Winter 2019
Nigel’s spiritual journey towards his role as our Coordinating Chaplain
Nigel Uppill with Gaynes Park Manor Chaplain, Lorraine Croker, and resident Norma
Nigel Uppill has brought a diverse background in spiritual care to his role as Life Care’s Coordinating Chaplain. At 39, the father of four has packed a lot of pastoral experience into his career of caring for others having served as Associate Minister at Western Communities Churches of Christ, Coordinating Chaplain at Highgate Park, and in youth justice chaplaincy. It has been a relatively unusual path into aged care, but Nigel has made the transition comfortably with high praise for Life Care’s “fantastic staff” at all levels. Since joining Life Care in February this year, he has advanced the role of chaplaincy in affirming the spiritual and emotional well being of residents and their families, staff and volunteers. “The language of love is expressed in many ways at Life Care from daily personal care to compliance with the highest standards,” he said. “Caring for individuals with dignity, humanity and attentiveness to spirituality are signature qualities
INSPIRED LIVING
about which we can all be proud in the Life Care community.” Nigel, who is also Chaplain at Life Care’s Glenrose Court at Glen Osmond, reflects on his ministry with the Western Communities Church of Christ at Flinders Park and Mile End, where he focused on supporting church members to reach out in love and service. “I enjoyed encouraging them as they strengthened their relationships with those in their local community through schools ministry, connections with refugees, and a program supporting those pursuing faith following struggles with addiction and crime.” From 2011 to 2017, Nigel worked as a school chaplain within the Adelaide Youth Training Centre, ministering among incarcerated young people. “It was a profound privilege to support students and staff as they searched for a way to move beyond trauma, violence, drug use and crime towards a creative and hopeful future,” he explained. Nigel’s subsequent role as Coordinating Chaplain at Highgate Park (part of the former Julia Farr Centre) provoked another season of growth as he learned to support the spiritual care needs of those with complex disabilities. “I learned afresh the value of presence from those who found communication difficult, and discovered in many people a capacity to transcend loss, limitation and suffering to express deep joy and profound love. Continued Over
Top dementia design award for Gaynes Park Manor Gaynes Park Manor, Life Care’s newest residential care home, has received one of the world’s top awards in dementia design. The home at Joslin has been presented with the coveted Gold Standard Accreditation from the Dementia Services Development Centre (DSDC), part of Stirling University in the UK. The Gold Standard represents DSDC’s highest possible achievement in dementia design and Gaynes Park Manor is the first recipient of this accreditation in the Southern Hemisphere. Defining features of Gaynes Park Manor include: • a unique house model where residents are grouped into small “communities” of around 16 people. Each house has its own communal kitchen and style theme including visual elements, colours, textures and finishes. This creates subtle, but important visual cues that enable people living with dementia
to identify where they are while building confidence and security.
• a Call Assist system developed to support the autonomy and choices of people living with dementia while removing the need for secure areas. Instead, the system uses precision real time location technology with “virtual boundaries” to locate people and to trigger a staff alert when a resident crosses into another area. In this way, people with dementia are free to roam as they wish, inside or within the secure outside area, without any risk of straying into unsafe spaces.
Gaynes Park Manor Chaplain, Lorraine Croker, said the many innovations combine to provide the best possible experience for residents. “The house model facilitates spiritual care in a very natural way as it provides personal connections between those people living within each house area, which in turn helps create a sense of belonging and community,” she said. “The environment is family friendly and fosters each person’s unique contribution to day-to-day activities.”
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“I observed their courage as many of them chose to move into new community housing that became available under the National Disability Insurance Scheme.”
“There have been some very positive responses to these services where the focus is on engagement and participation, and we hope to be able to extend the concept to other residential sites.
This role also introduced Nigel to working within an aged care setting and supporting people living with dementia.
“Chaplaincy is very important in supporting people who are experiencing confusion and distress from advanced dementia.
“I knew of Life Care’s outstanding reputation in caring for older South Australians, and the chance to join them as Coordinating Chaplain has been an exciting opportunity and a great privilege,” he said. “While our chaplains are highly valued and very active within Life Care’s residential facilities, we are looking to strengthen our attention to people’s spiritual care needs across the whole organisation in coming years. “We are also continuing to advance initiatives such as our dementia aware worship services in the Memory Support Unit at Aldinga Beach Court, where we seek to draw out foundational memories of faith, often through songs.
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“Our chaplains contribute to the value and dignity of those with failing memories by providing a reassuring presence in simple, but powerful ways.”
Life Care’s Chaplains Aldinga Beach Court – Julie Simpson, who commenced in February 2019 Reynella Lodge – Maureen Jennings Parkrose Village – Peter Bradley Glenrose Court – Nigel Uppill Gaynes Park Manor – Lorraine Croker Relieving Chaplains – Randall Lawton, Chris Williams and Bill Hall.
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Contact us T 1800 555 990 E enquiries@lifecare.org.au lifecare.org.au