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Avonlea Rest Home - Dementia Care NZ - Dementia

June 22 2022 WELCOMING BREZEL BANALAGAY, OUR NEW OPERATIONS MANAGER We are delighted to announce the appointment of Brezel Banalagay as our new Operations Manager here at Avonlea Dementia Care. Brezel will be joining us on 28 June. We would also like to extend our sincere thanks to Daphne for her wonderful work in supporting Armie and our staff team, and are happy to let you know that she will be remaining with us in a hands-on caregiving role on a casual basis, while pursuing her nursing studies full time. A Bachelor of Science degree in Management Accounting from the Philippines has been Brezel’s foundation for administrative and healthcare support roles in the Middle East and New Zealand, with eight years in NZ healthcare specialising in brain injury rehabilitation, intellectual disabililty and mental health. Working across a number of different sectors has broadened her ability, skills and values, and Brezel is always eager to learn things that will help her grow in every field. She sees the vision, values and philosophy of our organisation is a stronghold in achieving success and building great working relationships. Brezel believes "one person caring for another represent life's greatest values more than any accomplishments in this world." We join in congratulating Brezel on her appointment and wish her the very best as she takes on this key role. 22/06/22 May 2022 - Our brand new purpose built dementia care home is open! We are excited to announce the opening of our brand new, purpose built dementia care home at Avonlea. We are now welcoming new residents and are inviting viewings from interested residents and family members. Pyaar home (which means ‘love’ in Hindi), is a spacious yet homely ten bedroom home adjoining an existing home on the Avonlea site. It is modern, bright and warm with lovely new landscaped gardens, lawn and a spacious courtyard area with a shade sail. There are lovely garden paths to explore and a large raised garden bed for flowers and our own vegetables and herbs for our creative cooking group. There is air conditioning and heating to keep everyone comfortable no matter what the weather decides to do. The design is in keeping with our trademark ‘small homes’ concept yet exceptionally spacious. There is a lovely open plan kitchen for residents and families to enjoy and separate quiet areas to rest and relax, or spend private time together when families come to visit. There is a bright and sunny second lounge overlooking the lawn and flower gardens. The bedrooms are spacious and the ensuites generous. 8 of the 10 bedrooms have an ensuite and there are also communal bathrooms available. Pyaar’s main entrance is from Taramea Place, the first street on the left after the main Avonlea entrance on Lincoln Road. This is essentially our ‘front door’ now and where you will find our managers Daphne and Armie ready to welcome you. The home is also accessible from within Avonlea in keeping with our style of interconnecting homes which bring a lovely sense of community for our residents. We often take groups of friends to ‘visit the neighbor’s and it is lovely to do so via the winding garden paths that are beautifully planted out. We warmly invite you to come and visit Pyaar Home, Avonlea at any time. Come for a cuppa and a walk through if you are in the area, or ring to make a time. Daphne and Armie will be delighted to welcome you. March 21 2020 IMPORTANT NOTICE REGARDING COVID-19 AND VISITATION. We have decided to temporarily close our home over the weekend to visitors as we work towards implementing the latest advice from the Ministry of Health as of 21st March 2020. We are reviewing our processes to ensure they meet the new recommendations from the Ministry. We will advise you of the new process for visiting our home on Monday, 23rd March 2020. We acknowledge the importance of visits for our residents and their loved ones. Closing our doors is not a step we take lightly. However, preventing the spread of COVID-19 has to take priority. Andrew Sheard Director March 2018: Easter is a special celebration for us here in our home. We love to enjoy loving time together and share memories evoked by the scent of fresh hot cross buns and the feeling of anticipation as we unwrap the first Easter egg. We wish you all a safe and happy Easter with those you love. As always, we welcome your visits and remind you that our visiting times are the same throughout the holidays. March 2018: There is nothing nicer than a home-made fresh fruit ice block on a scorching day! We had great fun making these with our residents recently at Avonlea. January 2018: Christmas is a time when treasured family and social traditions are renewed and enjoyed by us all. Christmas card writing is an time-honoured tradition that seems to be dying out as email communication becomes more popular. At Avonlea we have loved helping each other to write Christmas cards to family and friends. There’s nothing quite as special as receiving a card in the handwriting of a person you love. December 2017: To our dear friends It's