WINTER 2022 | ISSUE 18
HILLVIEW TIMES The latest news and views from Merrimac and Ashmore
IT'S WHAT'S ON THE INSIDE THAT COUNTS!
A Message From Our Care Manager by Carly-Jane Mattiske
What's Growing this Winter
Greetings HillView Care family and welcome to the winter edition of our newsletter!
What's Cooking this Winter
The cold and flu season is now in full swing with increasing cases of COVID and Influenza identified in the community. HillView is weathering the storm with staff focusing on maintaining the health and wellbeing of our residents to minimise the risk of illness, and encouraging them to maintain hydration, nutrition, physical activity, & exercise. Over the past month most residents have been receiving their COVID booster and Influenza immunisation to decrease the risk of infection and increase protection against serious illnesses.
Resident Feature: Shirley Daly Staff Feature: Alison Ramsey Lifestyle: Mad Hatter's Tea Party Mother's Day Anzac Day A Carnival of Animals International Nurse's Day HillView Steps Physiotherapy Your Feedback Matters So Long
HillView staff have done a tremendous job of keeping our residents safe and for that we thank them for their ongoing hard work and dedication. I would also like to thank our families and visitors for assisting to keep our residents safe by not visiting the facility if feeling unwell and wearing face masks to decrease the risk of transferring infection. However, we must continue to remain extra vigilant and not visit if feeling unwell to keep our residents safe. Over the last five months I have enjoyed getting to know everyone, please make yourself known to me if we haven’t already met. I believe in working collaboratively with residents and their families to ensure the resident's needs, goals and preferences are met to optimise their health and wellbeing.
Director's Award
Please feel free to contact me via email: care.manager@hillviewcare.com.au
What's Happening this Winter?
CJ
what's growing this winter? WITH HILLVIEW HEAD GARDENER, TOM
With Queensland enduring the coldest temperatures since 1904 (!), I've been enjoying the physical activity in the garden, to keep me warm! The garden edging at Ashmore is still in progress, with timber sleepers replacing the old edging, giving a more earthy authentic appearance. I'm also giving the Memory Care Unit verandah a refresh with some new planter boxes, for residents to plant their own potted colour and veggies. The garden clean up continues, after six months of persistent rain. A healthy dose of mulch will retain the moisture in the ground for months to come, keeping our plant life happy. Should you venture out into the gardens, be sure to look for some winter blooms Grevilleas and Bottlebrushes, the Orange Trumpet Vine can be found sprouting in Merrimac at the Gooding Centre and the Café, and the Manuka and Metrosideros (NZ Christmas tree) bushes are just coming into flower. And don't forget to look out for some amazing sunsets this time of year, something the Gold Coast does so well! Stay warm in the garden this winter!
Tom
what's cooking this winter? WITH HILLVIEW HEAD CHEF, LIJO
Whilst food for many is a simple everyday staple, HillView Care take it extremely seriously. Dining at HillView should be a pleasurable and nourishing experience. It is our belief that every Resident be served only the very finest food, using the freshest ingredients at all times.
