Mid- Winter Family Gathering

Matai and Ngaio homes: Wednesday the 23rd of July at 2pm

Kowhai and Koromiko homes: Thursday the 24th of July at 2pm

We would love you to join us!

It’s been a busy time here at Aberleigh!

Several of our residents have recently celebrated their birthdays. Birthdays are a lovely time to honour our people. We enjoyed making them feel special and sharing their delicious cakes! We had family and friends join us from afar for one resident’s birthday. It was a big affair, and our residents enjoyed being part of the festivities too.

We have enjoyed a few other festivities in our home recently too. Mother’s Day was a lovely occasion at Aberleigh. We held high teas for the ladies and the men happily celebrated the day with them. They enjoyed talking about their own mothers. We also recently celebrated the Cambodian New Year with the help of some family members. We decorated and enjoyed lots of nice food. To celebrate the King’s Birthday, we engaged in some royal arts and crafts and a special afternoon tea.

In the lead up to ANZAC Day we made poppies and displays. On the day, there was a service for our residents to attend. Later in the day Wayne Love came in to perform for us.

We recently held some craft workshops in our home and once again we enjoyed pottery classes. These were very popular, and the residents really enjoyed the process. 

A small but eager group of residents attended a beading workshop in our home. This was run by Claire who brought in many beautiful beads of all shapes, sizes and colours. There were beads made from wood, large textured beads, alphabet beads, some that glowed in the dark, and even some that changed colour. The residents each made their own bracelet, and some chose to use alphabet beads to write their name. They felt very accomplished with the final products. The classes seemed to bring a boost of confidence and joy to those who participated.

We have had the Castaway Ukulele group come in to perform for us again recently. This group are always well received by our residents. We enjoyed a visit from our wonderful Lorraine who comes in to play the piano. When she comes, we all get together for a good sing along. This is enthusiastically received, especially by the ladies in our home.

We continue to hold Church Services in our home each Friday. There is always a good turnout of residents and some lovely singing voices among us. We also hold Catholic Holy Communion for those of our residents that would like to have this.

We recently welcomed new Registered Nurses, Jincy and Anna to our team. Jeff has also joined us as a Caregiver. Do feel free to introduce yourselves when you see them around.

Once again, staff have been involved in a large amount of training in our home. This included training in The Best Friends Approach to Care, Infection Control, Safe Transferring, Pain Management, Pressure Injuries, Continence Management, Health & Safety, Embracing Diversity, Complaints Management, Privacy & Confidentiality. This training will help us to continue to provide your loved ones with the best possible care.

Finally, we are excited to invite you to our upcoming Winter Family Gatherings. These will be held at 2pm on Wednesday the 23^rd of July for Matai and Ngaio homes, and at 2pm on Thursday the 24^th of July for Kowhai and Koromiko homes. We would love you to come and join us for these special occasions.

Greetings everyone

It feels like we are now well into the winter months and we are needing to keep everyone rugged up around our homes. Our winter menu helps to keep everyone warm too with lots of hearty food and warm soups. I always enjoy the smell of these wafting through our homes when I visit.

We had some disappointing news recently, that the pay equity claims were stopped by the Government. Caregiver pay has effectively been paused since 2022 and we had been working as part of an employer group to help progress these claims. This has a large impact on our team. It is hard to see the wonderful work our care team do not rewarded in the way it should be.

I am reminded of the quote “work is love made visible”, and this is never more true than for our care staff. Whether it be sharing a funny story, enjoying some music or just having a cup of tea together in the sun, our team work to ensure our residents enjoy some magic moments each day. These actions flow through to all of our lives.

We have been writing to MPs and Government ministers about this and we would encourage you to as well if you feel strongly about this cause.

On another note, as you will see in this newsletter, we have a lot on the go to improve and extend our aged care services. It is really pleasing to see this happening.

Andrew Sheard, Managing Director

Rhea Abordonado has taken up a new role as the National Operational Support Leader around our homes.

This is a new role which includes travelling to our homes and working with the operations managers and coordinators to assist them in various aspects of their roles. Rhea will be helping them to grow and develop, looking for areas for improvement and facilitating learning from each other within the operations side of our homes.

The operations role is a varied one which is crucial to the running of our homes. It involves:

• Looking after our staff teams
• Overseeing our food service
• Quality requirements
• Overseeing the laundry service
• Managing building maintenance and contractors
• Marketing our home

Rhea knows our organisation inside out and has already been taking a leadership role around our homes in the wider Wellington area. It is great to have her expanding this role and helping our operations team to build on the great work that they do.

Resident Long Term Care Plan

A long-term care plan for residents in aged care is a structured process used to assess, document, and meet a resident’s physical, emotional, social, and spiritual needs. It ensures that each person receives personalised and consistent care based on their preferences, health conditions, and overall wellbeing. Developing a care plan is crucial to the care of a person.

Its importance:

• It promotes holistic, person-centred care.  We think of the four dimensions of the Māori health model Te Whare Tapa Whā and consider physical, mental, emotional, spiritual and family/social wellbeing.
• With family involvement we learn more about the person being cared for and we hear family thoughts on care.  Often family/EPOA are sharing the journey with their loved one.
• It helps staff provide safe and appropriate support.
• It guides day-to-day decisions and helps manage changing health needs.
• It ensures continuity of care across shifts and disciplines.

Family Involvement

Families are a valuable part of the care planning process. Your insights into your loved one’s preferences, routines, history, and values help us create a plan that truly reflects who they are.

We encourage you to:

• Participate in initial and regular care plan meetings.
• Share any changes or concerns you notice.
• Ask questions and provide feedback at any time.  This also can give us an opportunity to support you too.

Our Role

The facility’s care team, including registered nurses, caregivers, allied health professionals, and diversional therapists and activity coordinators take responsibility for a care plan.  

To begin with, we bring the person into our mind and our hearts and together we ask questions to help us work out what is required to meet the holistic needs of each resident.  This team is responsible for:

• Assessing your loved one’s needs.
• Developing and reviewing the care plan regularly or when needs change.
• Communicating with families and the resident about changes in care.
• Ensuring all staff follow the care plan to provide consistent support.

A Living Document

The care plan is not a one-time document – it is living and evolving. It changes as your loved one’s needs, preferences, or health status change. Regular reviews ensure it stays relevant and responsive.

By working together, families and the care team can ensure your loved one receives the most respectful, dignified, and compassionate care possible. Your voice matters and you are always welcome on this journey alongside your loved one.  You are part of the team.

Dementia Care NZ Clinical Team

Magic Moment

Today I invited a resident to attend the church service which was held in the lounge at the opposite end of the building. Usually we take a particular resident there in a wheelchair, or sometimes we encourage her to walk some of the way, but she's usually reluctant. Today she had more energy and she asked me to walk with her there and then back again afterwards. She was smiling and proud of herself, as was I proud of her!

I hadn't been working in a resident’s wing for a couple of weeks so I hadn't seen her for a while. When I got to see her again, she said, ‘Oh oh, where have you been I've missed you so much!’ She looked like she wanted to cry, then she showed me the blanket I had given to her many weeks previous and said she had missed me so much but the blanket helped. Then I saw her daughter and she was telling me about how much her Mum had missed her friend and how excited she was that her friend was back. It was so nice to hear.