Summer 2020-21
Nigel Uppill with chaplain Lorraine Croker and resident Norma
Spiritual care in these challenging times Life Care’s chaplains have been at the forefront in supporting residents and their families as we responded to the challenges of COVID-19. While visiting restrictions and other protocols were implemented to keep people safe, Life Care also increased the working hours of chaplains at each of our homes to provide additional spiritual and emotional support for those who were feeling concerned or vulnerable. Chaplains partnered with other staff members to ensure older people remained connected to their loved ones through the use of communication technologies. Our chaplains also spent time encouraging and supporting the resilience of staff and leaders as they creatively and compassionately responded during a time of rapid change. In this season of challenge, Life Care’s values of engagement, integrity, respect, excellence and teamwork really came to the fore.
Like churches and leaders in the community, our chaplains had to be flexible in providing opportunities for their congregations to participate in worship, communion and prayer. At times this has meant leading multiple church services to comply with physical-distancing requirements, supporting access to on-line worship services, and facilitating connections to funerals via video streaming. We look forward to welcoming back volunteers and visiting clergy to support future church services. Through all of this, we have witnessed the strength of faith of many people who have expressed their gratitude to God for the safety they have experienced, and have offered their prayers for the many who have suffered across the world. Our Christian hope has enabled people to respond with trust instead of fear, and helped them cope with change and uncertainty by focusing on how they can express love and joy to those who live alongside them. As we approach Christmas, we look forward to reflecting on the lessons that have emerged from the pandemic and celebrating the opportunities we no longer take for granted. Nigel Uppill, Coordinating Chaplain
INSPIRED LIVING
Life Care LIVE Allen Candy ... ‘good things happen when people go above and beyond expectations’
Connection is an increasingly important factor as people age. Engagement with family and friends and attachment to community contribute to quality of life, especially for those in residential care. The onset of COVID-19 and the social restrictions that were imposed to keep people healthy and safe, led to Life Care finding innovative ways to keep the lines of communication open.
Aged Care Royal Commission Life Care welcomes the initial report of the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety that has cast light on sections of a system that often fails to meet the needs of older and vulnerable citizens.
Chief Operating Officer, Rosanne Collins, said restrictions on family visits at Life Care’s residential sites created particular anxiety, and the organisation looked for ways to minimise any distress. “Very quickly, we brought iPads into our facilities and organised Skype and Facetime sessions so that our residents could engage with their loved ones on-line,” Rosanne explained. “Staff members also helped accommodate this level of engagement using smart phones.
Through public hearings, round table discussions and forums, the Royal Commission has exposed examples of neglecting senior Australians and not adequately meeting community expectations.
“These forms of communicating were a big relief to residents trying to cope with their fears over the pandemic, and family members were also able to book in Skype events.
While the outcomes reported to date are deeply disturbing, there is proof that good things happen when people and organisations go above and beyond expectations.
“To ensure the smooth implementation of these initiatives, we trained staff members on latest forms of communication technology.”
Life Care is a shining example. I presented to the Royal Commission on behalf of Life Care and it allowed me to showcase the excellent work we continue to do to support those in our care.
Rosanne is responsible for operations across the whole of Life Care’s services - residential care, community services, retirement living and allied health and well being. However, her involvement with Life Care goes back a very long way.
We look forward to the Royal Commission’s final report early in 2021 and hope the Federal Government implements holistic responses in the interests of senior Australians and their families.
While studying nursing, Rosanne was a carer at Roselin Park when it opened in the 1980s, and after gaining her nursing and Master of Business Administration degrees, she returned to Life Care in her executive position.
Meanwhile, this edition of Church Link outlines some of the effective responses from Life Care’s management and staff members to the COVID-19 crisis. The manner and speed with which these initiatives were put in place is a reflection of Life Care’s outstanding culture of care.
“The COVID-19 issue has caused a high degree of complexity, but our response in terms of keeping lines of communication open has been warmly welcomed,” she said. “We also engaged software systems company Haylo to create a family communications app called Life Care LIVE to connect residents with their families in a similar way to a closed Facebook portal.
It has been a very challenging time, but we have created new opportunities for people to communicate and engage. These responses have been welcomed and appreciated by residents and families. I am proud of the way that we have managed the pandemic and we will emerge an even stronger organisation as a result. Allen Candy Chief Executive Officer
‘In future, the app will allow people to communicate with us on specific issues including accounts and service provision’
a welcome communication tool
Rosanne Collins with Louise Hanialakis, Manager, Gaynes Park Manor
“Staff members regularly take photographs of residents in happy or reflective moments to share with family members using Life Care LIVE.