the end of 2017, a time of reflection on the past year. As always, there have been many moments of joy, laughter, peace and wonder: what we call ‘magic moments’. We are full of gratitude and would like to say thank you to you all. Thank you for encouraging us by being part of this online community. Thank you to the people who visit our homes - it is always lovely to see you. Most of all a very big thank you to those of you who share your family membe ... r or friend with us. It is a huge privilege to take care of the people who live here with us in their home. They are a wonderful inspiration to us and we love them dearly. We would also like to say an enormous thank you to each and every member of our staff team. We appreciate you and value you so much. Thank you for everything you do. We are grateful for the highs and lows, the challenges and opportunities this past year has brought. Thank you for being part of it. October 2017: Recently at Avonlea we had a “Pink Day”. This was not only to acknowledge breast cancer awareness but also just to have some extra fun together. Residents and staff dressed in pink and purple and we decorated the home with pink balloons, used pink serviettes and enjoyed pink Lamingtons. Our Diversional Therapist Jo enjoyed making some amazing enormous pink flowers with residents to decorate our spring-themed rooms. Even nature joined in with a stunning display of pink blossom on our flowering cherry tree! October: At Avonlea we have a lovely new raised planter in the garden. During winter we planted Bokchoy and through the cold winter months we enjoyed watching it grow and flourish. Recently it was ready to pick and with much anticipation we made stir fry to share. Things always taste better out of your own garden made together with love! August 2017: All of us were absolutely delighted with a visit from Rosie a pet lamb for the day. Hugs and shared stories of youth followed. Many residents enjoyed helping with the 2 hourly bottle feeding! Rosie was wearing a nappy which brought much laughter from everyone August 2017: Recently we got together on a winters afternoon to make pine cone bird feeders. This was a lovely opportunity to chat and reminisce about what our gardens were like at home and our favorite types of birds. There’s nothing lovelier to welcome in Spring than birdsong in our garden. Spring at Avonlea - October 2016 Welcome to Spring at Avonlea. Its so nice to see all the blossom trees in flower and enjoying the spring flowers even though the weather has been unpredictable at times. We are busy enjoying our spring activities and recently we took several van loads out to Hadstock’s farm to pick daffodils. Residents had a lot of fun and brought back many buckets of daffodils to share with everyone else, all the units looked colourful and smelt wonderful for several days. Our Activities team has been busy with several ongoing projects. In Mahal we have enjoyed making a little area with a wheelbarrow garden, bridge and gnomes for residents to enjoy looking at. We have a “Mens Club” up and running with activities aimed at things our men like to do, example are painting, gardening, separate van outings, walking club and arts and crafts more aimed at men, we always welcome your suggestions. We have continued to expand our exercise programme with the help of our physio therapist and encourage residents to engage in “moving” even if sitting in a chair and have fun at the same time. Please feel free to join in if you are visiting at the time. In the last couple of weeks we have worked along residents, families and staff to turn one of our rooms in Ofa into a ‘Memory Room”. This special room has items from the 50s and 60s for all of us to enjoy and reminisce. We thank everyone who has denoted items to help bring this room to life. We encourage all families from any unit to take your loved on to the room and enjoy a cuppa and share memories together, just ask staff if you require any help. Charisma and Sue. July 2016 We love creative activities at Avonlea. A recent favorite winter activity has been painting and decorating pine cones. These are then used as a tactile resource and placed inside 'fiddle baskets' for our residents in the dementia hospital. Our residents loved contributing and helping with this project. 13 th January 2013 Warmest greetings! Hospital dementia care to be offered at Avonlea Following the successful introduction of hospital care in April last year, we are excited to announce that we will soon add Dementia Hospital care to the services we provide at Avonlea. This will be provided in Aroha. This new dementia hospital will meet the needs of residents whose dementia progresses to the stage where they are reassessed as needing a higher, more specialised level of care. Now these residents will be able to remain in Avonlea, in surroundings which are familiar and cared for by people who know them well and understand them. This brings much comfort to their families also. Our organization has considerable existing expertise in hospital dementia care, which we provide at six of our eight facilities country-wide. We have an established reputation for experience