Reflections 2020 WINTER EDITION
OPENING OF Connecting during COVID-19 restrictions Discover our podcast LETS TALK SENIORS Achieving SILVER PARTNER
Our CEO’s message to you Welcome to the Winter issue of our Reflections Newsletter. As I said in the Autumn issue, which I wrote in March of this year, 2020 has certainly not been dull. As I write my message and reflect on the months of April, May and June, they have been amongst the most challenging that I have ever witnessed for our community. They have been very challenging for us all as we have faced an unprecedented event that has had massive health and economic implications like the majority of us have not seen before in our lifetimes. The way that Australians have worked together to ‘flatten the curve’ I believe has been inspiring.
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 and is a not-for-profit organisation.
Trying to find the right balance between protecting people’s health, safety and wellbeing and trying to minimise the social isolation and disconnection residents and consumers are feeling has weighed heavily on myself and other seniors members of the Anglican Care team. We are navigating new territory and having to make decisions on unfamiliar issues. The introduction of our ‘Connecting Families’ program has undoubtedly assisted us in achieving some balance in our residential aged care homes. At the time of writing this report, we had recorded 3,423 visits in our Picktime booking system across all of our residential aged care homes and 1,065 Zoom video conferencing chats. Amazing statistics for just a 4 week period!
Front cover features Ken Tredinnick and Deb James from our Community Home Care team.
Our employees working in the community space have also been working hard and coming up with innovative solutions to maintain social connections for consumers living at home and retirement living residents, who have faced a unique set of challenges. Read more about our ‘Connecting’ programs on page 4. We continue to review all of our strategies on an ongoing basis as restrictions in the community continue to ease cognisant of the fact that we are providing care and support to one of the most vulnerable groups of people in our community. We will continue to provide regular updates via letter, email, Facebook and our website.
P 1800 733 553 E accareenquiry@anglicancare.com.au
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety suspended all hearings and workshops. In part, this was to ensure that providers could focus on their response to the pandemic. The Commissioners have been looking into the impact of the virus on aged care and recently announced that the deadline for general submissions to the Royal Commission would be at the close of business on Friday, 31 July 2020, a month later than initially planned. The aged care sector continues to operate in a tough position in terms of long term financial viability. There have been several industry articles recently outlining that 60% of aged care providers are now operating in the red – up to 74% in regional and remote areas. These quite alarming figures do not even represent the full financial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Anglican Care is not impervious to what is happening within the sector, and I firmly believe that specifically targeted funding and structural reform is required for the industry as a whole. We continue to have faith that the recommendations and outcomes from the Royal Commission will have a positive impact. We have enjoyed some lighter moments recently, particularly our Green Day across the organisation, wherein we celebrated yet another significant and hard earnt environmental accolade – ‘Silver Partner’ status with the NSW Government’s Sustainability Advantage program. Sustainability means doing things differently across our entire organisation – procurement, hospitality, building design and cleaning, as well as the more obvious utilities management. It has become a grassroots project, with all members of our team eager to make the switch to practices that reduce the organisation's food waste, use of chemicals, fossil fuels and water. The opening of C A Brown Lodge at Booragul was also a momentous achievement for the organisation which I look forward to formally celebrating with you all later in the year hopefully. I want to thank all of our teams involved in this massive project – the resultant building is certainly something we can all be proud of. Thank you also to our residents and families that were involved in moving at a very difficult time. Moving is never easy, but doing so during the pandemic brought with it some very unique challenges with residents moving between Carey Bay Gardens, Toronto Nursing Home, Kilpatrick Court and C A Brown Lodge. It would be remiss of me not to acknowledge the outstanding work of our Anglican Care employees over the last few months. Their dedication, flexibility, professionalism, hard work, resilience and innovation during these challenging months has been outstanding and have made me proud to be the leader of this organisation. Our Anglican Care community is a special one, and it is times like these that we really come together. Please continue to look out for each other and stay safe and well. We thank you for your ongoing support and understanding.
