Halberg's Herald Winter 2019

Herald alberg s ’ H Murray Halberg Retirement Village • Winter edition 2019

Peter and Joy have enjoyed making friends in the village

Recruitment drive

Construction update

Welcome to the community

Greetings from Grant...

Hi everyone, it seems like only yesterday I wrote my first column for Halberg’s Herald. Life as a village manager is certainly fast paced but very rewarding as new residents move in, and we continue planning for the opening of our village centre and care centre later this year.

Our residents are a very social bunch. From our weekly Happy Hours, to games sessions and special events we’ve had our fair share of laughter and storytelling. We’ve also seen the growth of many new friendships. We have a great selection of activities planned across the year.

The ongoing enquiries we have had about living or working at Murray Halberg village certainly indicate we are being warmly embraced by our local community.

If you would like to know more about living or working in our village, please give me a call.

I’d love to chat.

Kind regards,

Speaking of warmth, as winter makes its presence known, our residents may not feel it as much as in the past. Their brand-new apartments are lovely, warm, dry and help them enjoy a healthy lifestyle.

G Grant C Costello Village Manager Ph: 09 627 2700

A note from Frances and Michelle The year is marching on, and our resident numbers grow as we continue to have move-in dates confirmed. The red “sold” dots on our independent apartments are on the increase, but there is still time to secure your dream apartment.

Independent apartments available now!

Our serviced apartment residents and families are getting organised for move-ins in September. More serviced apartment plans have been released, so please call us for some fabulous new options.

Our village, with lovely residents, offers a great lifestyle with brilliant amenities and a whole host of activities. Please call us if you would like to come in for a tour.

Look out for your invitation to our mid-June presentation from the Memory Foundation and other events we have planned for you.

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Frances Quirk & Michelle Garland Sales Advisors Ph: 09 627 2727

Independent Resident Profile

Meet Peter and Joy

The move into our village was more eventful for Joy and Peter Gustofson than most.

and 16 great-grandchildren – Joy admits life has been full.

The couple needed to call an ambulance in the middle of the night on their second night there.

And their third night as well!

She raised her own three children and six of her first husband’s nieces while working at Foodstuffs.

“I’ve been a diabetic for 15 years and I think with all the excitement of moving and unpacking it affected my blood sugar levels,” says Joy. Joy has fortunately remained in good health since.

The experience underlined for the couple, that they had made the right decision and were in the right place.

“The security is here, the hospital will be here on site and our doctor is just at the top of the hill so we have got it all signed, sealed and delivered,” says Joy, a resident of Blockhouse Bay for 53 years.

As the matriarch of a large family – Joy has three children from her first marriage, 13 grandchildren

Meanwhile Peter worked in farming and fishing before taking a temporary job at a timber yard which turned into a 20-year career!

Being two of the first residents to move into the village, Joy and Peter have enjoyed getting to know their new neighbours.

Joy is hoping to get a tai chi class going once the village centre opens while Peter has enjoyed growing herbs and pot plants on the balcony.

“We enjoy hanging out with everyone at Happy Hour, we mix with everybody.”

The positive effects of their new life have become obvious to their extended family.

“Everybody comments on how relaxed we look.”

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Recruitment drive a runaway success It was high fives all round for Ryman’s operations and recruitment teams after a recruitment drive to find staff for our village turned out to be a huge success.

More than 110 people from the local community turned up at the Maungakiekie Golf Club on a Monday night in March to find out what jobs would be going at the village when the village centre opens. Those numbers exceeded expectations.

Ryman recruiters Matt Wright, Abbe King and Georgie Hamilton joined Regional Operations Manager Lynn Charlton and Murray Halberg Village Manager Grant Costello to present the Ryman offering.

Two short presentations by Grant and Recruitment Manager Matt gave potential candidates a good idea of what they could expect from Ryman as well as what Ryman needed from them, and then those interested lined up to hand in their CVs and ask any questions they had.

“The beauty of events like this is sometimes it’s difficult to pick up the essence of a person from a CV but this way, by meeting them in person, you get a real sense of their purpose and passion,” said Abbe, who is Ryman’s Senior Recruitment Advisor.

“Out of 110 people we shortlisted 70 candidates, which is fantastic. The calibre was really good and that was the key from Grant’s perspective as village manager.”

Having worked previously for a well-known airline before joining Ryman, Abbe had seen similar campaigns work well and thought a drop-in evening would be a good approach for Ryman to use when setting up a new village.

“We will definitely do this for our other new villages and there are a few learnings we can include.”

The big bonus, according to Regional Operations Manager Lynn Charlton, was the quality of the candidates.

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“Out of 110 people we shortlisted 70 candidates which is fantastic,” said Lynn. “The calibre was really good and that was the key from Grant’s perspective as village manager.

“There was a real variety of people, the majority were for caregiver roles but there were registered nurses, back of house such as laundry, we might have found a good gardener too!”

