Activities inspire residents

IN years gone by, moving into an aged care facility meant scheduled visiting hours and a slew of mandatory leisure activities like bingo and arts and crafts.

For residents of Townsville’s longest- established aged care facility, The Good Shepherd Home, this couldn’t be further from the truth.

Chief executive officer of The Good Shepherd Home Steve Stacey said the home employed a team of diversional therapists and ran a day therapy centre to ensure residents felt connected and inspired by a range of individualised activi- ties. “The Good Shepherd is their ‘ home’. And just like enjoying your lifestyle at home, we have introduced a range of new activities and services for residents so they can choose to remain connected and active in their community,” said Mr Stacey.

“Residents now have access to a range of night time activities including going out to dinner or the theatre or taking an evening drive, followed up by coffee and cake at a local cafe. We have even taken our residents to a bonfire night, which was overwhelmingly popular.

“If our residents love eating out or baking cakes and scones or gardening, we make sure we take the time to listen to their preferences and work them into their weekly routines and our group activity schedule.”

Offering social interaction and visits from families and friends is also a key priority for the home’s diversional therapy team.

“Providing family and friends with the opportunity to remain actively involved in our residents’ lives is also a crucial element of our care philosophy. Our home is their home too and we facilitate this by providing plenty of shared activities such as our upcoming Father’s Day barbecue and our annual visit to Magnetic Island,” said Mr Stacey.

“All residents, including those with dementia, are pro- vided with the opportunity to make decisions about their activities because our role is merely to support them through the journey of ageing.

“As an organisation, we are pursuing a range of automation opportunities in the ‘ back- office’ side of our business to free up even more time for our care staff so they can continue to enrich the lives of our residents.”

The Good Shepherd is a fully accredited, not- for- profit charitable organisation established by community volunteers in 1972 to provide exceptional care for local people.

Residents now have access to a range of night time activities including going out to dinner or the theatre or taking an evening drive, followed up by coffee and cake at a local cafe