Colin Osborne, CEO
GET IN TOUCH
www.anglicancare.com.au Anglican Care Corporate Administration 87 Toronto Rd, Booragul NSW 2284
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CAREER OPPORTUNITIES Looking for a career in Aged Care? We employ a huge range of roles across many fields of employment. To find out what jobs are available, go to our Careers page on our website.
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.
giving back to community Today’s over 60’s are all about staying healthy, happy and active. Helping them to do just that is our hip new podcast Let’s Talk Seniors. Kylie and Michelle from Anglican Care's marketing team host the podcast and, together with an array of guest speakers, provide fun and practical advice to help seniors stay informed and entertained. As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, people of all ages are on-line as never before with podcast listenership soaring across the globe. Our Let’s Talk Seniors podcast has proven hugely popular with downloads from Apple Podcasts, Anglican Care’s website and Facebook listens exceeding all expectations. “Being the marketing department of Anglican Care, Michelle and I saw the shortfall in the sector for simple, and easy to understand information, without all the jargon and technical speak. From clinical staff to management, every department at Anglican Care has been excited and closely involved with bringing Let’s Talk Seniors to fruition,” said Kylie Jacques, our Marketing Manager and co-host of the podcast. “Seasons one and two have been completed with new podcasts available each week, we return back into the studio in early August to record Season three. We have had incredible support from so many healthcare and lifestyle professionals who have all given their time to provide this very valuable insight and information,” said Kylie. The podcasts cover everything a senior needs to know from how to stay healthy and fit through to what is mindfulness. The topics are aimed to inspire and educate Australian’s to live a longer and happier life and be prepared for your future. “Let's Talk Seniors, answers all the common questions you never get a chance to ask – such as, what is the difference between dementia and alzheimers, or how important is spirituality as you age, can I start yoga over 60 or will I break in two! We even discuss Coronavirus and how important it is for seniors to maintain a healthy immune system. This podcast came about because we have access to a vast array of health experts and we know from talking to seniors every day, they are wanting more information and podcasts are a fun way to stay informed and entertained. Seniors want to be hip too!,” said fellow co-host Michelle Payne, our Creative Designer. Nola from Toronto is 76 years young and had never listened to a Podcast prior to Let’s Talk Seniors but decided to give it a go. “I just loved the episode, ‘Seniors Need Muscles Too’, and ever since I’ve been working hard on building what Dr Ward referred to as my nursing home muscles.” said Nola. Nola has gone on to listen each week and hasn’t stopped there, with a whole new world opening up to her. “If I’m going for a walk or folding the washing I try a new podcast. By listening to all these podcasts, when my daughter calls from Sydney - I’ve got so much to tell her!”
Our Let’s Talk Seniors audio show will continue to build a library of topics that engage and interest seniors, whilst allowing experts in their fields to reach hundreds of people hungry for information and highlights where to go for further support and advice. A FEW TOPICS FROM SEASON ONE ... •
What is all this mindfulness business with Charlotte Thaarup.
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Medication, are you taking too much and Seniors need muscles too with Dr John Ward.
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What are your spirituality needs as you age with Reverend Andrew Harrison (pictured above with Kylie & Michelle).
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Dementia and Alzheimer’s – how are they different and When is the right time to move a loved one into an aged care home – is there a defined tipping point with Janet Sykes.
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Can Making Changes to your home help someone living with dementia and How to stay hip, active, on the ball and socially connected with Jane Meldrum.
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How does a carer cope and avoid carer burnout and How you can remain happy at home with Jacqui Culver.
The ten-part first season includes a bonus episode discussing the Coronavirus with Dr John Ward, recorded on April 8. Dr Ward focusses on how seniors can stay healthy, keep their immune system at its peak and what to do if they have symptoms. Each episode runs for approximately 15 minutes to allow for easy, bite sized listening with the feedback from those who have downloaded the series fantastic. “We are really excited to roll out Season two with interviews scheduled with a yoga expert, dietitian, occupational therapist and financial planner all assisting us to build an easily accessible information library,” said Kylie. Join the podcast craze and take a listen today via our website or Apple/Google podcast apps on your phone or tablet.
