The residents from War Veterans Home Retirement Village Myrtle Bank, SA are making the most of their new on-site café.
Village Manager RSL Care SA, Terri Wood says, “The residents love the café, it’s a great place to people watch and chat all whilst enjoying a nice cup of tea.”
Please send us in a photo and a few words highlighting what makes your village smile.
Jodie
With veterans’ needs highlighted at this week’s Royal Commission, I want to provide you with some resources that have helped me support veterans on their ageing journey.
If you, or a resident, is struggling with veteran-related issues there are organisations out there that can help.
The Anzac Centre’s clients are primarily veterans, but they can help family, friends and those supporting veterans, so don’t be afraid to contact them if you find yourself struggling with veteran issues.
The Department of Veterans Affairs is a great place to get practical advice on what veterans are entitled to.
In most states, the RSL office also has veteran advocates.
Peer support programs, like those run by Open Arms Veterans and Family Counselling, have been very useful, they can arrange for an advocate to visit your village and meet with residents and managers.
Veteran advocates have also been useful in providing information for village newsletters and on occasion as guest speakers.
Jodie
The next workshop for the Village Manager Professional Development day will focus on some of the areas we’ve touched on in this newsletter.
Guest speakers will provide information on dementia, elder abuse, Code of Conduct, ARVAS, accessing care, and much more.
We encourage Village Managers to take advantage of the next workshop in November, but remember, members have access 24/7 to tools in the online portal to help make your day-to-day tasks easier.
Contact Judy Martin here for more information.
Dementia cases in Australia are on the increase with 1 in 10 over 65-year-olds showing some signs of dementia – this will likely impact your village community.
The DCM Institute is proud to support the Virtual Dementia Tour™ tool being championed by Churches of Christ in QLD.
The VDT™ helps raise awareness and educate staff to be more empathetic and compassionate when engaging, communicating and delivering care or services to people living with or supporting those living with dementia.
The VDT involves a 10-minute immersive experience, followed by a facilitated 30 minute debrief by a qualified certified trainer.
Churches of Christ has partnered with Leading Age Service Australia (LASA) in the national distribution of the Virtual Dementia Tour™ which is exclusively licenced to CofCQ.
If you would like to experience VDT™ or know more about the product please contact virtualdementiatour@cofcqld.com.au or call 1300 970 733.
Jodie
The DCM Institute is passionate about adopting new technologies and is excited to partner with Pluss Communities and their new app.
It’s an organisor, calendar, newsletter and much more.
The app allows residents to stay in touch with one another and the village team. Residents can access village news, reserve places at events, complete surveys and log operational requests all in the ‘one-stop app’.
You don’t need to be a big village.
Pluss Communities is offering DCM Institute members the chance to be involved in a working party to customise the app especially for smaller operators.
Anyone interested in taking part in the project, which begins later this month, please contact me at jodiep@dcmmedia.com.au
Check it out here.
Jodie
ARVAS replaces the Lifemark and IRCAS accreditation programs.
This new village accreditation scheme is co-owned by the Property Council of Australia and Leading Age Services Australia (LASA).
It will focus on the expectations of both existing and future residents who choose to live in your retirement villages across all states and territories.
ARVAS will offer more robust quality and operational processes that incorporate six traditional areas, and a new quality area of resident care.
The seven areas are:
The new scheme is an extension to the existing Retirement Living Code of Conduct aimed at creating certainty and transparency for those living in retirement communities, including dispute resolution.
Your operator needs to decide to engage with ARVAS for your village.
Download the ARVAS standards here.
Here at the DCM Institute, we recognise the importance of the Retirement Living Code of Conduct and ARVAS. We encourage Village professionals to start familiarising yourselves with these frameworks, encourage your operator to participate and begin planning.
And remember, the DCM Institute continues to provide support and tools to enable participants in the Village Manager Professional Development program to better understand and achieve quality standards and processes for their communities.
Jodie
A hands on approach and diligence in responding to the concerns of residents are just some of the qualities of LASA Retirement Village Manager of the Year for 2019 Jessica Maddern.
Jessica is the Operations Manager of De Paul Manor Estate, a 79-unit village on the Gold Coast.
Since Jessica took on the role, the Gold Coast village has seen a huge improvement in resident satisfaction, largely due to her professional and friendly approach.
Jessica joined the village part-time as a student finishing her social work degree and took on her current role aged 24.
Being a young village manager was both an asset and a challenge – on one hand the residents trusted her, enjoyed her enthusiasm and were grateful for her IT skills.
But in the early days, residents wrote letters of concern to the Parish and Bishop that she was too young for the role.
Today however, resident engagement is her absolute priority.
We would also like to acknowledge and congratulate the following finalists:
Jess will be joining us on the Village Management Professional Development program, as part of her reward.
Jodie
Led by the inspirational Samantha Bowen, Principal Advisor, Leading Aged Services Australia is providing opportunities for the ‘Next Generation’ of the sector to connect with people their own age, share challenges, hear about great leadership and learn how we can all build the workplaces of the future.
DCM Institute supports this initiative as a way to attract and retain young people to build long-term careers in the sector.
If you have young people in your workplace we are encouraging you to join this movement.
Join one of the Next Gen Forums happening soon in your state:
Adelaide – 30th October
Tasmania – 11th November
Perth – 15th November
Register Here.
Jodie
Village operators should understand their obligations and potential liabilities in relation to ‘Do Not Resuscitate’ (‘DNR’) requests, being specific requests to withhold CPR if the need arises.
These are advance directives – that is, decisions made in advance when a person is still competent to decide.
They refer to decisions relating to future healthcare, and particularly refusal of treatment.
Advance directives are based on the principle that everyone has the right to decide what happens to their body. Even life-saving medical treatment cannot lawfully be given without consent, and any touching of a person without consent is a civil battery (and possibly criminal assault).
While not strictly necessary at common law (ie. law outside legislation), it is always recommended an advance directive is confirmed in writing.
A recent coronial finding in Victoria also suggests that the DNR request applies to natural events (eg. a heart attack), and not to unnatural events (eg. an accident).
There is emerging confusion about the validity of advance directives that do not comply with the requirements of statutory schemes which exist across Australia (other than NSW and Tasmania) in relation to advance directives. Some key points to note are as follows:
1. With the possible exception of Queensland, the common law is preserved in all states and territories such that if a competent adult refuses medical treatment it should not be given.
2. The statutory schemes generally only apply to health providers and substitute decision-makers. Retirement villages continue to be governed by common law principles, however, if healthcare is provided (eg. co-located care) or registered health practitioners are employed in the retirement village, state/territory legislation may apply.
It is important retirement village operators are aware of their obligations under complex and varied state/territory laws relevant to them and their interplay with the common law. Any risks associated with advance directives may be mitigated through contractual terms as well as clear policies and procedures for residents and staff.
For information or advice please contact Dr Melanie Tan (pictured) from Russell Kennedy on (03) 9609 1577 or Anita Courtney on (03) 8602 7211.
With over 200 Village Managers and professionals enrolled in the Village Management Professional Development program across the nation the DCM Institute community is also growing.
Results for the first half of the program have been outstanding with 200 participants declaring:
The participants also shared that the Professional Development days delivered:
The enthusiasm, desire and commitment from these truly inspirational leaders in our sector has been wonderful to see, not to mention the friendships and connections.
Our team at DCM Institute is growing too. Last month we welcomed Tania Kelly (pictured), a passionate retirement living professional who will be assisting our village professional community in their day to day roles.
Tania has over 20 years’ experience working in leadership and operational management, 12 years in the aged care sector, and management and hands-on experience in 100 village portfolio.
Jodie