On the Coast – Over 55 Issue 32 I November/December 2019(clone) | Page 20

Aged Care Revolution
the time to act is now
BY SARAH TOLMIE
W
ith the Royal Commission
into Aged Care in full swing it
is hard to ignore the shocking
revelations of conditions at some facilities
and the stories of neglect, loneliness and
despair. It’s impossible on the basis of
much evidence not to declare it a crisis
and an issue of national importance.
For all of us privileged to make it into
our senior years, it concerns us all. For
those of us with loved ones or parents
currently in care, the realities are being
felt now and remedial action is urgently
required.
Some key concerns are not just staff
to resident ratios but a lack of medical
staff present, a lack of training and
poor pay for the minimal staff on offer.
Accounts of people being physically and/
or pharmacologically restrained and left
alone without company or stimulation
are heartbreaking.
Elders who manage to remain in their
homes but needing extra care can often
be waiting for home services for months,
even years after their assessments have
been made and approved. Sometimes
services do not arrive in time leaving
families in stress and distress.
Where are the funds? Are they in the
projected budget surplus getting us ‘back
in the black’ at the expense of our most
vulnerable. Maybe they are in the huge
profits of the large corporations running
many facilities across Australia who call
our loved ones ‘consumers or clients’
rather than residents? Other facilities are
operating at a loss and some facilities in
the recent news were in such financial
crisis they were closed leaving residents
in limbo and in temporary care.
Where is the will for change? Well,
with the Baby Boomers now leading a
tsunami of extra load heading towards
our medical and ageing services, we
better galvanize our will now. The time
to act is now but it is not just going to take
a massive injection of funds and fixes, it is
going to require a radical rethink on how
we design and build our communities and
approach ageing.
Amongst my close friends we are
seriously talking about preparations for
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ON T H E C OA S T – OVER 5 5
our older years and planning a way to
create a ‘collective’ for communal living
and sharing resources for care.
Other ideas and innovations being
trialled around the world include in the
Netherlands, where young people co-live
in shared accommodation with older
people, and their living costs are
subsidized for contributing to their care
and social activities. One of the major
factors contributing to elder wellbeing is
connection, relationships and a sense of
community, and the results of this
experiment have been a remarkable up
shift in happiness, activity and general
wellbeing for both the young and old
residents.
For anyone who watched the recent,
“Old People’s Home for Four Year Olds’
on the ABC, the positive effects of
multigenerational contact and play was
undeniable. In months the experiment
had proven results that the weekly time
in play and connection with the kids
improved their mobility, strength, sense
of purpose and happiness.
This invites us to radically rethink the
design of our towns and villages to place
at the centre, embedded in the hub of
our lives, ways to include the young and
the old. My mother’s over 55 village has a
childcare centre onsite and residents are
encouraged to visit and even volunteer.
How good would it be if we designed our
cities to be all-access and embed all our
less able and older citizen into the centre
of the action?
Wellbeing is the key. Over the many
years a new mindset for ageing has been
transforming thinking and changing
beliefs to trust that we CAN age with
health and vitality and that our senior
years CAN be a time of consolidating
wisdom and completing a legacy of life
lived with purpose and meaning to the
very end.
A very simple and proven way to
support ageing wellbeing is food and diet,
not just as a care approach, but a health
promotion, preventive to disease and
de-conditioning. On a recent Q&A the
wonderful Maggie Beer – a doyenne for
fabulous aging herself – advocated for the
necessity for good, fresh, interesting food
that brings sensory pleasure and textual
interest back to the dining experience
in many care facilities, however, the
essential role of good food is one of the
major known preventatives for dementia
and many chronic illnesses that lead to
poor ageing outcomes.
What we now need to do is join the
dots on this new ageing positive thinking
and extend it to include a radical pivot
on our care of the aged. Bring the model
of care back to the centre and heart
of our families and communities, not
on the periphery, where we expect
transparency, encourage connection,
generate better inclusion and create a real
model of wellness. We need to return to
the notion of the village.
Sarah Tolmie is an Independent Funeral Director and Consultant holistically supporting families at
End-of-Life – including guiding families through the conversations about plans and preparations,
providing relational and spiritual care, developing funeral plans and setting up pre-paid funeral
arrangements. Sarah is also a Life & Love coach and grief & bereavement specialist, assisting people to
celebrate, navigate, grow and heal through all their life & love transitions. And as an holistic Celebrant,
Sarah creates profound and meaningful ceremonies for all life & love events. You can visit her website
www.sarahtolmie.com.au or Facebook page at Sarah Tolmie – Life & Love.