By targeting the neighbourhood specifically, the connections with the village would be made stronger as workers would already be part of that community. It was the first time many of them had heard what Ryman Healthcare was all about, Lynn said.

“For a first event we were really pleased. Both with the turnout and the result!”

The village centre is due to open later this year and when fully operational could employ around 150 people.

Main: Ryman’s recruitment team talks about employment opportunities.

Below: Recruitment manager Matt Wright.

Inset: An eager group learn about the potential for work.

“A lot were impressed with the offering and hadn’t known what was on offer so that was really positive too.”

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Forgetfulness: Normal Ageing or early Dementia?

A few months back I visited someone in Mangakino, a small New Zealand central North Island town, originally built for the workers who were constructing the huge hydro dam of the same name.

I had visited there as a kid to see the massive building works.

When I returned home, a drive of around 40 minutes, my wife enquired where I had been.

I knew where I had been in crisp detail, but not the name of the town. Whakamaru was the next town and that I remembered well from my schoolboy visit more than 60 years ago.

But Mangakino had taken fright and raced away from my finely tuned neurones. “Come back” I wanted to shout. But I could only bleat: “It’s slipped my mind. I’ll remember later.”

Simple solution: I’ll Google it, or least the neighbouring dam: Whakamaru. Sure enough, there on the map nearby was Mangakino.

Problem solved.

Nope. Not solved at all. After I closed the screen I called out to my wife: “It was XXXX?” The pesky word remained absent, absent without leave I might add, and the Google jog had gone with it. I began to think that I’d better check in to a dementia unit as I was losing it, and what did I need to take with me?

Common sense prevailed as I felt on top of stuff otherwise. So, I wrote the word Mangakino on a card and placed it beside the phone and computer.

It took three days for that pesky neurone either to wake up or pass the name to an underworked neighbour. And it did, and now I am Mangakino educated and friendly.

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Self-diagnosis is a wobbly area and can prematurely label a spouse or loved one with a disturbing diagnosis that is not the case.

Sometimes the individual is reacting adversely to medication; drug doses for older subjects are commonly too high.

Or their thyroid gland is out of kilter, or there are disturbances of their liver or kidney.

Type II diabetes can induce changes suggestive of dementia, as can mini strokes.

Too much alcohol in the elderly is a common disrupter of behaviour and memory.

Depression and anxiety can overrun the governors of normal behaviour.

A bladder, or even deep skin infection may tip behaviours off balance and individuals can appear confused.

Low levels of vitamin B12 are a common cause of abnormal behaviour and personality in older people.

So, don’t rush to judgment.

Find the disorders that are not dementia and get them treated.

I don’t have dementia!!

So occasional, or even common trouble with memory recall is a feature of normal ageing.

When dementia arrives, at first with isolated episodes of abnormal or even bizarre behaviour, sudden mood changes, or increasing patches of forgetfulness or lack of recognition of people they know well, or increasing confusion, then it is time for action.

Daily skills begin to fade; individuals can struggle with conversation; judgement becomes unreliable; they may wander without knowing where they are, and their personality can alter materially.

It is time for a proper medical assessment, to be sure that the issue is dementia, as in many instances it is something else.

You don’t want to get it wrong!

Missing a masquerading condition that is readily identified and treated is a major lost opportunity to discard the dementia label and return life to its rightful path.

About Dr Doug Dr Doug Wilson is an academic, a physician, a pharmaceutical industry researcher and a medical scientist as well as a writer. For the past 30 years he has monitored the scientific literature as it relates to ageing and his aim is to cut through the fads and fallacies to concentrate on the core issues and the physiological and psychological reasons behind them.

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Staff Profile

Introducing Pieter

But after the riverside camp flooded three times last year, Pieter found himself looking for a new job and a new home.

“I used to love working with people in camping and I never thought I would enjoy working with older people as much as I do but I absolutely love it,” he says.

Along with regularly checking lights, gutters, water temperatures, fire doors and escape routes as part of monthly building WOFs, one of Pieter’s tasks is to hang pictures and help set up the washing machine, dryer and entertainment systems for newly arrived residents.

“They’re all excited to move in and to share their memories and they’re beautiful stories to hear if you just listen.”

Pieter Kruger says the move to New Zealand from his native South Africa was like arriving in the land of milk and honey.

And since starting his role as maintenance man here, he says he’s found his very own piece of paradise.

Indeed, Pieter says it was God’s calling that prompted him to move his family down under six years ago.

“My sister came to New Zealand and we came to visit her on holiday,” says the dad of 12-year-old Josiah and eight-year-old Talita. “That’s when we felt a calling to come to New Zealand as well. We feel our kids need to be here.”

The ordained pastor had previously worked with Christian missions in Africa helping widows and orphans alongside his wife Liesl.

On arriving in Auckland he landed two great jobs hosting visitors at the Carey Park Christian Camp in Henderson and the Piha Mill Campsite where the family lived in the cottage on the grounds.

