The power of putting people first

Each resident at St Vincent’s facilities is a unique individual who requires personalised and custom care that fits their needs and wants.

The saying “No two days are the same” is evidently true for anyone who works in aged care. Each day provides a different opportunity to provide person-centred care to the lovely seniors who reside in our homes.

Describing a typical day is tricky, and while the day-to-day running might be different each and every day, the purpose and goals stay the same — to create a safe and happy environment for the residents and staff.

My role as Living Support Manager focuses on the non-clinical aspect of residential care: the lifestyle and enjoyment they want to carry into their later years.

A morning to plan and evaluate

The morning usually starts with a Clinical Hub meeting to discuss any residents’ and/or staffing needs. The managers across the site join forces to provide a clear representation of our service delivery, with each manager taking control of their teams’ responsibilities and objectives to ensure clean, smooth running throughout the week.

Depending on the day and the current intake of new volunteers, Partners in Care and university student placements, conducting orientation and site tours plays a role in my morning routine. This ensures that everyone working across the facility has the right information and tools to help provide effective and supportive care.

Following any manager meetings, we provide our staff the opportunity to come to collective and collaboratively work out their goals, purposes and struggles. Each day across the facility, I facilitate two team huddles. Here we bring together employees across all services to encourage discussion and feedback on how we can collectively work together to achieve any obstacles that we might encounter. This initiative has provided a safe place for our staff to open up about issues they may be facing and receive support and assistance from their co-workers and managers.

New resident, new relationship

Each of our residents is viewed and treated as a unique individual. During their admission process, we ensure that we have the right information to adequately care for their needs and wants. I, along with the Admission Coordinator and Clinical Manager, engage with the new resident and their loved ones to discuss both the clinical and non-clinical aspects of the care plan.

The meeting provides an opportunity to articulate our commitment to support the residents with a holistic approach that supports their individual goals and choices. I like to get to the nitty-gritty that helps the resident with a smooth transition into their new home. We explore preferred mealtimes, hobbies and interests, their personal religious preferences and more. It allows the loved ones to feel comfortable and confident with their decision to help transfer their parent, grandparent or loved one into residential aged care.

Admission is only the beginning of the relationship with our residents. Every Friday, I run household (what we refer to our sections/hubs as) meetings. This is the perfect time for our residents to express their feedback and concerns in a supportive and friendly environment. This also provides residents with the opportunity to further explore their needs and wants and make requests for changes in mealtime, activities and more. With eight households across the home, we aim to deliver household meetings every four weeks.

A person-centred approach

While my day may change greatly throughout the week, there is one thing that always remains the same, the work completed is based on the motto ‘People first, task secondary’.

The connection shared between employees and residents, or employees and outside community is what allows the aged care environment to flourish. Our goal as a community is to establish aged care as a person-centred approach with the resident at the heart of all we do.

Images: Supplied