Category: Things to watch

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Things to watch

Village Vibe contribution: How Watermark Wagga’s Melbourne Cup became fun for young and old!​

The Village Manager at Watermark Wagga had the idea to build a win-win relationship with the Hospitality division of the local Community College that enables students from the college to prepare and serve meals at the residents annual Melbourne Cup function.

Residents get to dust of the fascinators and enjoy each others company, while the students are granted the opportunity to experience what it is like to arrange and deliver a function.  

A fantastic opportunity for young and old to enjoy the festivities of Cup season.

They have been kind enough to share some of their photos below and above (event organiser and resident Jenny Grear enjoying a glass of bubbly).  Looks like they all had plenty of fun!

Fancy Hats: Anne Cottam and Nancye Rew enjoying each others company

Good time: Ves and Diane Skyes having fun at race day celebrations

Pastel Perfection: Margaret Gregurke and Katie Campbell dressed to the nines

Like to share your ‘good ideas’? Please send them in with photos. 

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Village Vibe Contribution By Vicki Neilson, Village Manager, Elliot Gardens, Port Elliot

Three years ago, I  introduced a ‘Girls Night In’ candlelight dinner for the ladies living at Elliot Gardens, Port Elliot. It has been a great success and still continues today.

This event raises funds for women’s cancer, an average of $1,000 each year. However importantly the ladies have a terrific evening. The Elliot Gardens team provide their time to assist with the setup, food preparation and they also run ‘games’ before and in between courses.

And I do all the cooking and I am NOT a professional chef by any stretch of the imagination! Eight male residents wait on the tables and bar and then we do it all again next month for the ‘Boys Night In’ dinner, the ladies will wait on them!

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Ageism – it happens to us all

Recently a friend of mine shared a book with me that provided food for thought on how we meet the needs and expectation of the future consumer as Retirement Community professionals.

That includes the language we use, the activities we encourage and the service model we provide. The biggest takeaway for me was further confirmation that our service models in villages must include consultation and respect for individualism.

Whilst much of our focus slants towards the positives we know Retirement Villages provide, we sometimes forget about the unintended consequences such as a lack of intergenerational contact and residents becoming focused on village life and not on their wider community. 

Ashton Applewhite’s book explains the roots of ageism—in history and in our own age denial—and how it divides and debases. Whether you’re older or hoping to get there, Ashton will change the way you see the rest of your life and help you break some old habits.

If you are like me and are time poor consider watching her TED Talk HERE.

Even better if you like what you are hearing, perhaps consider seeing her in person on her Australian tour.

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The next VM professional development day isn’t far away​

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.​

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How are you coping with dementia issues in your community?​ Here is a great tool

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

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DCM Institute supports the Next Generation

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

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Send us your positive Village Vibe stories to share

It’s easy as a Village Manager to get distracted and focus on the activities we don’t necessarily enjoy! 

But we would love it if you would share your experiences with us about something positive that’s happened in your village – a positive Village Vibe!

Send us your story in 200 words and a photo and we’ll start building a virtual wall of great memories.

To get the ball rolling here’s one of mine above!

Some villagers pulling a funny stunt on me whilst having a formal photo shoot at the village.  No, the hats weren’t part of the shoot requests!

When I got these photos, I went home that day with the biggest smile and smile every time I remember the fun we shared as a community.

Jodie

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Let them be Free – a Home Exchange Policy

In Jane Fonda’s memoirs she talks about Facts, Films and Activism during her life. 

Her activism is thought provoking, especially this quote, “It’s hard to have a happy life if you don’t have meaning”.  

Over the years as a village professional I have experienced all sorts of requests from residents and whilst No is often an easy answer, I’ve had to pull myself up and say, “Why not?”

One such example comes to mind — a resident wanted to participate in a Home Exchange program.  My initial response was ‘no’, visitors need to be accompanied by a resident as in the contract.

But I thought of Jane Fonda’s quote: what if travelling and sharing their home gives a resident meaning and purpose? 

So rather than stick with ‘no’ I developed a Home Exchange Policy & Procedure for the village in consultation with the Resident Committee.

Some of the key considerations included:

  • Getting the requests in writing
  • The Exchange visitor was to be of similar demographic
  • No visit was to be more than a month
  • The visitor was to meet with the Village Manager and made familiar with the village rules.
  • A breach of village rules would see the visitor’s stay terminated with seven days’ notice
  • All insurances and costs were the responsibility of the resident
  • No rent shall be charged to the visitor
  • Resident was to return to reside in the home

I found out only a few months ago that this same resident at the age of 87 was still participating in Home Exchanges.

If you have residents that love to travel share with them this great new initiative – The Freebird Club.

Jodie

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New NSW Ageing and Disability Commissioner warns retirement village operators

The new tough-talking Commissioner, Robert Fitzgerald AM warned village operators at the recent Property Council’s NSW Annual Retirement Forum that he would follow in the footsteps of the Royal Commission’s territory and crackdown on abuse in people’s homes, including retirement villages.

Commissioner Fitzgerald told village operators that they will be expected to produce any documents, from emails to Post It notes, and provide access to any premises to show their commitment to ending abuse, neglect and exploitation of the elderly in the community.

 Appointed to the new role on 1st July 2019, Mr Fitzgerald will have wide-ranging powers to conduct investigations into allegations of abuse and neglect.  He made it absolutely clear that he will use his powers to end elder abuse.

  • “Unless values are lived, they will falter.” 
  • “If incentives are not aligned with those values, the incentives will win, and abuse will occur.”
  • “Misconduct will happen because of failures of leadership and culture.  You show us we can trust you.”

Mr Fitzgerald gave examples of what would constitute abuse, including the case of a retirement village resident who was told by an electrician he had been warned by the Village Manager that she was a troublemaker – an act he termed psychological abuse.

He told the audience, “To believe this is a lilywhite industry is ridiculous!”

Chris

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Emergency plans revisited

We recently discussed the importance of emergency plans, and that more regulations are being developed across the country.

Again last week in Sydney at the DCM Professional Development Day, we had Kathleen Ng and David McElhone (pictured below) from the leading law firm MinterEllison run through new NSW regulations coming our way.

They had these points on the slide above that we thought was a good reminder of the minimum steps that need to be taken while you are doing a full review of emergency strategies and procedures.

Note the ‘once a year’ for safety inspections and evacuation exercise. Have you done yours?

Chris