and excellence in this level of care. A minor audit focusing on the MOH requirements for dementia hospital care will take place on 4 th February. Aroha will close on 7 th February for alterations. We hope that the building work will be completed within six weeks, and that our new dementia hospital home will fill rapidly thereafter. We will do our very best to keep disruption to a minimum during this time. We are proud and excited that at Avonlea we will soon offer a complete continuum of dementia care, and that our residents will no longer need to move on to other facilities as their care needs change. Please do not hesitate to come and see either one of us if you have any concerns relating to this change, or any questions. Warmest regards Kirsty Hart Charisma Roblete Operations Manager Clinical Manager . New Website for Dementia Care NZ: We have a wonderful new Website and we invite you to take a tour! www.dementiacarenz.co.nz AGE CONCERN POSITIVE AGEING EXPO SEPTEMBER 30TH: We are very excited to be holding an information stall at the Age Concern, positive Ageing expo on September 30th. It is always such a superb event with many interesting contributors. It is also a wonderful way to connect with our community. we hope to see you there! (Photograph: Kirsty Hart, Operations Manager from Avonlea Dementia Care rest home and Hospital and Sue Denton, Operations Manger from Admatha Dementia Care at the recent Age Concern Seniors Expo) LATEST AUDIT RESULTS: 16/09/2013 It's official! Avonlea has yet again obtained four year certification from the ministry of health. This is the highest achievable level of certification. CONGRATULATIONS AVONLEA! Avonlea’s first bake-off for 2013 has just officially ended – and what a day it’s been! For the past couple of hours our six small homes have been alive with excitement, concentration, engagement and smells as teams of care staff, assisted by family members and residents, vied for the honour of first place. Our cook Rowena performed the judging based on presentation, texture and lastly taste, with the grand winner being Cherry Lu with her divine tiramisu . Runner up were Sammy and Anita with their exquisite and unique vegetarian cake! What an exciting event! Now our residents get to make the final judgement when they enjoy the cakes for Coffee Club tomorrow. What a superb effort by all. Many thanks to our families and residents who helped with recipes, tips and ideas. Cherry’s winning tiramisu recipe will be up on Facebook for all to share soon! So, Dementia Care NZ teams, who’s having the next bake-off? 13 th March 2013 Warmest greetings! HOSPITAL LEVEL CARE FOR AVONLEA We are writing to advise you about an important extension of the service we provide at Avonlea. We have recently undertaken a special audit to enable us to provide hospital level care at Avonlea. This will be in addition to the dementia rest home level care we currently provide. Hospital level care will be provided in the small home we call Mahal, and will represent a significant extension of the service we currently provide at Avonlea. There will now be a registered nurse on duty 24 hours a day seven days a week. The addition of hospital level care to our services at Avonlea brings us a step further to our goal of providing a complete continuum of care. This means that when our residents become more frail and require hospital care they will be able to stay on at Avonlea. It is important that residents can stay here in the place they call home, with the people who know them well and with the people who know just how to care for them. It brings a measure of comfort to residents and their families knowing that they will not have to move. The new level of care will be delivered with the same loving care and uncompromising standards which have earned Avonlea 4 year Ministry of Health Audit Certification. We welcome your questions or comments. Yours sincerely Kirsty Hart Kathy Cargill Operations Manager Clinical Manager At a number of our homes we have been holding a weekly 'coffee club'. This is a time for socialisation, reminiscing, sharing time with family and friends, creating magic moments. Out come the lovely table cloths, the special china, the flowers on the tables not to mention the lovely home baked goodies and coffee! If you would like to join your friend or loved one for coffee club, please conta ... ct the operations manager of the facility for details. We would love to share this time with you. Donya Nee, on behalf of the Diversional Therapy Team from Dementia Care NZ. One of our Avonlea Diversional Therapist Trainees had the wonderful idea of making Salt Dough Christmas decorations. The whole team were excited about the idea and gave it a go. Needless to say, we had a winning idea. Not only did this activity prove to be fun and creative, but kneading the dough, cutting out shapes, and carefully painting them was a healing and therapeutic activity for many of our residents. Lauren Thompson, Head Diversional Therapist, Avonlea. The garden at Avonlea is simply teeming with seasonal treats at the moment that the residents have been loving to discover. Pink alstroemeria, peonies in