Reflections 2019 SPRING EDITION
Sensational Seniors with RHONDA BURCHMORE Let’s talk FOOD WASTE Aged Care Industry AWARDS
Our CEO’s message to you As I sit and write my CEO message for our Spring issue of Reflections, it is at the end of a week of reward and recognition ceremonies for our team, which we schedule to coincide with the annual ‘Thank You for Working in Aged Care' Day. A time for me to reflect on the dedication and loyalty of our employees and the invaluable role they play in ensuring the welfare and happiness of our residents and consumers.
WHO ARE WE? Anglican Care is dedicated to enhancing the lifestyles of seniors by providing exceptional Residential Aged Care, Retirement Living, and Community and Home Care services to the Newcastle, Central Coast and Mid Coast regions. Anglican Care is the Aged Care Ministry of the Anglican Church of Newcastle.
With the national average tenure in a job in 2019, 3.3 years, Anglican Care is undoubtedly bucking the national trend with 359 of our 1020 employees recognised for lengths of service, ranging from one-year anniversaries to 30 years. Their combined service to Anglican Care adds up to 1268 years – a massive pool of knowledge and experience.
Front cover features Rosco Back and Rhonda Burchmore at our Taree Sensational Seniors Concert.
In further recognition of our fantastic employees, Anglican Care has received much attention in various award forums this year. You can read more about this later in our newsletter, but certainly as CEO of this exceptional organisation, it makes me proud to see our team recognised for the vital work that they do.
GET IN TOUCH
As the majority of people would be aware, aged care has been under the microscope in the last 12 months, particularly with the continuing work of the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety. It has recently been announced that the Government has agreed to the Royal Commission’s request for an extension of six months to continue to hear evidence from Australians and conduct its deliberations. An additional commissioner, the Hon Gaetano (Tony) Pagone QC, has now also been appointed. I believe that in due course, in line with the extension, the Commission will need to move from undertaking the environmental scan that it has been doing to date to investigating and proposing solutions to the identified issues. One element that will be key in whatever package of solutions and reforms is proposed, is a review of the existing funding models and levels of funding. As you will read in the property team update, our organisation is clearly at a peak in terms of our capital works program with C A Brown and Gloucester well underway and Carey Bay Gardens close to being ready for its DA Submission. We will continue to keep you upto-date with the progress of our various developments in future issues of Reflections. We recently bid farewell to Rev’d Julie Turnbull as she stepped down from the Board in July. We certainly appreciated Julie’s input into the governance and strategic direction of Anglican Care during her time on the Board. We are currently recruiting new members to the Board and will keep you updated on future appointments.
P 1800 733 553 E accareenquiry@anglicancare.com.au www.anglicancare.com.au Anglican Care Corporate Administration 87 Toronto Rd, Booragul NSW 2284
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I want to finish my message today reiterating to everyone in the Anglican Care community that we very much encourage your feedback. As the saying goes, whether it’s the good, the bad or the ugly, we want to know. We are committed to working in partnership with our employees, residents, consumers and their families and carers to identify both things that we are doing well or equally to know if there are areas for improvement. Please feel free to raise feedback through the various mechanisms available.
CAREER OPPORTUNITIES
I look forward to the opportunity to spend time with many of you over the upcoming festive season.
To find out what jobs are available, go to our Careers page on our website.
Colin Osborne, CEO
Looking for a career in Aged Care? We employ a huge range of roles across many fields of employment.
WANTING TO VOLUNTEER? We have an extensive volunteer program that is vital to supporting seniors in our community. You too could become a valuable volunteer, discover new friendships and sense of community. To find out more, give our office a call or go to the Volunteer page on our website.
SHINING A LIGHT ON EXCEPTIONAL COMMITMENT & ACHIEVEMENTS
commitment to his volunteer role, Stephen provides social and emotional support to residents and consumers, enhancing their quality of life through engagement, stimulation, and interaction. With a fantastic range of knowledge on topical subjects, Stephen can converse with everybody.
