practical living and feeding . It ’ s not task-focused . It ’ s really focusing on the individual and celebrating that individual and what they can do .
And are you able to have better staff to patient ratios ? We have a very high staff ratio of one to three , one to four , depending on the residents ’ needs . In aged care generally it ’ s about one to five , and sometimes one to 10 .
We have RNs in all the houses . Currently , we have 12 homes and RNs oversee clusters of three houses . The registered nurse is available 24 / 7 .
Recommendation 46 of the 148 recommendations of the Royal Commission Report says capital grants for these small household models of accommodation should be considered . What does it mean to you to hear something like that ? It ’ s music to my ears because I think as an industry we have to move forward . We have to be able to look at the big
institutional model and say , ‘ How can we make it better ?’ If people benefit from an innovative , new model , then thumbs up to the industry . And if there ’ s an opportunity to share information or take a big institution and cut it down to small parts , we want to be able to support people to do that or companies to do that because it is the way forward and people will thrive in a model like that .
We cannot leave the industry the way it was . We have to make change . We ’ ve been doing it for nine years . We know that it works . We know that it ’ s a better model . I ’ m really excited about that recommendation .
Is this sort of living available or applicable to people of lesser means ? It ’ s available to everyone . Let ’ s just take an institutional model that has 200 beds . You could break it down to small scale living . There ’ s a certain philosophy of care that needs to be adopted . There ’ s an environmental approach and design that needs to be adopted . And then , there ’ s a leadership approach that needs to be adopted .
You can build group homes in every part of Australia and people can afford to come to it , especially if some of the recommendations are adopted , which is more funding to home care and the like , it ’ ll be accessible to even more people . But even the big facilities can adopt this model .
What ’ s the future hold for Group Homes Australia ? We ’ re going to continue growing . We have eight homes in the pipeline and we hope to go national . It ’ s a model that we know works . We know that people thrive and flourish in our environment . And so , we welcome partnerships with other people , but we know that this will be one of the mainstream models moving forward .
We might not be the only company doing it in the future , but definitely the Royal Commission and consumers have said this is what they want for people living with dementia . And we want to be able to offer that to them . ■
The AMH Aged Care Companion is a trusted , practical reference for all health professionals and carers who work with older people . It contains the latest evidence-based information on the management of more than 70 conditions common in older people . The current release includes a number of changes . Updated topics including behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia ( BPSD ), epilepsy , heart failure , immunisation , type 2 diabetes and urinary tract infections to name a few .
Available in book or online . For further information or to purchase go to www . amh . net . au agedcareinsite . com . au 25