red and yellow, ice poppies, rhododendron, purple hydrangeas, valerian, roses and Christmas lilies. The glory of the garden! PHOTOGRAPH: Donya Nee and Lauren Thompson at the recent Age Concern positive aging expo in Christchurch - 01st October. Exercise Programme After many months of discussion and planning, a four week training course for staff took place in March at Admatha and Avonlea in Christchurch on how to introduce regular exercise for residents into our dementia facilities. The course was facilitated by Janet Earle, Registered Physiotherapist, who knows our residents and staff well from her weekly visits to both Admatha and Avonlea. Janet has vast experience in the area of falls prevention, and has worked extensively with the elderly and with people who have dementia. This opportunity was met with great enthusiasm by the staff of both Christchurch facilities, with a pleasing attendance of Caregivers, Registered Nurses and Diversional Therapy trainees at the sessions. The training covered a range of topics over the four weeks, from the benefits of exercise to the elderly, through which specific exercises to include and which to avoid. Janet summarised the main benefits to our residents as being the “Four F’s”… Fitness, Freedom, Falls Prevention, and Fun! It was envisaged that at the completion of the course, staff would have a greater understanding of exercise benefits, together with the tools to assist with incorporating increased exercise and movement into our residents’ daily routine. It is envisaged that exercise will take place throughout the day. However, there will be a distinct focus on movement to music during the mid to late afternoon, when many of our residents struggle with ‘sundowning’ symptoms of dementia. We are now getting ready to introduce this programme to people in facilities in other areas. We plan to review the success of the training and exercise programme later in the year. Additionally, we intend to carry out some comparative evidence-based research to establish whether there have been any tangible benefits to our residents, such as a decrease in falls, as a result of the programme. Trainee Diversional Therapist Kim Prasad engages residents in an lively exercise session The Rug Project at Avonlea The rug project is one that has proven to be very exciting and inspiring for those who live at Avonlea. It has encouraged people to maintain a lifelong hobby and skill, and also promotes dexterity. We have found it to be a soothing exercise for people who have a tendency to be unsettled. At Avonlea, we often come across random bits of clever knitting. It is wonderful to encourage these pieces into a further project where the enjoyment leading up to completion is felt, and the completion is noticed and celebrated. This project has been embraced by some of our younger residents and has also been enjoyed by our lower functioning residents. Blankets are made by knitting squares and rectangles of all sizes, and are stitched together by a simple, memorable blanket stitch. My personal motto for this project is to "Keep it simple, as simple often works best." It has certainly proven to be true! We currently have three rugs on the go, and are continually adding appropriate pieces. I would love to encourage hats and scarves also, as I feel that would be a brilliant complimentary project. We intend the rugs to go to the Christchurch City Mission to assist families in need. I wish this to be an ongoing contribution, as long as we have people knitting - we want the knitting to be used. Lauren Thompson DT Team Leader Dementia Care NZ are now on Face Book! Simply search Dementia Care NZ, like us and stay informed with updates, educational information and our special stories. LIKE us on FACEBOOK http://www.facebook.com/pages/Dementia-Care-NZ/346399398748273 and show your support for people with dementia. WE DO THINGS DIFFERENTLY ... AND IT WORKS. OUR POINTS OF DIFFERENCE: Our Vision and Values – Are the cornerstone of all we do. We select our staff based upon our vision and values. This means we attract the right people and have a great staff retention. Staff have a high level of job satisfaction and many opportunities to grow which naturally results in best performance and positively impacts upon our residents’ well being. Open home – Our families are always welcome. You have an open invitation to share mealtimes with your loved one, at no charge. We want you to have as much special time with your loved one as possible. This benefits us all. Small Homes – Small homes mean that the environment feels more normalised, and residents orientate to their environment more easily.. There is a family feel. We get to know our residents very well. There are fewer faces to get to know. There is a higher staff ratio than in many larger facilities. Open Plan kitchens - Purpose designed kitchens mean that residents and their families have full, assisted and safe access to familiar homely activities. People can help rinse the dishes, make a cup of tea, wipe down the bench, and be part of the running of their home. Baking and cooking activities occur regularly. Bedrooms – Are warm and cosy. There is