“Ultimately, Life Care LIVE will also allow people to communicate with us on specific issues including accounts and service provision.
“The responses have been very positive, especially among family members who live quite remotely from their loved ones in care.
“It has been rolled out across our five residential sites and there are plans to expand the program further into our community settings.”
Connecting with congregations around the world Spiritual engagement has helped people cope with anxiety over COVID-19 and physical separation from their families and friends.
“We have also managed to stream services from a number of famous churches in the United States and the United Kingdom, and this has given residents a sense of involvement with congregations around the world.
At Parkrose Village, for example, the pandemic meant the deferral until further notice of traditional Sunday services involving residents and volunteers.
“Some residents have enjoyed one-on-one spiritual engagement with me. In these individual meetings, I have shared prayers and issues of reflection from the small communal services, and we have even sung together.
Chaplain Peter Bradley introduced smaller communal gatherings of residents for prayers, reflection time, bible readings and hymn singing while maintaining social distancing protocols. “As a high proportion of residents attending weekly worship are in wheelchairs, the task of bringing them together must begin 30 minutes earlier,” he said. “To provide a warm atmosphere for early arrivals, there is always a nature video showing with gentle music playing to ease folk into the worship space. “I have used the Internet to tap into local church services around Adelaide and this has given our residents a sense of outreach to the wider community.
“Independent living residents who formerly attended Sunday services at Parkrose Village have approached me about conducting small backyard services at their homes, and this again is having a normalising effect with feelings of continuity. “COVID-19 has presented many difficulties, but it has taught us how we can cope and make the most of the situation. “It is about making services accessible, creating spiritual relationships and building a sense of community and identity.”
Loyal to our mission over 70 proud years Life Care has evolved over the past 70 years as one of Australia’s leading not-for-profit aged care providers.
Matron Anne Harkness and one of the first residents at the home on opening day in 1950
Our history can be traced to a major effort mounted among Churches of Christ parishioners to raise funds for the purchase of a grand old home at 242 Portrush Road, St Georges, the suburb later becoming Glen Osmond. On April 15, 1950, about 500 people gathered in the sunlit gardens of the home to celebrate the commitment and generosity that allowed the purchase of the property. Those in attendance for the opening of the home shared a common focus on ensuring older people in the community did not fall by the wayside in terms of the housing and care they needed and deserved.
members and highly trained specialists working together in a network of care homes, retirement villages and community care and allied health and well being services across Adelaide and beyond.
It was the first of the Christian Rest Homes, later to be known as Churches of Christ Retirement Services, and more recently Life Care.
Life Care is loyal to its vision to be a premier provider of services and accommodation for older people with the mission “to create communities where people embrace life and Live Every Day.”
While now financially independent of the Churches of Christ, Life Care is still a not-for-profit organisation with values consistent with our history, and it has grown and diversified through generations to meet the changing care needs of older South Australians. To understand how far Life Care has come, it is worth reflecting on the efforts that brought about the official opening of its first home at St Georges 70 years ago. The concept of the rest home had its genesis in the Churches of Christ Centenary Fund, and a desire to relieve the plight of homeless or poorly housed aged people. The fund was established in 1946 with the first donation of one shilling. The St Georges property - which later became the vastly modernised Glenrose Court at Glen Osmond was purchased debt free. With bequests and proceeds from garden parties, musical afternoons and stamp sales, church volunteers raised funds to furnish the home. After the official opening in April 1950, Matron Anne Harkness welcomed the first of the guests to be accommodated in their new home. So the foundations of care and compassion were firmly laid, and today Life Care has hundreds of expert staff
Church Link magazine is a publication of the Churches of Christ. 128 Greenhill Road Unley SA 5061 INSPIRED LIVING
Alan Young is a former, long-serving Director of Life Care and he now volunteers on a weekly basis at Parkrose Village. “I am emotionally overwhelmed at how the early spirit and vision of our small church movement to love and care for those who were vulnerable continues daily in our homely organisations across the city and in the homes of many seeking to live independently. “The dynamic transformation, through the ongoing expertise and sincere commitment of key people over the years, enables staff to continue to provide the essential support as people age. They truly Live Every Day in communities where we can honour those founders of Christian Rest Homes, now Life Care. “I know the compassion, commitment and intention of our founders still drives those who lead and provide the age care services of today within Life Care. “They fill us with joy and a sense of achievement. We can’t stop though, and I gratefully thank our churches, chaplains, volunteers and staff members who continue to build on the wonderful work started by Home Missions over seventy years ago.”
Would you like more information about Life Care or to receive your own copy of Church Link?
Contact us T 1800 555 990 E enquiries@lifecare.org.au lifecare.org.au