Better Practice Awards
Better Practice Award winners announced
An aged care home that found residents respond to ventriloquist dolls, another that has rekindled a ‘PenPals’ program among residents, and a home that has developed an ‘ageing abroad’ program for staff are among 41 Better Practice Awards winners announced today by Aged Care Standards and Accreditation Agency Ltd.
The annual Better Practice Awards recognise quality improvement and better practice in aged care and serve as exemplars to encourage improvement and innovation across the industry in five award categories:
- Health and personal care
- Resident lifestyle
- Staff development and retention
- Environmental management/living environment
- Innovation
A distinguished panel of aged care experts reviewed the applications and made 41 awards. The panel convenor was Accreditation Agency Director Dr June Heinrich AM (former Chief Executive Officer Baptist Community Services NSW), and panel members were Mr Don Bain (former Chief Executive Officer Seventh Day Adventist Aged Care South Queensland) Limited; Mr Wayne Belcher OAM (former Chief Executive Officer Bethanie Group WA); Mr Michael Bendyk (former Chief Executive Officer Southern Cross Care SA and NT); Mr Paul Cook OAM (former Chief Executive Officer of H N McLean Memorial Retirement Village, NSW); Mr Robert Hillier (former Chief Executive Officer The Frank Whiddon Masonic Homes of New South Wales); and Mr Ian Wilson OAM (former Chief Executive Officer Warrigal Care NSW).
The Accreditation Agency’s Chairman, Mr Jim Harrowell AM, thanked the panel for their contribution and congratulated the Better Practice Award winners.
“Their efforts are testament to the high quality care in Australia’s residential aged care industry and they are deserving of recognition,” Mr Harrowell said.
“The managers and staff at Better Practice Award-winning homes are going above and beyond in providing the very best care for their residents, and in many cases, residents themselves are active participants in these innovative programs.”
When Gerry Gee and Ron Blaskett visited Melbourne’s Baptcare Strathalan Community in Macleod in 2008, they were an instant hit. The home has incorporated ventriloquist puppetry into their music program after finding many residents connected with the ventriloquist doll to a greater extent than they normally expressed in day-to-day life. Some residents, who rarely spoke or interacted with their surroundings, spoke directly to the doll, often in an altered pitch, and often having animated and complex conversations with the doll.
Baptcare Strathalan Community now has four ventriloquist dolls which are integral to its resident lifestyle programs, and ventriloquist dolls have also been introduced at other Baptcare homes.
Mercy Place Parkville, like many aged care employers, is managing an increasingly culturally diverse workforce with staff often having to return to their country of birth at short notice, or to attend a cultural or family event that is integral to their identity.
When they do, they are encouraged to visit an aged care facility and are given a tote bag containing gifts, donated goods, resident-made handcrafts and a handwritten note. Many of the staff also use their visit to pass on some of the education and training they have learnt at Mercy Place.
Mercy Place Parkville’s ‘ageing abroad’ program has so far reached 26 countries including Nepal, India, the United States of America, Papua New Guinea, Japan and Nigeria.
The Whiddon Group Kelso near Bathurst found residents were interested in reviving the lost art of making new friends through writing and developed its ‘PenPals’ project as part of a consumer engagement project. Residents have formed new friendships, and the ‘PenPals’ program has also helped the home find out about care innovations at other homes elsewhere in Australia and overseas.
Since 2007, more than 350 letters have been sent to residents in aged care homes across Australia and the United Kingdom. The ‘PenPals’ group meets monthly and involves staff and residents working together to correspond with their new-found pen pals across the world.
Click here for the full list of Better Practice Award winners and profiles.
The Accreditation Agency is an internationally recognised independent body responsible for promoting high quality care in residential aged care.
We have accreditation and publicly available education programs to support aged care managers provide high quality care for residents.
Planning for 2012
For those of you who missed out on nominating this year, now is the time to evaluate your projects, initiatives and programs and start planning your Better Practice Award nominations for 1 June 2012.
Click here for the Better Practice Awards nomination guide
Click here for the Better Practice Awards nomination form
About the Better Practice Awards
Meeting the Accreditation Standards means that the aged care home provides quality care and services for its residents. The Better Practice Awards promote and recognise improvement and better practice in aged care homes that succeed in going above and beyond.
The Better Practice Awards are annual awards presented for any projects, initiatives or programs that act as exemplars for other aged care homes to assist and encourage improvement to care and services for residents.
Each year these awards will encourage homes to submit their projects, initiatives and programs to gain recognition, to promote and recognise better practice in five categories and show how they contribute to the quality of life for residents.
The Better Practice Awards also provide the industry and consumers with information on better practices in residential aged care that can be widely adopted.