Award-winning care

2021 LASA EXCELLENCE IN AGE SERVICES WINNER OF THE ORGANISATION CATEGORY PUTS PEOPLE FIRST

RangeCare is a not-for-profit organisation providing in-home services to aged and people with disabilities living in the Sunshine Coast Hinterland region and surrounding areas. Operating since 1986, RangeCare is a community-based business that thrives on being part of the broader community—and it was this community spirit that helped it rise to the challenge of lockdowns. “We exist to help our clients live independent and purposeful lives at home, and we do this by demonstrating kindness, empathy and compassion,” explained RangeCare CEO, Greg Mannion.

“With everything we do, our aim is to build strong relationships with our clients and their families to offer person-centered care.

“When lockdown happened, we swung into action, because we knew people would need support.”

When the initial COVID-19 lockdown was announced in March 2020 and prior to the availability of Government assistance, RangeCare needed to find a way to keep its 150 staff members employed to support 2,000 clients. Faced with the challenge of employees needing to stay at home for an extended period of time, RangeCare made the decision (regardless of cost) to call every single client to find out directly from them what support they urgently needed in the changing and high-risk environment.

It became apparent that many clients were going to be isolated at home with little or no family support, and many others were significantly impacted. In response, RangeCare promptly introduced the following new services: • a meal delivery service where local café and restaurant meals were delivered to people’s homes—helping local businesses stay afloat and ensuring people had a wide variety of choice at mealtime; • a butcher meat and a fruit and vegetable pack delivery service to people’s homes; • an in-home haircut and beard trimming service; and • an iPad loan service including free Internet access and tuition to ensure people could stay in touch with loved ones and other members of their local community, which later expanded into an in-home technology support service. “We helped local businesses stay afloat and we constantly strived to help every client live their best life,” Greg explained.

“We have continued to deliver meals to our client’s homes, and have now delivered well over 10,000 meals across the Sunshine Coast since the pandemic commenced.

“In response to border restrictions and our client’s fears of venturing into the community, we developed an iPad loan and technical support service. This enabled older clients to stay connected with family and friends via video chat applications.

“We can proudly say that we have enabled hundreds of older Australians to stay in contact with families afar and provided local community contact, which was vital for people with physically distant family members.”

Following on from the success of RangeCare’s iPad and technical support service, RangeCare has adapted this model to offer a Virtual Reality Program and now, Apple Watch pilot. To date, 12 clients have participated in the virtual reality offering, which allows elderly clients to experience more of the world from the comfort of their homes. Gemma Webster, RangeCare Kitchen Coordinator

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“This service has not only increased the morale of the participants but has also contributed to improved memory recall and cognitive functioning,” said Greg.

“Many of these clients are also in the early stages of an Apple Watch pilot program which we hope will assist in fall prevention, improve communication with our clients and assist monitoring their overall health and wellbeing.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has permanently changed all our lives. For our business, we continued to show agility by having to open and then shut down group activities, restrict services, and meet changing PPE requirements. RangeCare stepped up for our community. I am extremely proud of what RangeCare has done during this challenging time,” said Greg. For it efforts, RangeCare was acknowledged as the winner of the Organisation Award in the 2021 LASA Excellence in Age Services Awards. The judges commented that Blackall Range Care Group provided a wonderful example of how functional, practical and efficient partnerships with aged care can provide social and economic benefits. The integration of client needs and small businesses within the local community was a winwin, while the focus on supporting vulnerable people during lockdown demonstrated incredible compassion. RangeCare Technical Support Officer Fabienne Henderson and RangeCare client Steen Jorgensen exploring RangeCare’s Virtual Reality Program.

Jessica Garey is Business Development Manager, RangeCare. For more information visit www.rangecare.com.au