“It takes a good hour or so and when you’re hanging all these family photos you will often hear the whole story behind it, they will tell me all about the holiday or the people in the photo. Just from the pictures you learn so much.

“They’re all excited to move in and to share their memories and they’re beautiful stories to hear if you just listen.”

Pieter has some pretty good stories of his own to tell too, being the great great grandson of Paul Kruger. Kruger Park is named after the former president of the South African Republic.

But Pieter says he feels much safer in New Zealand and appreciates the systems and processes the country has in place, and even more so since he started working for Ryman.

“My mum was in a retirement village similar to this but it was not even close to the level of professionalism as here.

“That’s something that really struck me, the professionalism and caring nature of Ryman and the management are so down to earth, friendly and helpful.”

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Construction update Winter is coming at Murray Halberg, and with it comes a whole bunch of completion dates!

on the horizon for Stage 4, the next independent apartment block across from the bowling green.

The lower part of the village centre is the first cab off the rank, with hospital and special care rooms being painted and fitted out, ready for internal audits to take place in August.

Consent came through at the beginning of May for piling to begin on that building, he said.

Then there’s the next independent block across the driveway. Autumn saw the roof structure started on that building, ahead of finishing work.

All going well, says Project Manager Dave McKearney, the independent apartments will be ready for handover in late August.

Late September is the expected handover time for the village centre which will include the dining room, billiards room, movie theatre, recreation room and the cafe.

But before that happens, says Dave, retaining walls, roading, streetlights and landscaping will need to be done on the outside.

“We’ve got 350 guys on site at the moment, but I can see that hitting 450 in September which I think will be our peak,” he said.

The crane won’t come down until the village centre façade is done so a new tower crane may appear

“Excavation work was three-quarters done at that point so that means we can go straight into the piling work which is great.”

The good run of weather had helped enormously, he said.

“It has been good, but winter is coming and if it’s anything like last year where it seemed to rain every day then things could get interesting!”

Having a great team with a strong focus had been a huge benefit too.

“The guys are working hard, and they understand and acknowledge how it works.

“Having these dates to work towards sharpens the focus but we still want to deliver on quality as well.

We are always striving to improve.”

Above: Our stage 3 independent apartments emerge.

Inset: Project Manager Dave McKearney.

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Welcome to our community Murray Halberg Retirement Village is a community in its own right, and will feature wonderful amenities for residents to make use of. There will also be plenty of events and groups to get involved in.

Play bowls with friends.

Have morning tea with your friends, group or club in our café.

Enjoy our complimentary happy hour.

Take a dip in the indoor heated pool.

Get together with the blokes in the Men’s shed.

Attend shows from visiting bands and performers.

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We’ve done it again…

Fabulous five as Most Trusted Brand Ryman Healthcare has been named the most trusted brand in the retirement industry for the fifth time.

“Deciding to move into a retirement village is one of the biggest decision people make in their retirement,” he said.

We’ve taken the top award in the aged care and retirement village category in the Reader’s Digest 2019 Most Trusted Brands awards. Ryman also won in 2014, 2015, 2016, and 2018.

“Our residents trust us to look after their care and their security, and to care for them into the future.

It’s a privilege to look after them.

The aim of the awards is to identify the brands Kiwis recognise and trust the most. The winners are chosen from a survey of 1,500 New Zealanders across 65 categories. Catalyst Marketing & Research surveyed respondents on which products they recognised and used, and which held their trust in each category.

“To win this award five times shows that we’re consistently delivering, and we will continue to do so.”

“To win this award five times shows that we’re consistently delivering, and we will continue to do so.

“It is always nice to win awards, but the best reward is the feedback we get from our residents and their families each day.”

Ryman Healthcare has also won the Reader’s Digest Quality Service Award in the aged care and retirement village category four times.

Ryman was singled out for praise for having helpful and friendly staff, residents who love living in Ryman villages, and for providing care that is “good enough for Mum”.

Chief Executive Gordon MacLeod said it was humbling to win the award for the fifth time.

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Late Summer BBQ The sun was shining, and the courtyard garden and lawn looked gorgeous as we set up marquees for our residents to enjoy a late summer barbeque.

The preparation led to a wonderful afternoon and was a great opportunity to introduce our residents to Govind, our newly appointed Head Chef.

Govind got the barbeque sizzling, and prepared food to complement a range of delicious salads and some special treats brought by residents.

Grant Costello Village Manager Ph: 09 627 2700 Call Grant for general enquiries, or information about resthome, hospital and dementia care.

Photographs of Govind’s fine dining work at another Ryman village were shared around. It’s fair to say everyone is now looking forward to the opening of the kitchen and dining room in the village centre later in the year.

Above: It’s fine afternoon dining in the garden.

11 Commodore Drive, Lynfield

rymanmurrayhalberg.co.nz

Frances Quirk & Michelle Garland Sales Advisors Ph: 09 627 2727 Talk to Frances or Michelle for information about independent apartments or serviced apartments.