Village Life

Retirement villages have expanded rapidly, now housing one in eight people aged 75 and over. Little is known though about residents, including their health status and needs. To remedy this, Dr Joanna Broad of the University of Auckland led a study of the residents of 33 villages in Auckland. The …

A visit to his grandfather in a rest home prompted chef Terence Austin to leave the hospitality industry and turn his skills to ensuring older people get great food and the variety they deserve. He tells Eldernet that the joy he sees on a village resident’s face at meal time …

Retirementvillages.co.nz, the newest kid on the Eldernet block, has marked its first birthday! To celebrate the milestone we enlisted Driving Miss Daisy to deliver a scrumptious birthday cake to all those lovely clients that signed up right at the start. As you can see from the photos, the cake and …

Chef Terence Austin is on a mission – to ensure those with the eating condition dysphagia get presented with meals that look, smell and taste just as good as those served to people without the condition. People with dysphagia have difficulty swallowing liquids and solids. It’s a growing problem among …

The Operator Gretchen Berg Hachette $34.99 This book held so much promise! It looked exciting in the publisher’s summary and I was so very happy to see a copy arrive in the office for us to read. I started just before COVID (and all that went with it) and I …

Kia ora tātou! Here at Eldernet we’ve been getting some ka pai reports of what various villages and facilities around the country are doing to mark Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori / Māori Language Week. As the photos show, staff and residents at CHT Hillcrest Hospital in Mangere took …

The Jacaranda House Deborah Challinor HarperCollins RRP: $36.99 Set in both Australia and New Zealand, this book drew me in instantly. Perhaps that’s because I like a sense of where something is happening, a time and space in which to place my thoughts. Because this novel is set in places …

Going floral is a growing trend in interior décor, and there is no better way to bring the trend to life than with indoor flowers. Besides enhancing the beauty of a space, they clean the air and help you feel calm and relaxed. Caring for them is even more rewarding …

COVID-19 has shone a light on how well retirement villages and care homes are set up to cope with the challenges of such a highly contagious virus. There’s now a fresh focus on how architecture and technology can make disease prevention and containment easier, as well as improving the experience …

Jane Wrightson, our new Retirement Commissioner, tells Eldernet about her priorities for the role, and what she is looking forward to when her turn comes. What was it about the role of Retirement Commissioner that attracted you to it? I had a leadership background in media, regulation and industry advocacy …