Chairman’s column

THANKS FOR CARING

LET’S CELEBRATE AGED CARE EMPLOYEE DAY ON 7 AUGUST

Dr Graeme Blackman AO FTSE FAICD Chairman, Leading Age Services Australia

The impact of coronavirus has been compared to the World Wars of the 20th century and, economically, to the Great Depression. In almost every way, the pandemic has forced families, communities and businesses to re-set their plans.

Our age services industry has been under incredible pressure, particularly in light of the death tolls we have seen overseas.

Australian aged care has faced an extraordinary situation, leading to an extraordinary response that has been extraordinarily effective thus far.

In percentage terms of the loss of life among our most vulnerable older people, we are running at less than half the rate of many comparable advanced overseas nations.

The resolve of the industry and the unparalleled dedication of our committed and resolute staff has been exceptional.

As one of our Members relates in this edition of Fusion, the pandemic is unprecedented but the expertise and commitment to excellence and protection we have seen across aged care in Australia is not unprecedented for us—it is what our workforce does.

That is why our celebration of Aged Care Employee Day 2020 on 7 August is based on the premise of “aged care superheroes”, to whom we say a giant “thanks for caring”.

Despite the many unknown factors and the apprehension that challenged aged care in the early days of COVID-19, our workforce has consistently shown their strength of resolve and continues with an iron will to sustain care and community spirit.

The compliments that have flowed from families, friends and residents have been heartening and absolutely deserved. One family wrote recently of aged care staff: “They were providing comfort, contact and support even though they were on night shift and had a full work load to deliver. That is compassion of the highest order. How do you thank these people for the love and care they provide? It is not just a job to them. Most importantly they showed how considerate and caring they are to their residents.”

The dedicated work of staff and providers during the COVID-19 pandemic has been highlighted in two comprehensive surveys conducted by LASA.

The home care survey covered Members caring for more than 90,000 older Australians and found that almost 90 per cent of providers increased regular telephone contacts, 84 per cent implemented special grocery shopping, 75 per cent put in place video monitoring and social support, and 41 per cent are working digitally to connect friends and family.

The residential care survey covered Members caring for more than 12,000 residents and found that, during visitation restrictions, alternative family linkages were put in place, with 97 per cent of providers using additional telephone calls, 95 per cent doing video calls and 86 per cent providing visits through windows or other barriers.

In many cases, additional staff were rostered, with residents having more activities including outdoor barbecues, games, personal care and exercises, morning and afternoon teas in the courtyards and more indoor activities.

The survey also found that 90 per cent of family and friends and 82 per cent of residents strongly agreed or agreed with the protections implemented by residential homes, signalling a high degree of trust in the care and decision-making of staff and providers.

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One of LASA’s key roles is being the voice of aged care and we are proud to encourage and lead a chorus of positive commentary across the nation.

Recently, LASA’s communications team asked for “good news” stories and received more than 60 within a few days.

This is fundamentally important to changing broader community attitudes and growing support for the dedication and diligence of our aged care workforce and management.

That is why, in the lead up to Aged Care Employee Day, LASA is asking all age services to use their social media platforms and local media outlets to highlight our aged care heroes and the great teams who care. As we have seen during these challenging times, there are also many community members who are willing and proud to pay tributes, too.

This can be through the telling of good news stories in your local newspaper or news website and through video, written or photographic posts on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or LinkedIn, with the hashtag #Thanksforcaring.

The aim is create a much-deserved groundswell of acknowledgement for the dedication to care, that we want to keep going like a Mexican wave around our country for the foreseeable future.

Thanks for caring. ■

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