With a very brisk start to winter, we've launched straight into warm foods, like soups, curries, roasts, stews, and risottos, all served with a plentiful supply of carb rich root vegetables. Parsnips, swede, potatoes, carrots, brussel sprouts cauliflower, leeks and broccoli will all make their way into our dishes this season. Very few can go past a dessert! Hot pudding favourites to be found on a HillView table this winter include Butterscotch Pudding, Sticky Date Pudding, Apple Strudel, Bread & Butter Pudding, Apple Pie & Custard, Chocolate SelfSaucing Pudding, Ginger Pudding...hungry yet? Upcoming events we'll be catering for include Multicultural Week, where we'll be celebrating dishes from Mexico, India, Philippines, UK and Germany; and our annual mid-year feast, Christmas in July, where we'll be serving traditional turkey roast and Christmas Pudding. Yours in cooking,
Chef Lijo
RESIDENT FEATURE: S H I R L E Y A N N E D A L Y (13 DECEMBER 1932)
Shirley was born and educated in Brisbane and enjoyed a happy childhood with 4 siblings. The tragic loss of her much loved Irish father when she was 15 left her family bereft, and heralded new responsibilities. At 16 years of age, Shirley studied and became a registered nurse at the Royal Brisbane Hospital. She transferred to the country hospital of Chinchilla in her early twenties and was involved in all aspects of nursing. After marrying a local lad, Shirley became a home carer and mother to 5 children. As well as raising her children, she was also heavily involved in her husband’s local land clearing, welding and powerline building businesses. Always energetic and with a zest for life, Shirley involved herself enthusiastically in numerous community activities and services. Voluntary community service has been one of the cornerstones of Shirley’s life up until only recently. In 1975, Shirley and her family moved to the Gold Coast, where she has resided to this day. In her mid 40s, Shirley resumed her nursing career in homecare nursing working for the St Vincent de Paul Home Nursing Service. During her home care nursing career, Shirley pursued specialised training in stomal therapy and palliative care. At 60 years of age, Shirley then joined the Blue Nursing Service and continued working for this service until her midseventies. The last years of her employment with Blue Care, Shirley worked part-time firstly as a nurse then as a grief counsellor. On retiring at 75, Shirley continued her voluntary service by working at the St Vincent de Paul drop-in centre and delivering meals. She also worked at the Anglicare drop-in centre. Shirley has been a member of the Broadbeach Library delivering books to housebound for many years. As well, she has volunteered for Care and Concern, driving people to appointments etc up until very recently when she had to surrender her driving licence at 86 years of age. During her retirement years, Shirley opened her home and became host to many overseas students and teachers. For many of these students, she became their honorary grandmother going far beyond what was expected, spoiling them and treating them as family. Music and dancing have been an integral part of Shirley’s life. She has always been a great dancer, so in her 60s Shirley took up tap dancing and line dancing. As well, she took learn-to-swim classes, though this never stopped her from enjoying a dip in the ocean throughout her life. As a passionate lifelong reader, Shirley was a member of 3 book clubs. While a devout Catholic, Shirley has never espoused religion rather she has lived her religion by embracing and helping all those she can assist. She has always been generous putting everyone before herself. Shirley’s “joie de vie” is infectious and her sense of fun has drawn people to her throughout her life. Wonderful friends and Shirley’s very large family (including 6 almost 7 great grandchildren) have been an integral part of her life. She was born with the party gene so loves any social occasion, especially if there is music and dancing. With her 90th birthday looming in December this year, there is little doubt it will be a big shindig with music, dancing and lots of laughter.
STAFF FEATURE: ALISON RAMSEY, LIFESTYLE COORDINATOR For many of our residents and staff Alison (aka Ali) will need no introduction. Head of our Lifestyle team, Ali has been at HillView Care for around 14 years! In this time she has had many roles – AIN, Kitchen Hand, Café Attendant, and finally Lifestyle Coordinator where she oversees all our exciting activities, events and fun themed days! Despite her Aussie accent, Ali was born in the UK and moved to Australia at the age of 6, as her father had been transferred to Cockatoo Island Dockyard. They have all called Australia home ever
since. She is one of three sisters who often fought for bathroom space, causing many late marks at work. Ali married quite young and has five children - four sons and a daughter. She says that being a mother is an absolute joy and made her life complete, she could easily have another four!! Initially Ali wanted to be a Kindergarten Teacher, but having five kindergarteners of her own was enough. Wanting to be involved with patient care, Ali completed her AIN course, before packing her bags and moving to sunny Queensland to share quality time with her mother who had become ill. Sadly she passed not long afterward. Ali is an animal lover with a Border collie named Ace, a horse named Tangles and a baby hairless Sphinx Cat named Cleo. She is also a bird lover, and feeds her mate Kookie the Kookaburra everyday, rain, hail or shine. At our events Ali can always be seen dancing and singing, and outside working hours sipping on a cheeky rosé. When it comes to entertainment she is sucker for a good drama or suspenseful movie, and is a huge NSW Blues Supporter! Since living in Queensland, Ali has been a part of the HillView family and says she has met many lifelong friends, sharing so many beautiful times with the all our residents. “Everyone is like a huge family, and this is the reason why I have been here for 14 special years.” “I really appreciate every single one of HillView’s employees. Everyone has worked a hard gig over the CoVid period and yet we all seem to have stuck together.”
physiotherapy
SIMPLE EVERYDAY EXERCISES
You’ve heard it time and again: physical activity and exercise are good for you, and you should aim to make it part of your daily routine. There are countless studies that prove the important health benefits associated with exercise, and it becomes more important as we age. Below are a series of simple exercises you can try safely from the comfort of your own room.
