After an adverse event, the way hospitals involve families plays a significant role in the families' perspectives of the event. In this study, patients and family members affected by a serious adverse event, client (family) council representatives, and one national representative shared their perspectives on inclusion of patients and families in the official investigation. Important themes included respecting the patient's decision to be involved in the investigation or not, communicating to the patient what was learned so that the error will not happen again, and taking responsibility for the error.