Take a listen to our NEW podcast
Let’s Talk Seniors
as co-hosts Kylie & Michelle chat to special guests about an array of topics related to seniors living happy & healthy lives. Catch up on Season 1 which features ten fabulous episodes. PLUS Season 2 is now out, with one episode released each Monday. If you haven't listened to a podcast before, try something new!
Listen via
Apple & Google Podcast or our website anglicancare.com.au
connecting Families, friends, generations and community
The COVID-19 pandemic and the need for social distancing and restrictions to slow the spread of the virus certainly changed the way we connect with other people pretty dramatically in a short time frame. It also compelled us to use technology in new ways to stay connected with family and friends. Wanting to be at the forefront of these changes, we introduced several programs to assist our residents and consumers in staying connected over the past few months. CONNECTING GENERATIONS Keen to keep our intergenerational programs up and running, we sent a shout out to kids in the Hunter, Mid Coast and Central Coast regions to help our residents to stay socially connected during the difficult time when there were unable to have many (or any) visitors. The kids indeed responded, sending many beautiful letters and artwork over the past few months. We expanded the program to include this year’s Green Day celebrations where primary and high school children entered a colouring-in competition with entries adorning the walls of our residential aged care homes. CONNECTING VOLUNTEERS Our musical volunteers were also keen to be involved, with some of our fabulous volunteers taping or videoing recordings of their singing which we were able to share across our sites for residents to listen to and enjoy. CONNECTING FAMILIES AND FRIENDS To enable our residents and their families and friends to stay connected, Anglican Care introduced an online booking system called Picktime. When the system was first introduced, families and friends were able to book a phone call or a zoom video conference with their loved ones, which proved very popular and a fabulous way to stay connected in a virtual way. Zoom calls proved particularly valuable on Mother’s Day this year with love and joy still able to be celebrated – but in a virtual setting. The program continues to expand as restrictions across the community relax, with low-risk visits then introduced. We will continue to review the program on an ongoing basis. CONNECTING KINDNESS Our Community and Homecare teams introduced their ‘Connecting Kindness’ program as a way for people living in the community to feel connected, particularly people that cannot attend our Day Centres at the moment. Regular phone calls to check on health and wellbeing and the delivery of our ‘Connecting Kindness’ packs which are full of craft activities and games all went a long way to do this. CONNECTING COMMUNITY SENIORS DAY is coming this September. Our previous year's Senior Day was an over whelming success - our phones rang hot and we had seniors spilling out the doors on the day. And whilst social distancing restrictions will make hosting events this year a challenge, we don't want our community to miss out. So keep an eye out for our upcoming Virtual Seniors Day, held in conjunction with Lake Macquarie City Council. The day will include a fabulous panel of guest speakers, the chance to win prizes, plus goody bags for those who register and watch via our website on the day. Keep an out on Facebook and our website for more information. It will undoubtedly be interesting to see how our new ‘normal’ will look in a couple more months, but here’s hoping that our renewed gratitude for friends, family, community and those intimate connections that we may previously have taken for granted remains for the long term.
Let’s talk immune systems
MEALS MATTER Our ‘Meals Matter’ project has been running across Anglican Care for the past nine months and is all about enhancing the dining experience for our consumers – including the introduction of ordering from a daily menu.
Now that the days are getting shorter and the evenings are becoming chillier, it is an opportune time to separate fact from fiction on the topic of nutrition and the immune system.
