Warm summery days have arrived, and we are making the most of good weather by heading out to work in our Vegepod. We have had our first harvest and shared this with everyone. We now have a regular supply of parsley in the kitchen and flowers in our dining room.

We are fortunate to have been joined by four young cows grazing the paddock and keeping the grass down. Our visiting peacock has been around these past few months, visiting each of the homes and waiting out on the deck for food. We all love seeing the peacock displaying his tail feathers. Our raised garden in Toetoe is his favourite place to be; he enjoys helping himself to the freshly planted greens!

This year, we have enjoyed a steady, stable team here at Millvale Lindale, but we are sad to farewell our Registered Nurse, Shirleen, who will be leaving us for Australia. We are very fortunate in that one of our own staff, Ritu, will graduate from nursing training at Whitireia in November and will step into the Registered Nurse role. We will also be saying goodbye to Brian, who does our maintenance and gardening. Brian has been with us for six years. We are so grateful to Shirleen and Brian for all they have done for us.

We have finally completed recarpeting the Nikau, Tanika and Toetoe homes. This work started back in July. We’re also well underway with repainting their hallways and lounges in a new colour. We are slowly updating the furniture around the home with some new dining and Lazy Boy chairs.

Paula recently attended the Clinical Managers Development Days in Christchurch. All the Clinical Managers from our organisation came together and it was a great opportunity to form connections and share ideas. She left the development days with specific approaches for improving resident care and operational efficiency.

Finally, as Christmas draws near, our activities team is busy decorating trees and making our home look festive. We are excited that our Christmas family gatherings are just around the corner. We do hope you can join us in making these truly special. We look forward to spending time with you.

Memories Past

He doesn’t know me, but I know him so well, he’s been there my whole life. Helping him stand is hard, he could tip at any moment. We make our way down the corridor to a new room, sitting him down as he looks out at the rolling hills, the top of them disappearing into the asphalt sky.

The silence hangs heavy. I’m unable to ask questions, he wouldn't know the answers. Nothing about what has just happened, nothing that's going to happen, only what's right now. In an odd way it makes me feel good, knowing that the only thing he knows is right now, he’s living in the moment more than any of us.

He’s almost like a house of cards, if the wind blows too hard he would come crashing down. I used to go walking with him every time we caught up, but now he’s so frail. Needing my help to stand and sit. I can’t help feeling sad, this once tall wise man now unable to talk fluently, or know where he is. A gem like tear glides down my face, when I look at him again his leathery skin is held in a smile. Maybe all he needs is to spend time with another person, just being with someone is enough.

Aidan, aged 15, grandson of Bill Gillespie. 

New initiatives to help our residents feel at home

Helping people find their bedrooms

Some people who have memory loss may find it hard to identify their bedroom, without some visual cues. As a result, we find that our residents may go into another person’s room by mistake, as they are looking for something that is familiar to them.

We are in the process of placing, or in some cases replacing a frame next to the door of each resident’s room and we will be requiring the assistance of family members. Please supply us with a photograph of your family member, or a photograph of something else that has significant memories for them.

Photographs of the resident will need to be one from the past, as people with dementia will often lose their short-term memory, though memories from longer ago will usually remain intact.

The best example would be a photograph of your family member engaging with one of their hobbies, or at a location that they will remember.

It would be wonderful if you could bring in a photo that your loved one recognises as unique to them.

Weighted dogs

We have recently purchased a weighted dog for each of our dementia units, which is a stuffed animal that is slightly heavier than a normal stuffed toy. These can provide enormous benefits for some people living with dementia:

• Weighted, stuffed animals can provide a sense of companionship, reducing feelings of loneliness.
• For people who struggle with verbal communication, stuffed animals can serve as a communication aid.
• The presence of a stuffed animal can have a calming effect, helping to ease agitation and anxiety.
• Weighted animals can provide a sensory experience, making people feel secure and occupied.
• Holding and stroking a weighted animal can improve motor skills.

