Aging in place precinct benefits MND patient

Calvary’s new integrated aged care, health and retirement living precinct in Melbourne is taking aging in place to a new level — and Graham Archer who has Motor Neurone Disease (MND) is just one resident who is benefitting.

Archer was diagnosed with MND last year and soon found he was no longer able to live at home. Instead, he became one of the first residents to move into the new aged care home at the Calvary Kooyong precinct where only an elevator separates Archer from his specialist care team.

Located on Kooyong Road at Caulfield South, Calvary Kooyong incorporates the Hyson Apartments independent living complex, the Huntly Suites aged care home, and the Calvary Bethlehem sub-acute hospital that provides specialist care for Victorians living with progressive neurological conditions and those needing palliative care.

Residents will also soon have access to onsite GP, pharmacy and allied health services as part of the integrated and holistic concept of care that underpins the precinct.

“This whole place really is a total package,” said Archer, whose world changed dramatically when he was diagnosed with MND in October.

“I’ve received so much benefit from this concept of Calvary’s, and the positive attitude of everyone around me whose whole approach is ‘we’re here to help’.”

The new $154 million Calvary Kooyong precinct opened in January and aims to help its residents and patients live well and to meet their changing health needs.

“It is a progressive and very holistic concept of care that centres on the needs of the diverse range of people who will be living here,” Calvary Kooyong General Manager Shannon Thompson said.

“I don’t think there is anything quite like it.”

Archer initially experienced difficulty using his right hand. By December he had become a patient with Calvary Bethlehem and soon realised that he would not be able to live at home on his own any more. His concerns about where he would live and how he would cope quickly mounted.

Calvary Kooyong opened doors that Archer had never thought possible — the chance to live in a place he could call home again, and receive the care he needs on the same site.

“It broke me up. I didn’t think there was a chance any of that could happen, and they made it all happen so quickly and so smoothly,” he said.

“You just can’t imagine how I feel. I’ve been blown away by the care and people here. Everyone is so focused on doing the best for me. The whole philosophy is geared towards maximising the care and what independence I can achieve within the limits of my condition and ability.”

There is much that the keen stamp collector, gardener and traveller can no longer do, but he’s not giving up. Instead he is taking a positive attitude and leaning on the support of his children, the staff at Calvary Kooyong and MND Victoria.

“I’ve just had to accept it. It has been hard, but I recognised that I could never live alone again. I also can’t drive again.

“I struggle with a lot of things — so many simple things that I took for granted all my life.

“But I have decided that I’m going to do the very best I can with what I have got. I’m not going to crawl into a hole and give up. The positive attitude of everyone around me, it rubs off.”

Image caption: Graham Archer. Image: Supplied