tomatoes, capsicums and chillies are all loaded with vitamin C and are a great addition to your winter diet to help reduce the severity of your sniffles. MYTH: VITAMIN D IS ONLY IMPORTANT FOR BONE HEALTH
Having the knowledge of what foods and supplements truly support your immune system The Facts Vitamin D is well known for its role in bone will keep you at your healthiest this winter. health, though it also plays an equally MYTH: A MULTIVITAMIN OR SUPERGREEN important role in supporting immune function. Vitamin D is particularly important POWDER WILL BOOST YOUR IMMUNITY for T-cell mediated immunity – a fancy term for a group of bug fighters in our body. As The Facts the winter months are upon us and we spend There is some evidence supporting the use of more time outdoors, older adults are at a multivitamins and supergreen supplements. particularly heightened risk of Vitamin D However, the main benefit appears to occur deficiency. If you spend most of your time in people with a poor quality diet that do not achieve a consistent or adequate intake of fruit indoors, or you are only catching glimpses and vegetables. Multivitamins and supergreens of sunshine throughout the day, it is worth seem to be a Band-Aid solution, with a growing checking in with your GP to have your Vitamin D levels assessed and see if you need a boost body of research indicating that chronic supplementation may actually be detrimental to over winter. health. What You Can Do Get out for a walk or sit in the sunshine and What You Can Do read a book! The recommendation for sun To best support your immune system, concentrate on fixing the underlying issue. Aim exposure during the winter months for people to eat the rainbow – include an array of different living in New South Wales is between 26-47 minutes per day. Include sources of Vitamin D coloured fruits and vegetables in your diet, this will provide a wide variety of nutrients and offer in your diet, oily fish like salmon and sardines, egg yolks, mushrooms and fortified foods the greatest benefit to your immune system such as milk are good sources of Vitamin D over supplementing with pills or powders. and make easy additions to meals to support your immune system. Supplementing with MYTH: VITAMIN C PREVENTS COLDS Vitamin D3 may also be required for older adults to maintain Vitamin D levels through The Facts the cooler months (but remember to check Vitamin C supplements carry a popular with your GP first). reputation amongst the general population. In reality there is very little evidence to support using high doses of Vitamin C for preventing the There you go, a quick rundown of the common cold. However, there is some research latest information on the role of nutrition in immune health. Nutrition does not need to to suggest that Vitamin C may be favourable be complicated, if you have any questions or in reducing the duration of cold symptoms. would like more information on how to stay Currently, there is inadequate evidence to healthy this winter ask your GP or Dietitian. make a recommendation on the optimal dose and duration of Vitamin C supplementation to AUTHOR: Nik Adamson promote a speedy recovery from a cold. Accredited Practising Dietitian
Alkira Day Therapy and Respite Centre What You Can Do Increase your intake of vitamin C rich foods at Read more of our fabulous editorials via the first hint of a cold. Fruits such as oranges, berries, kiwi fruit and mandarins, and vegetables the News section of our website. like dark leafy greens (spinach), broccoli,
With our continued focus on meal quality and to further improve our meals we have installed specialised kitchen equipment within each of our homes to assist with meal preparation and finishing. This ensures our meals are looking and tasting great, and served as our Executive Chef Aaron intends. The hospitality service production kitchen is also excited to introduce new cooking methods, using our state of the art cook tank for long slow 'sous vide' cooking, with slow cooked beef cheeks and lamb shoulder on the menu. Sous vide, means “under vacuum” in French and refers to the process of vacuumsealing food in a bag, then cooking it to a very precise temperature in a water bath. This technique produces results that are impossible to achieve through any other cooking method. Look out for some new exciting dishes such as Baked Barramundi and Prawn Thermidor appearing on our menu in July. We are always looking to enhance our hospitality services and during June gathered our residents feedback via a survey. The results will help us serve our residents quality food and service because we all know, meals matter.
Celebrating Silver with GREEN Marking the recognition of our NEW ‘Silver’ Partnership status through the Sustainability Advantage Program (Dept. Planning, Industry & Environment), with a Green Day makes perfect sense to Colin Osborne, CEO of Anglican Care.
“With only 4 other aged care providers being recognised with Silver in NSW, many of which are large providers, we are immensely proud of our ambitious achievements”, he says. “We chose to celebrate our sustainability achievements, on World Environment Day, and whilst we are marking our move from Bronze to Silver Partnership – Green Day seemed that little bit more fitting.” Colin believes becoming more sustainable was a grass roots project with his passionate team members eager to make the switch to practices that reduced the organisations food waste, use of chemicals, fossil fuels and water etc. Anglican Care joined the Sustainability Advantage Program in February 2018 and we were quickly recognised as Bronze Partners in December of that year. Remarkably, within two years Anglican Care reached our ambitious goal of Silver Partner. Yet, reaching Silver Partner was no easy feat. Colin explains becoming more sustainable requires doing things differently across the board – procurement, hospitality, building design and cleaning, as well as the more obvious utilities management.
