pictures all the time. Please feel free to comment, message, and share things with us. We show these comments to our residents daily.