In addition to the two days a week he spends with Anglican Care in his voluntary role, Stephen spends countless hours at home and During 2019, Anglican Care has received recognition in several award forums including in the community researching specific topics of interest to residents and consumers that he the Lake Macquarie Business Excellence can share with them, i.e. particular poetry, old Awards, ACSA Aged Care Awards, Hunter Business Awards, and the Mid Coast Business records, and newspapers. Awards. These award forums recognise “Stephen has had a huge impact on outstanding achievements and contributions enhancing the lives of residents and made by organisations, teams, and individuals consumers. With a passion for supporting in both the aged care industry and broader older people, he is very humble regarding communities in which we operate. So why do we enter awards, you might ask? Anglican Care CEO, Colin Osborne, said one of the main reasons is as a way to recognise the hard work and achievements of our employees and volunteers. It is also valuable from a recruitment perspective, with potential employees able to see that Anglican Care has many of the attributes of the type of company where they would like to work.
“With a growing aged population, the recruitment of skilled and dedicated employees is an ongoing challenge," said Colin. “We are keen to be involved in any opportunities that showcase what a great organisation we are, providing rewarding work and several career pathways.” Along with being finalists in categories such as sustainability, contribution to the region, and employer of choice, we had some exceptional people recognised this year. Stephen Mendham, an 11-year veteran volunteer at Anglican Care, was named as a finalist in the ‘Volunteer of the Year' category at the ACSA Aged Care Awards in July of this year. Recognised for his dedication and
his extraordinary contribution to Anglican Care,” said Colin.
Known as a ‘local treasure’ with a passion for caring, Janean Cole was named ‘Employee of the Year’ at the ACSA Awards. Having devoted her career to the provision of end of life care and dignity, Janean has been a member of the Anglican Care team for four years employed as Nurse Practitioner Palliative Care for Anglican Care’s residential aged care services. Janean’s position encompasses risk management, medication management, palliative care, clinical governance, and policy development. She is an integral member of the local Medication Review Committee and has been instrumental in exploring the capacity for residential services to have core medications on-site, so they are accessible 24 hours per day. She also works collaboratively with GPs to plan appropriate clinical and medication management, including reducing polypharmacy. A key aspect of her role is to assess pain and agitation and to prescribe and de-prescribe pro-actively rather than reactively in consultation with the older person’s GP.
Janean, pictured above, has a total commitment to motivating and developing the knowledge and skills of clinicians, care staff, and families to enhance service delivery and ensure the best clinical and health outcome for individuals. Innovative in her approach, she is always looking for new ways or interventions to improve the quality of care and support that she and Anglican Care provide.
“Janean brings a tremendous amount of passion and commitment to her role and is devoted to enhancing the quality of life of seniors while focussing on them as individuals and respecting their dignity," said Colin. “And that’s what we’re all about at Anglican Care. "Both Stephen and Janean are shining examples of our values, and we are thrilled that they have received this recognition”.
TAREE CONCERT
SENSATIONAL SENIORS WITH RHONDA BURCHMORE + GUESTS
CELEBRATING EVERYTHING THAT’S GREAT ABOUT SENIORS! The feather boas have stopped malting, the tap shoes and sequins have been put away until next year, and the dance troupes and performers are having a well-deserved rest following this year’s annual “Anglican Care Sensational Seniors Concerts.” Two fantastic functions were held – the first at Club Macquarie Argenton on Thursday, 25th July and the second at Club Taree on Thursday, 8 August. Rhonda Burchmore, Australia’s leading lady, put on the Ritz and a little bit of razzle-dazzle as she joined Anglican Care for our annual concerts. Ms Burchmore is a household name as a singer, actress & entertainer and is immediately recognizable for her smile, flamed hair and big, bold and colourful voice. She performed some of her legendary tunes including Diamonds are a Girl’s Best Friend and All That Jazz at both our Hunter and Taree functions. During our Taree event Rhonda led a talented local cast which included the Taree High School Indigenous Dance Troupe who performed a ‘Cleansing Dance’, the Taree High School Dance Troupe performing The Greatest Showman, Taree Dance Group with a ballroom dancing treat, and the Club Taree Rockers. At our Hunter event, Rhonda led another talented local cast which included the Novatones Harmony Chorus, the Australian Dance and Talent Centre and making their big stage debut “The Anglican Care Dancing Queens” in front of almost 200 guests. Hear more about our fabulous concerts, including more photos by visiting our website www.anglicancare.com.au/news
HUNTER CONCERT
Let’s Talk About Food Waste
GREEN DAY CELEBRATING SUSTAINABILITY AT ANGLICAN CARE Our organisation wide Green Day celebrated Anglican Care being recognised as Bronze Partner through the Sustainability Advantage Program. The day was also a fantastic opportunity to share awareness of our new sustainability practices to our dedicated employees, our residents and consumers.