“Sustainability has become embedded in all that we do. Once we joined the program, the support it provided the organisation gave way to a string of initiatives which our team backed whole heartedly.” Deb Matthews, our Sustainability Champion, puts great importance on sharing our organisation’s passion and commitment to sustainability with the whole business and the community.
“By hosting our annual Green Day, we are able to inspire our team to think green, celebrate with our residents and consumers, and just as importantly, promote to other aged care providers that you can care for our planet as well as our most treasured and vulnerable in the community.” Deb and her dedicated team have also introduced a program, Grow Graze Give, to allow both our residents and consumers to participate in the movement by growing herbs and vegetables. As well as the sharing of favourite recipes with Chef Aaron, who each month picks a favourite and includes it on his Menu. Have you sent your favourite in yet? Residents from C A Brown Lodge, our brand new purpose built home in Booragul, were the official judges of our Green Day Colouring-in Competition. With plenty of exquisitely coloured-in mandala trees submitted from children across the community, it was difficult to decide the winners!
Conditions of entry A gentle reminder that Anglican Care has conditions of entry for people visiting our Residential Aged Care Homes.
NOW OPEN - C A BROWN LODGE This purpose built home has been designed for comfort and fostering quality family moments with a wide choice of common areas, both inside and out, for all to enjoy. Spacious and architecturally designed, the home is situated in the peaceful lakeside township of Booragul, opposite tranquil Lake Macquarie. The home has been designed to provide an optimal environment for those people requiring 24 hour support and assistance for their clinical care needs. Residents rooms are located on two levels with nursing stations on each level. Throughout the home there are a number of lovely sitting rooms, dining rooms, lounge and activity areas. These are great spaces for our residents, families and friends to get together and enjoy each others company. Not forgetting the numerous courtyards, terraces and access to leafy grounds. C A Brown also features a fabulous cafe. The cafe is a great place to share lunch, coffee ‘n’ cake or just a quick bite and is available to residents, families, friends and consumers attending our day therapy centre ‘Alkira’. Express your interest today on 1800 733 553
We understanding that 2020 has been a stressful and challenging year, but please be kind to our amazing team members who are doing their best to care for our residents and their families at this difficult time. For your safety & security and the safety & security of our residents and employees we have the following conditions of entry: 1. Anglican Values: You agree to follow Anglican Care’s values of respect, wellbeing, compassion, integrity regardless of culture, beliefs, gender or disability. You agree: a) to respect the rights and needs of other people within the service, and to respect the needs of the service community as a whole; and b) to respect the rights of staff to work in an environment free from harassment. 2. Laws and Safety: You must comply with all applicable laws and safety requirements, which are brought to your attention by any of our staff or by signs and to observe other reasonable safety precautions. In the event of an emergency. Follow the instructions from staff and the signage to the designated muster point. 3. Privacy and confidentiality: You must respect the privacy rights of others. You must obtain the consent of care recipients, employees and other people before you take recordings, photos, or videos or images of them which identify them or otherwise capture or transmit those images in public forums, such as on social media, including Facebook. If you receive confidential information of residents or Anglican Care whilst on our premises you must keep that information confidential. 4. Signing In: All visitors must sign in and out through the main entrance lobby. 5. Smoking: Smoking/tobacco use is prohibited in our building. Please use designated outside areas only. 6. Prohibited items: The following items are not permitted in our premises: a) Firearms/weapons (or replica); b) Illegal substances including controlled, dangerous or illicit drugs; or c) other dangerous items.
GLOUCESTER UPDATE Progress is continuing well on Mirrabooka Place, our new residential aged care home in Clement Street, Gloucester. As per current construction timetables, it is anticipated that the home will open in October/ November 2020. We are looking forward to welcoming residents and staff from Hunter New England Health currently living and working at Kimbarra Lodge and Hillcrest Nursing Home to Mirrabooka Place. We will be meeting with residents, families and staff to answer any questions they may have about the new home in the next few months.