The weighted dogs are for the whole community. If you feel that your loved one has engaged with the dog and has gained some benefit from it, please talk to a member of staff for details about how to purchase one specifically for your loved one.

Simon Hamley, National Mental Health Nurse and Training Coordinator

Our clinical team

I’m really enjoying the longer sunny days as we head towards summer and the holiday season. It is a lovely time at our homes, with residents getting out and enjoying the warmth and even getting into some gardening.

I’d like to talk about our clinical team as we’ve recently made some changes to strengthen our expertise in this area.

Urmee Dean is taking up a new role as the National Clinical and Quality Lead. She will lead the clinical management team.

Urmee’s approach is strongly people-focused, with a commitment to empowering and supporting our older population to continue to be in charge of living their lives in the way that makes them happy. Urmee is at home working within a multi-disciplinary team striving to provide the highest quality of care at all times.

Jenish Pillay and Ranjit Kaur have joined our team as Regional Clinical Managers.

Jenish has a wealth of experience in aged care as a Registered Nurse and a Clinical Manager in Hawkes Bay and Christchurch. Jenish has excellent communication, problem solving and mediation skills which make her an exceptional choice to lead a person-centred care team at our homes. Jenish is looking after Millvale House Miramar, Millvale House Waikanae, Millvale Lodge Lindale, Millvale House Levin and Millvale House Napier.

Ranjit began her journey in aged care with Dementia Care NZ at Avonlea Dementia Care. She has since become an experienced Clinical Manager. She is thrilled to return to where she started, now in a new role but still driven by the same vision: to embrace all individuals with kindness and compassion. Ranjit is looking after Avonlea Dementia Care, Admatha Dementia Care and Leighton House. She is also supporting Soumy Saju who is the Regional Clinical Manager at Aberleigh Rest Home and Tasman Dementia Care.

These new appointments are supported by our Clinical Advisor, Megan Sendall, our Mental Health Nurse and Education Coordinator, Simon Hamley, and our Quality and Systems Manager, Chris Booth.

I’m very pleased to have such a strong clinical team leading the care of our residents.

Clinical Managers days

We held our Clinical Managers days last month. This is always a great opportunity for our clinical leaders to share their successes at their homes across our wider team and learn from each other.

This time the sessions focused on leadership methods, developing clinical skills, cultural care and reinforcing our Vision and Values. Learnings from these training days are shared with the staff teams at each of our homes.

It was great to see the team getting together and heading back to each of their homes with some new ideas.

Finally, the Christmas season is always a special time around our homes and I hope you will find time to enjoy it with us over the coming months. I wish you all the best.

Andrew Sheard, Managing Director

Thank you for your feedback

We would like to thank everyone who completed our EPOA surveys or attended our family focus group this year. We really value the time you have spent providing feedback for us. We appreciate your thoughts and suggestions in relation to your loved one’s care within our home. The feedback from the surveys has now been collated and if you are interested in taking a look, you will find it posted to the bulletin board in our home. There are several areas that our organisation as a whole has started looking into as a result of family feedback from around the homes.

One area of focus is ensuring that whānau are as involved as they would like to be in creating and updating loved ones’ care plans. While some families may choose to be less involved with this process, your input helps us to get to know new residents quickly and makes the process of settling in easier. Your knowledge of your loved one is invaluable in setting up a care plan for them.

There was some feedback on our activities programme and food service through both the surveys and the family focus groups. We hold monthly Diversional Therapy meetings organisation wide. In these, we share ideas and hear about what others are planning. The weighted dogs that have been popular among our residents are an example of the ideas that come out of this group.

We are also focusing on further improving our food service, so that our residents continue to enjoy appetising meals that are varied and well-presented. We have collected results from a separate meal survey to further identify our strengths and weaknesses in this area and are working to improve our food service.

Magic Moment

While our musician, Bill was playing, one of our residents was invited to dance, but she declined. However, very soon her children arrived. She stood up, started dancing and gave her son a kiss and a hug! It was very special to see the enthusiasm, joy and energy she had with her children around her.