Did you know the average NSW household throws away $77 worth of edible food every week? That equates to an average household wasting $3,800 worth of food each year. Those figures come from the NSW Government’s new program, Love Food Hate Waste. Designed to show people in the community and industry how to reduce waste, save money and our environment.
Step 5 is Keep it fresh. Store your food correctly to preserve its nutrients and shelf life. That means having your fridge and freezer at the correct temperature, storing food in airtight containers, labelling leftovers before freezing, refrigerating items such as sauce and jam once open.
While some food waste is unavoidable, we can reduce our food waste by making a few simple changes in our own homes, saving money and landfill. The Six Step program outlined in the Love Food Hate Waste program makes the process of reducing waste easy.
The Love Food Hate Waste program has also been piloted across different industries to quantify their food waste and in consultation with the Program’s waste experts, develop strategies to reduce unnecessary food waste. As an aged care provider, Anglican Care was chosen to participate. Measuring food waste was key to understanding the exact measures of food waste at the preparation stage of resident meals, as well as what food was left on their plates.
Step 1 is Know your waste, by measuring your food scraps in a container over two days and weighing it so you can compare your results.
Finally, Step 6 is Love your leftovers. Get creative with your leftovers and you can make an entirely new meal.
Our staff embraced the challenge of minimising food waste and in collaboration with the program’s consultants, strategies to reduce waste emerged and were implemented. The results have been outstanding. Not only have we reduced an average of 6000kgs of food waste per annum Shop with a list is Step 3. This means you on average per residential aged care home, the remaining food waste is no longer landfill. don’t double up and reduces impulse buys. Instead it is collected and delivered to local farms in the Hunter Valley catchment area Step 4 can have a huge impact on your and is being delivered back to local farms/ amount of food waste, it is all about industries as mulch and compost. That’s getting the Perfect Portion size. Measure great for farmers and our environment.
Step 2 is Plan your meals. By planning your meals you can check what ingredients you already have and what you need and what extra portions can be frozen for another time.
your ingredients, follow a recipe so your portions are the right size, it will help reduce the waste on your plates.
Read more at www.lovefoodhatewaste.nsw.gov.au
property team
update
The local Gloucester community will have recently noticed that our Clement Street location is a hive of activity with earthmovers busy on-site getting ready for construction of the new residential aged care home. A recent site meeting provided an opportunity for key participants in the new facility to get together. Representatives from Kingston Building, APP, Manns & Troup, Hunter New England Local Health District and Anglican Care, joined Federal MP Dr David Gillespie, onsite to view progress. Anglican Care’s CEO, Colin Osborne, said it was pleasing to note that the development timeline was progressing well and on time, with residents anticipated to move in sometime during August/September 2020.
Anglican Care is also inviting the community to suggest a name for the new residential aged care home. Submit your suggestions via the Anglican Care website www.anglicancare.com.au/gloucester/ One of several developments we currently have underway, progress is continuing at a great rate on C A Brown Lodge at Booragul, and plans for the redevelopment of Carey Bay Gardens are also continuing at a good pace with the DA submission due to be lodged shortly. In other property news, the team recently completed the installation of solar panels at Storm Village, Cedar Wharf Lodge and Bishop Tyrrell Place. We were able to do this from funding we received in the 2018 Aged Care Regional Rural and Remote Infrastructure funding round. Great work Property Team, good for both Anglican Care and the environment!
“The site required significant work before construction to lower the ground level to reduce the visual impact on the homeowners across the street, ensuring everyone retains a view of the Bucketts,” Colin said.
Gloucester Seniors ies -
- Information Ser
Join us as we host a series of Seniors Sessions on a variety of dates over the next year at Gloucester Country Club. Our series of Senior Sessions will include a wonderful line up of talks on various topics, morning tea and the chance to ask questions. Reserve your seat today by calling 02 4958 0016 or email: bookings@anglicancare.com.au
OUR VERY FIRST SESSION IS ON WEDNESDAY 23RD OCTOBER AT 10AM - GLOUCESTER COUNTRY CLUB
SESSION 1: PLANNING FOR YOUR FUTURE
SESSION 2: A NEW APPROACH TO CARE
Date: 23rd October 2019 - 10am-11.30am
Date: 5th February 2020 - 10am-11.30am
Presented by Jacqui Culver, Nurse Practitioner.
Presented by Jacqui Culver, Nurse Practitioner.
