Well, I hope there is a “revolution” in Aged Care. I can remember back in the 1960’s when older people who were no longer able to stay at home were put in hospitals. Then for many years some rather primitive places.
Old Version of Aged Care
My own mother who died in 2014 at the age of 98, was in a home that our family were not happy with – but we could not find any better alternative. She shared a room which had limited space. She had a single bed, a small bedside locker, an armchair, and a narrow cupboard which was closer to her roommate than to her. The area near her bed was so small, that there was no space for visitors. Nursing care left a lot to be desired!
I have in my work been to a lot of nursing homes and could see that there were slight improvements over the years. Still, I was not happy with the facilities. In any nursing home.
Regis at Chelmer
Yesterday, though I visited one that was pretty awesome. It is a new one at
(Brisbane Western suburb) Queensland, where a family member has just relocated to. It was opened in Nov/Dec 2017, and still does not have full capacity.
Everyone has their own room. And what a room! The room was quite big and there was room for a TV and other electronics (e.g. DVD player etc), plenty of cupboard space, and the bed was a big single bed. Not the narrow, short beds that were the norm in previous times. (As a tall person I found them too short for me in a hospital!)
The bathroom was amazing – even to automatic lighting when one walked into it. So much easier for people with limited ability.
There were amazing loungerooms, a Cinema, a coffee lounge with an automatic machine spitting out cappuccinos and other coffees, and cake, biscuits and other snacks.
There were indoor garden rooms, plenty of space outside, great sitting areas inside and out, and very sophisticated electronics to assist the staff. Even to an amazing feature – which was screened onto a wall of fish in a pond, and one could interact with it by touching the wall. There were security cameras everywhere and much more.
I could go on and on. It is one of the Regis group. Perhaps they have set the bar for all nursing homes in the future – and perhaps they can even get better with technology.
Aged Care shouldn’t be so scary any more.
This is a photo from a video. The young folk were moving their hands on the wall, making the water bubble and change. Wish I could add the video but it is too big.
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