It’s been a few months since our last newsletter, but a lot has happened!

As summer rolled on, we made the most of the fine days by getting outside. On Saturdays, we took walks down to the Waikanae Market Day. We perused the stalls there and indulged in some hot food or a drink. We’ve enjoyed sightseeing trips to Elizabeth Park, Nga Manu Reserve and the beach. Residents made the most of their outings to take a walk, feed the ducks, bask in the sun and enjoy an ice cream. We enjoyed the smell of sausages sizzling on the barbeque and on some lazy summer days we headed outdoors for picnics. Group walks around the neighbourhood kept us active and busy on fine days. It’s great to get out and about! We have been making pikelets in our new electric frying pan, and the residents have been enjoying regular baking sessions.

Over summer we had visits from some musical entertainers. Alan belted out some nostalgic songs which took us on a trip down memory lane.  We enjoyed sounds and vibrations with Andres, and Hannah treated us to some modern operatic music.

Recently, we were very excited to welcome the pet therapy organisation, Canine Friends, into our home. Elizabeth brought her beautiful dog Huripari to visit us. His name means ‘hurricane’ in te reo Māori; he has a mischievous streak. The residents loved their time with Huripari and we are delighted that he and Elizabeth will be visiting us fortnightly.

Finally, it's been wonderful to have Gerline in the role of Clinical Manager over the past few months. We wish her all the best and look forward to seeing her back again in the future.

It has been a busy start to the year across the aged care sector. You may have heard about the MediMap outage – MediMap is the electronic medication management system which is used in our rest homes and across many aged care and healthcare services in New Zealand.

MediMap identified unauthorised activity within its system that resulted in some resident demographic information (such as name, date of birth, prescriber details or location of care) being incorrectly modified.

Importantly, we have been advised that there is currently no evidence that medication charts or medication administration records have been altered.

All of our rest homes are now back up and running using MediMap. In the meantime our staff have done a great job of implementing our offline systems. The MediMap outage gave us a good opportunity to review these systems and ensure they are fit for purpose if something like this happens again.

I’ve recently travelled around the country visiting many of our rest homes.

One of the things I enjoy most about this is meeting our new staff. I run a Vision and Values training session with each new staff member in group sessions. In these groups we talk about our families, where home is and what home feels like for each of us. We reflect on what makes our home feel like a home.

While the physical spaces we call home are often quite different, we find that the qualities that create a homely feel are quite similar. It is a space where everyone feels comfortable to be their true self, to express themselves and to be understood by loved ones.

We want our rest homes to feel like home for our residents, you our residents’ families, and our staff teams. That means that we want everyone to be comfortable in this space and we need to get to know one another in a meaningful way. This takes time, and it is something our staff teams work extremely hard on.

We very much appreciate your input into this; whether sharing information about your loved one and how they lived, participating in every day life around the home or letting us know when we haven’t quite got it right.

You can read through our Vision and Values here.

Ngā mihi

Andrew Sheard, Managing Director

You may occasionally see members of our clinical leadership team visiting your home. I’m Arah, National Clinical and Quality Lead, and I’m joined by our Regional Clinical Managers, Ranjit and Jenish, who support teams across our homes. Soumy also provides regional clinical support specifically for Aberleigh.

Our role is to work alongside Clinical Managers and Registered Nurses, offering guidance and support, strengthening clinical practice, and helping ensure the care we provide continues to reflect the kindness, respect, and genuine connection that matter so much to us all. Visits help us stay closely connected with residents, whānau, and the everyday life of each home.

I spend time with Ranjit and Jenish most days. We discuss resident issues that arise, sharing ideas and brainstorming solutions together. This means that I am well apprised of the things that are happening in the residents' home, the risks and the more challenging situations, and also the wonderful things that occur.

If you spot Jenish or Ranjit during a visit, please feel welcome to say hello. They always enjoy meeting families.

Arah Cartagena, National Clinical and Quality Lead

Introducing Angelyn

We are happy to share that Millvale House Waikanae has started sponsoring Angelyn through Tearfund and Compassion International. Angelyn is a one year old girl who lives in the Philippines and she loves clapping her hands to a rhythm.

Our sponsorship will provide Angelyn with:

• Educational support and vocational training
• Character and confidence building opportunities
• A safe place to learn, play and grow
• Regular medical checkups and immunisations
• Nutritional support to treat and prevent malnutrition
• Emergency support in times of disaster and crisis
• A loving community and healthy relationships

We are excited to hear about Angelyn’s progress as she grows, and our activities team is looking forward to involving residents in writing supportive and encouraging letters to her as she gets older.  In your loved one's home, you will find a photograph of Angelyn with a bit of information about her. Take a look if you are interested.

Our sponsorship of Angelyn through Tearfund sits comfortably alongside our support of New Zealand children through Pillars Ka Pou Whakahou. Pillars is a New Zealand charity that actively supports the tamariki and whānau of people in prison or those serving a community-based sentence.

Tearfund is a non-profit organisation working for a just and compassionate world. If you would like further information, please visit their website: www.tearfund.org.nz

Jim Haines, Director DCNZ

Magic Moments

 A team member was assisting a resident by helping to put on her sandals. The resident patted our team member on the shoulders and said thank you, at the same time as giving her a kiss on the cheek. It showed her appreciation of this small act.

A resident who is often quiet and solitary was asked how he was doing. He smiled and answered “You are doing a good job,” and he gave the team member a pat on the shoulder.