under-floor heating as well as wall unit heating. People are encouraged to bring special things from home, to make their room feel familiar and homely. We provide all of the necessities. Family Support – Our families have the opportunity to meet monthly with an independent facilitator to share thoughts, feelings and concerns about having a loved one in care. At Levin and Waikanae support is available over the phone. Special Programmes for Families - We enjoy having two special courses for our families: ‘Orientation For Families’ and ‘Sharing the Journey’. These courses help people to settle into having a loved one in care, and provide information about dementia and improving the quality of the journey with your loved one in care. Our team: Our staff team are hand-picked and are with us because they love working with people who have dementia. They are given many opportunities to grow within the organisation and are supported to be their very best. We provide them with free medical attention and staff support from ‘Work Place Support’ . They are also given much in the way of Education. We are great believers in the power of education and support for growth. Education - We have an Education Coordinator who coordinates , supports, motivates and encourages staff to grow and develop as much as possible. Best Friends Approach to Dementia Care training – All our staff attend this training as a part of their comprehensive ‘orientation’ program. It is based on the ground-breaking work of Virginia Bell and David Troxell, and originated in the U.S.A. The main focus is on developing empathy, communication and an understanding of our residents’ needs. Non Violent Crisis Intervention – This is an internationally recognised qualification that we encourage all staff members to participate in. This course supports what is learnt in the Best Friends Approach to Care training. Intercultural training – Our staff team have the opportunity to be a part of comprehensive training around intercultural awareness. This training is designed to help staff understand the varying cultural needs of our residents, as well as fellow staff members. Occupational Therapy – We have a very experienced Occupational Therapist who leads our team of Diversional Therapists. She is also available for consulting regarding residents’ specific needs and/or behaviours of concern. Physiotherapist – Our Physiotherapist visits our home regularly. Dietician – Our dietician is on site on a regular basis and is available for advice at anytime. Community Care – We have a proactive approach to education for the wider community around dementia care. We speak at both national and international conferences on the subject of excellence in person-centred care. Community education, removing the stigma from dementia and increasing the quality of life for people who have dementia are passions we love to share with others. We hold the only contract in Canterbury for dedicated respite care. Audit certification – We are very proud of our Audit results. All audit results may be obtained from our website www.dementiacarenz.co.nz At Avonlea, we have four years certification. VISITING TIPS FOR THE CHRISTMAS PERIOD ! Please see our article about 'Visiting a person with dementia over the Christmas period' as published on the Alzheimers New Zealand site. We hope that this article is helpful for you and your families. Simply click on the link at the very bottom of this page. RESPITE CARE We wish to remind people that we are still running a dedicated respite care room at both Admatha and Avonlea Dementia Rest Home care facilities. This means families/carers can book respite care in advance. Carers can prepare for time out in advance, knowing that their loved one has a booked room in a well established home that specializes in care of people who have dementia. It is very important that carers have time to relax and take care of themselves. Taking a break can help with this. We believe that most people want to stay at home as long as possible. We work hard to make sure people who come for respite care go home as good as or better than when they came into our care. At both Admatha and Avonlea, we create a loving and homely atmosphere where each person is supported to experience each moment richly. This is our vision. We achieve this vision through our values: By honouring the uniqueness of each person, the immense value of each person, openness, honesty and integrity. Please feel free to contact me anytime to enquire about our homes and about our respite care service. I would love to meet with you and I hope that I will be able to assist you. I look foward to meeting with you. Donya Nee Vision Development Co-ordinator Admatha Dementia Care Rest Home & Hospital Avonlea Dementia Care Rest Home (03) 385 1286 027 277 6882 We: *accept you as you are *really listen to you *Love to hear you laugh *forgive your mistakes *have fun together http://www.alzheimers.org.nz/tips-for-visiting-someone-with-dementia-over-the-holiday-period/ Dementia Care NZ are now on Face Book! Simply search Dementia Care NZ, like us and stay informed with updates, educational information and our special stories.