Kris's Feathered Friends

We had the pleasure of Kris and her all her lovely birds this afternoon. What a fun afternoon, and what absolutely devine birds, I'm not much of a bird person, and I was walking around with a bird on my shoulder, and now desperately want to get a gorgeous fan tailed pigeon, dye her pink and have her at the facility....I wonder if our dog will get along with her???

RN New Grad Program

My RN New Grad has just returned from her quarterly 3 day Professional Development days that Bupa have put together in conjunction with the The College of Nursing, and she has returned with so much excitement and new ideas. The focus was on Bupa's new Person Centred Care Plans, Dementia Care, Myer-Briggs, and dementia gardens. So, now we are seriously considering:
- A facility dog through either Delta Society or Guide Dogs Australia
- A garden/tool shed for the fella's to tinker in
- A garden sink
- A post box
and who know what else after we have finished with the birdshow this afternoon....
I'm loving the enthusiasm as it is really contagious....

Planning an evening event, Thursday 12th August 2010

We have the privilege of having the Holdsworth Community Centre Choir coming to the facility to entertain our residents, staff and families on the evening of the 12th August. The Holdsworth Centre offer assistance to those disadvantaged by age, income, disability or social isolation, and to families with young children. They have 35 singers coming by coach from Woolahra, who I have been told are all very excited, and all our residents looking forward to have an evening of entertainment along with wine, cocktails and canapes. Something a little different, as we usually have all of our entertainment during the afternoon and families often cannot join us for these, so we are hoping for a great turnout, with everyone ready for a good old fashioned sing along, now we just need to get the piano tuned.

Alzheimer's Australia - Family Support Courses

Alzheimer's Australia has some great courses coming up...

Sons & Daughters
For immediate and extended family who are involved in the care of a
person with dementia. You will receive information about dementia and
causes, workshop effective communication strategies, and explore a
range of issues that impact upon your role. This program will also
provide links to support services in your local area.
Thurs 19 Aug 2010
Tuesday 26 Oct 2010
Wednesday 23 February 2011

Understanding grief and managing transition to care
For carers who are caring for a person in the later stages of dementia.
This session will assist in understanding the feelings of grief and loss that are often experienced when the person being cared for is still with us.
Wed 17 Nov 2010
Wed 16 Mar 2011
Wed 11 May 2011

Just to name a few

The Bupa Maroubra Story - What the newspapers didn't tell you

And the winner is...

With overwhelmingly positive feedback the winner is the above table. I must say I was a little suprised at the outcome, some blame the quality of the photos of the other tables....others feel it was the bright colours used that appealed to the residents, either way we now have a baseline of the expectations of our residents, visitors and staff. So to be honest, no we aren't setting the tables eveyday like this, however we are setting the tables with tablecloths, placemats and the candles used in the black and white tablesettings.......the difference is amazing, and we are receiving alot of positive compliments as a result......this is only the beginning, but what a great way to start......Congrat Team 2!!!

Making Gold

One of our Bupa facilities was recently misrepresented in the media causing an extreme amount of stress and pressure for the facility's staff, residents and relatives. Throughout this challenging time they stuck together and got through it all. It has made all of us at Bupa realise that we need to work together as a larger group to provide information and education to those who have little or no experience in aged care around why we do what we do for our residents. The Aged Care Accreditation Agency conducted a full 3 day audit at our Bupa Maroubra facility. Whilst we were always quietly confident in our team at Maroubra we now have the official report confirming they received 44 out of 44 outcomes.
An example is: how might it appear to someone new to aged care if they saw a resident sitting playing with wooden toys? It may actually appear demeaning. When in actual fact, we may have found out through interaction with the resident that he/she used to be a toy maker and is at their happiest when playing with toys. We may actually have spent a weekend or two of our own time making toys with the resident as part of our personal best journey. When my daughter stated that she thought it was funny that grown ups would enjoy playing with a model train set, I replied "Well alot of grown ups have been very busy in their lives, they now have time to play with them, toys aren't just for little kids, they are for big kids too." "Oh yeah, good point" was her simple 8 year old reply.