Winter Family Gathering

Tuesday the 29th of July at 2pm

We would love you to join us!

As winter gently settled in, we embraced the seasonal shift with open arms and warm hearts. We have changed to our new winter menu which includes comforting soups and hearty meals.

With the cooler weather, our residents have been liking indoor activities. They have recently enjoyed some painting sessions, and we have discovered that we have some artistic talents hidden within our home. We have held baking days that have filled our home with the sweet, nostalgic scent of peanut butter cookies. These activities have been fun, but they are also deeply beneficial for our residents. Painting fosters self-expression, creativity, and focus. Baking allows residents to reminisce while engaging in a purposeful task.

Music continues to be a powerful source of joy and connection. We’re grateful for our roster of entertainers and Jammers. Jammers consist of people in smaller musical ensembles, offering an exciting mix of instruments, which keep each performance unique from different genres with songs from fifties, sixties and seventies. Music has a special role in dementia care. It helps with mood regulation, memory recall, and social interaction. Residents respond beautifully, often tapping or singing along, and smiling with recognition.

Furry friends have played an important part in brightening our days. Every month, Canine Friends bring in a new group of lovely dogs, each has their own personality. Whether big or small, shy or playful, these four-legged visitors are adored by residents and staff alike, offering companionship and sensory stimulation in a way only animals can. Our residents continue to enjoy the calming and comforting experience of weighted dog therapy.

We’re proud of our team and their ongoing commitment to excellence in care. Several staff members have reached important milestones: Charl, Fe, and Andy have completed their Dementia Unit Standards. Irene has successfully completed her Level 4 Health and Wellbeing qualification. These achievements reflect the dedication of our team to continuously improving the support they provide. In addition to our annual education plan, we recently held an education session on airway obstruction management — a critical area of training that can help respond to serious emergencies and ensure swift, effective responses.

We are already looking forward to our Mid-Winter Family Gathering on the 29th of July at 2pm. It promises to be a wonderful time of connection, laughter, and shared warmth. We hope to see families and friends joining us for this special celebration.

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

Thank you for your feedback

 At each of our rest homes around the country we have a regular family focus group. These groups are facilitated by Peter Hume who works for Dementia Care NZ from Christchurch. Sessions are aimed at getting some feedback from family members who visit often about how we can improve.

We ask questions like: How can we make life better for your loved one here?  How can we make life easier for you?  How can we support you more? At these meetings we often receive a gem of an idea that we take forward and put into action.

This year we had a session at Millvale House Levin. The family members were very complementary about the care we provide, commenting that they always leave feeling grateful for the care. There were also complements about the six-monthly MDT meetings and the communication following the fire last year.

They also raised several issues which we are following up:

• Investigate noise mitigation options for fire repair construction work.
• Resolve maintenance and garden issues.

We would like to thank everyone who was able to come to the family focus group. We really appreciate your time providing us with this feedback. We will continue to update you as we make progress with the issues raised in the focus groups.

If you have some feedback for us please do get in touch, and we also appreciate hearing your thoughts through the EPOA survey.

Magic Moment 

While I was walking with one of our residents, she put her hand in her pocket and gave me a small piece of folded newspaper. She said, “Do you want to watch a concert?” I opened the little piece of paper. It was advertising for an event at the Cossie Club on Friday at 8pm. I asked her if she wanted to go and watch. “YES ABSOLUTELY, what a wonderful idea!” she said.