SEATED EXERCISE: ELBOW FLEXION This is a simple, easy exercise that aims to increase/maintain strength and range of motion in the muscles that control the elbow flexion.
- This exercise requires the resident to sit up straight on a chair or edge of the bed with the feet flat on the floor, shoulder width apart and hands resting on the thighs or arm rest of chair.
- Starting with elbows tucked into the side, turn your hands so that your palms are facing up and your elbow is bent 90 degrees.
- Keeping your elbow tucked into the side, bring your hands up towards your shoulder. You can make this more challenging by holding onto a dumbbell. Perform exercise slowly and control the movement. Practice breathing in on the upward movement and out on the down movement.
Resting position: return to start position (Image two). Complete 10 repetitions with the right arm, then switch arms and complete 10 repetitions with the left arm.
www.hillviewcare.com.au
So long... Many of our care staff have been working with us for much of their working lives. We are eternally grateful for their dedication and commitment to both our residents and our team, they truly make our lives so much better. Recently we have bade farewell to two long-serving staff members; Olene Blinman and Narelle Walmsley.
NARELLE WALMSLEY REGISTERED NURSE
Narelle came to HillView with a vast amount of nursing experience, having worked in the Middle East as well as Australia. She oversaw the night shift for some fifteen years, a huge achievement! Narelle now heads to Yeppoon for a new life with her family. The team at HillView Care wish to thank Narelle for the many years of service, she is an inspiration to our care staff with her hardworking competent attitude. We wish you all the very best on your future endeavours Narelle, thank you!
OLENE BLINMAN KITCHEN HAND
Olene has been working as a Kitchen Hand at HillView Care Ashmore for 21 years! During that time Olene would have seen a lot of changes, with meals becoming fancier and more sophisticated every year. Olene made the decision to finish on a high and enjoy some quality years of retirement. She has stated that she will miss HillView Care dearly, as has made many friends with residents and staff over the years. **CONGRATULATIONS Olene for a job well done – and thank you for your years of amazing service**
Director's Award The HillView Director's Award seeks to recognise an individual who has continually gone above and beyond to provide service and care to our residents. Jamie will be a face most of you would recognise, as she's been sitting on Front Desk at Merrimac since late last year. Jamie is also an RN intraining, so can occasionally be found nursing on all floors. With an outstanding attitude and perpetually cheerful disposition, Jamie has quickly become a very dependable team member.
JAMIE CLEMMANS RECEPTIONIST
Tell us about yourself:I was born in South Africa, but my family relocated to Perth, WA where I grew up with my 2 younger siblings, Josh & Jessie. My family absolutely love the beach and surfing, so we travelled a lot as kids and chased the surf on most of our trips! We all relocated to the Gold Coast when I started university and after my first degree, I decided to study a Bachelor of Nursing which brought me to HillView Care last year.
Q: What do you enjoy most about working at HillView Care? A: Working at HillView Care has brought me so much joy! My role has allowed me to develop my clinical skills as a student nurse, but also provided me with the opportunity to learn so much about who I am as a nurse and carer. I love spending time with residents and being part of their lives in even the smallest of ways is something I’ll always find truly special. Being able to care for our elderly community as well as a being part of such an amazing team has been a wonderful experience and a blessed start to my nursing career.
Q: What do you enjoy doing when you're not working? A: I love spending time with my family and our little staffy puppy, Lilo. If I’m not at work, you can find me at the gym doing Pilates, at the beach under an umbrella and smothered in SPF 50+ or walking Lilo who always has so much energy to burn! Q: What is your favourite food? A: I absolutely love bao buns! The best I’ve found so far are from Lucky Bao, I could eat a thousand of their pork belly bao buns and never get sick of them...their sweet and sour chicken wings are also never a bad idea. Q: What is your favourite flower? A: I love white and pink oriental lilies! My mom used to buy my sister and I flowers growing up and she often chose these, I’ve loved them ever since.
YOUR FEEDBACK MATTERS
www.hillviewcare.com.au
WHAT'S HAPPENING THIS WINTER