Don’t miss hearing about Advance Care Planning and Estate Planning.
Hear advice on healthy ageing, the wellness model and Telehealth.
SESSION 3: REMAIN HAPPY AT HOME Date: 6th May 2020 - 10am-11.30am
Discover how you can remain independent in your own home with the right support. Presented by Chris Giles, General Manager, Community Care Services.
SESSION 4: PHYSIO TIPS
Date: 4 August 2020 - 10am-11.30am
Learn how to improve your strength and balance to help you avoid falls.
Presented by Gill O’Donnell, Community Therapy, Specialists in Ageing.
What’s NEWS? GARDEN CLUB - SUPPORTING HMRI WHY NOT STOP AND SMELL THE ROSES! Anglican Care has teamed up with the Lake Macquarie Garden Club this year as a sponsor of their annual Open Gardens & Art Trail Event. Held on Saturday, 12 and Sunday, 13 October from 10am-4pm, gardens will be open in Toronto, Blackall’s Park, Carey Bay, Coal Point, Wangi Wangi and Eraring. Tickets are $5 each garden or $35 for all ten gardens. All proceeds are donated to Hunter Medical Research Institute who undertake vital research to find solutions that prevent illness and allow people to have longer, healthier, happier lives. For more information follow the Lake Macquarie Garden Club Facebook Page. Grab some family and friends and get into the spring spirit!
DISCOVER NEW Editorials on our website
OUT & ABOUT FRIENDS REUNITED A beautiful story that will give you goosebumps. Millie and Winsome, who both call Warnervale Gardens Home, were recently bought together by Warnervale’s hairdresser Sue, who twigged that they both used to work at Waltons in Bankstown in the hosiery department. Upon getting together they realised that they used to work together all those years ago. Winsome’s nickname back then was ‘Cookie’. Many hours have since been spent reminiscing together!
THANKS FOR YOUR SUPPORT TORONTO DIGGERS A HUGE THANKS TO TORONTO DIGGERS for their ongoing support of Anglican Care via the Club Grants program. With our latest funding, we were able to purchase a GERi Nursing Skills Manikin which will be a fantastic addition to the learning and development programs we run for both our employees and volunteers. Utilising a life-like manikin (Geri) we are able to undertake best practice simulated education to allow people to learn a variety of nursing and manual handling techniques.
EVENTS JUST GONE
NAIDOC WEEK Fantastic NAIDOC Day celebrations were had across Anglican Care. The 2019 NAIDOC theme was Voice. Treaty. Truth. Pictured are Carmel Eastlakes and Alice Lucas from Greenmount Gardens enjoying the celebrations.
VIRTUAL REALITY FUNCTION Twelve brave and fearless residents and consumers came together in June to trial the use of Virtual Reality technology within our Lifestyle & Wellbeing programs. They conquered roller coasters, dinosaurs and heights, to name a few things. A great morning had by all – watch this space about where we go next with this innovative technology.
VOLUNTEER UPDATE VOLUNTEERS GET OUT YOUR CALENDARS It’s that time of the year again! Preparations are underway for our Christmas lunches to celebrate with our wonderful volunteers. iTEA Another fantastic ‘iTea’ function with the students from Bishop Tyrrell Anglican Collage at Fletcher. What we would call a win/win – the students show our residents and consumers how to use technology, and our residents share valuable lessons and their life experiences from a time the students find difficult to grasp. In addition to teaching residents how to use the internet, an iPad, Facebook, and mobile phones, hospitality students showcased their advanced culinary skills with a lovely afternoon tea.
HUNTER / CENTRAL COAST LUNCH The Hunter/Central Coast volunteer lunch will be held at Club Macquarie on Thursday, 28 November 2019. MID COAST LUNCH The Mid Coast will be at Club Taree on Friday, 6 December 2019. The date for Bulahdelah will be announced shortly. We farewelled one of our extraordinary volunteers in June. Elaine Mortomore retired after 33 years of delivering volunteer services to the clients of our Day Centres. A lovely, wise and caring lady who has contributed countless hours of her time in her volunteer role. She will be missed, but we wish her all the best on her well-deserved retirement. We are currently on the lookout for some new volunteers to help out with bus outings and activities at our Warnervale Gardens residential aged care home. Our homes in the Hunter and Mid Coast regions could also use some extra helpers. As a volunteer, you can make friendships, increase social interaction and gain personal satisfaction. Contact our Volunteer Administrator Lynne Wills on 49580078 to find out more. Our Volunteers really do help to make ‘every moment matter’!