7. Restrictions on Entry: We reserve the right to refuse entry to any person who is not a resident. Additional restrictions of entry apply during the COVID-19 pandemic, these are clearly labeled at the entry. 8. Ejection from facility: A person may be liable for prosecution or a fine or may be ejected from the service where that person: a) Uses foul or abusive language or makes racial or threatening remarks or gestures; b) Is deemed by Anglican Care management to be displaying offensive, disorderly or unlawful behaviour; c) Enters the premises or other restricted internal area without proper authorisation; or d) Fails to comply with these conditions of entry or a lawful request from Anglican Care staff. If you do not comply with the above conditions of use, you may be required to leave our Premises.
What’s NEWS? CELEBRATIONS WEDDED BLISS! Kilpatrick Court resident Margaret and her husband Bill recently celebrated their 67th Wedding Anniversary with a glass of wine and some cake. Margaret’s words of wisdom for a long and happy marriage ‘if you love each other you can get through it, but also don’t nag him too much’. Bishop Tyrrell Place residents, Gwynneth and James Lythgoe also celebrated a significant anniversary with 64 years of marital happiness. What gorgeous, inspiring couples!
DISCOVER NEW Editorials on our website
VOLUNTEER UPDATE VOLUNTEER WEEK National Volunteer week was from 18 – 24 May and was celebrated a little differently this year due to COVID–19. Unfortunately we were unable to host our usual series of morning teas where we would normally enjoy lots of yummy cakes and slices. This year we celebrated by sending a letter with a small gift of a bookmark and some seeds to plant. We look forward to seeing lots of photos of the flowers in bloom. We would also like to say a huge thank you to the volunteers who are already back on deck and helping out at this difficult time. Our planned volunteer meetings are currently on hold until further notice. We’ll notify everyone when that changes. We have dates confirmed for our Christmas Functions as follows and notifications will be sent closer to the events. VOLUNTEER CHRISTMAS LUNCH DATES Hunter – Thursday, 3rd December, 2020 Cedar Wharf Lodge – Friday, 11th December, 2020 Storm & Bishop Tyrrell – Thursday, 17th December, 2020
GROW GRAZE GIVE
MARVELLOUS MELVA TURNS 107! The most special of birthday celebrations for Melva Henry from Toronto Nursing Home when she turned 107 on Monday, 1 June. This amazing lady enjoyed a champagne and nibbles afternoon tea on her special day with her many friends dropping off cards and presents for her. An avid scrabble player and reader Melva credits her longevity to the 3 G’s ‘gardening, golf and grog’.
We continue to receive some fantastic recipes for our Grow Graze Give Program. Our May Recipe of the Month was Healthy Meatloaf. The recipe was submitted by a resident of Kilpatrick Court, Margaret Eldridge. As a former Chef and Dietitian, Margaret had a passion for healthy food and firmly believed her meatloaf recipe to be one of the best! In sad news, Margaret passed away recently, but the residents of Kilpatrick Court enjoyed the meatloaf in Margaret's honour and loved both the meatloaf and the fact that it was submitted by one of their fellow residents. Our heartfelt condolences go to Margaret's family at this time. The June Recipe of the Month was Banana Cake. Submitted by Patricia Kimberley, a volunteer at Storm Village, it is an old favourite of Patricia’s that she uses when all else fails. Easy to cook and a great way not to waste ripe bananas!
Have you submitted
your FAVOURITE RECIPE? As part of our program we are encouraging residents, consumers, family members, volunteers and employees to share their favourite main meal or dessert recipe (max of 2 per person), with us. Our Executive Chef, Aaron Campbell, will choose one special recipe per month. The winning recipe will be made by our hospitality team, on one or two special days, and will feature on our residential aged care home and day therapy centre’s menu. PLUS, approximately 40 of the best recipes will be published in our
NEW ANNUAL E-COOKBOOK.
Submit your recipe(s) by post or email to: Lucinda Fetch, Anglican Care, 87 Toronto Rd, Booragul NSW 2284 or email: recipes@anglicancare.com.au