RETIREMENT LIVING SPECIAL C A Brown Retirement Living – Winsome Lye
Storm Retirement Living – Kathy Bullock
My goodness! It’s Spring already and the Christmas advertisements have already started on the Television. The construction on the new Residential Care Home is more than halfway to completion. Our thanks to Anglican Care Property Services for keeping us well informed as to the progress, and of any disruptions.
Such fun! Hilarious! Fantastic entertainment! Did you see us on television? These were comments our residents were making even days after a very stimulating event. The Seniors Concert was that event. It was held on 8th August at Club Taree, sponsored by Anglican Care and organised by their Marketing Manager, Kylie Jacques & her team. Residents of Storm Retirement Village, Bishop Tyrrell Place & those receiving care in their homes were the invited guests. Around 150 people were present including residents, staff, volunteers and entertainers.
We have been spoilt with wonderful functions provided for us by Anglican Care this year, free luncheons served by the Trainees of Hospitality Services and of course, the fantastic “Sensational Seniors" Concert with Rhonda Burchmore and our own “Dancing Queens”, no, I don’t think they are available for concert bookings!!! A “Christmas in July” dinner, complete with lovely table decorations, little gifts for everyone, and a delicious two course meal, it was another happy occasion enjoyed by all who attended. A BIG thank you to our very generous residents who recently raised $775 for The Cancer Council at a special Games Afternoon, such a worthy cause! We are looking forward to the refurbishment of Timbury Hall, it will be lovely to have new furniture, I know it will be appreciated by all of our residents. One of our most enjoyable day trips recently was to “Hunter Valley Hotel Academy” at the Kurri Kurri Technical Campus. What a fantastic facility it is! They cater for students from far and wide with lovely living away accommodation provided for them while they study. We had a tour of the Campus and a delicious luncheon served by the students, even the wine was made on the premises. Another favourite was our visit to The Hawkins Masonic Village “Men’s Shed”. I don’t think I have ever seen so much equipment for making a large variety of furniture, toys and household items, all beautifully finished. A wonderful feature was the fantastic Model Train Track made by the residents. We completed our day by following the Hunter River from Raymond Terrace winding our way back down to Hexham Bowling Club for lunch. Our willing workers on The Social Committee continue to provide us with delicious afternoon teas on our “Happy Hour” afternoons and a wide variety of entertainment. Now that the cold winter season has finished (thank goodness) here is a little poem for Spring that you may remember from your school days. “I wandered lonely as a cloud that floats on high o’er vales And hills, when all at once I saw a crowd, a host, of golden Daffodils; beside the lake, beneath the trees, fluttering and Dancing in the breeze.” – William Wordsworth
The two hour programme was ably compèred by Rhonda Burchmore wearing an elegant green dress, who also delighted us with her rich and vibrant professional voice, singing a number of songs. Local talent, the youthful Aboriginal dance troupe presented with pride stories from their ancient culture told in rhythm & movement. The Taree High School’s dance group performed their synchronized routines oozing a love for what they do and coordinating so harmoniously with one another. Taree’s U3A ballroom dancers were graceful and a delight to watch. They were a reminder that even in later years many are staying active, some were seasoned dancers while others are newly learning this pleasure. We understood that one gentleman was once the Australian Ballroom Champion. The audience was invited to get up and dance, anyone who was able. Home Care consumer Rosco (pictured on the front cover) and a staff member wowed us with their ability. Then there were the Taree Rock and Rollers! Also mature aged, their foot work, swing and speed had us gasping. But it wasn’t long before gasping turned to giggling as we responded to their invitation to join in while remaining seated. We were given arm movements to perform in time to the jazz music, rolling our arms, tapping, clapping, swaying; what a work out. We sure needed our lunch after that. And what a lovely lunch it was, prepared and served by Club Taree’s catering staff. We loved all that was provided for us, the food and the entertainment. Thank you for a truly wonderful concert. But we also noticed and admired the contribution made by staff and volunteers on that day, a contribution made with such generosity of spirit. It took a huge team effort with amazing precision to get our residents ready, to get them onto buses, to bring their wheelie walkers and wheel chairs, and to get everyone seated for the concert which commenced right on time. And then it all happened in reverse to get everyone home again. Planning obviously started ages ago. So to Kylie and all the workers we add our word of appreciation, thankyou!