AGED CARE ROYAL COMMISSION: ORGANISATIONAL STATEMENT

Words by Lutheran Services’ Interim Chief Executive Officer John De Angelis

Lutheran Services is a not-for-profit organisation and registered charity that operates 10 residential aged care services and 12 home care services across Queensland. With our first service founded in 1935, our mission is to ensure the best care, respect and support is provided to older Australians and those in society who are most in need.

We support the Government’s decision to ensure the current and future care and wellbeing of older Australians is protected. The Royal Commission will shine a light on how the aged care system currently works and pave the way for a better future.

As one of the larger providers in the aged care industry, Lutheran Services was invited to provide an early submission to the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety.

In the submission, Lutheran Services shared information around the quality of care provided over the past five years to 30 June 2018, along with improvements implemented and a series of initial recommendations for the industry moving forward.

Our aim is to continue to evolve and improve our services, safeguarding the quality of life for seniors now and into the future – to ultimately deliver better outcomes for older Australians.

Please find a summary of our recommendations to the Royal Commission below.

• Funding – a funding system that recognises the additional costs of providing aged care services in rural, regional and remote locations, which is often provided by not-for-profit providers.
• Staffing – addressing the issue of providing the right workforce (recruitment, upskilling and retention) in rural and regional care settings.
• Clinical – better integration between all levels of care; technology-based patient portals; incentives for GPs to work in aged care settings; better access to specialist geriatric and neurological services.
• Quality and compliance – greater emphasis on quality performance measures, rather than a transaction-heavy compliance model.
• Person-centred – a less institutional approach to aged care; providing a person-centred approach; giving individuals more control; a more sensitive funding instrument to support this.
• Home care – faster access to Home Care Packages; greater funding of home care in regional and rural areas; rapid rollout of higher-level Home Care Packages to bridge the gap between home support and full-time residential aged care.
• High care needs – funding for smaller, more highly specialised care environments for residents with high care needs.
• Dementia – a community-wide approach to dementia support with more precise diagnostic services and management plans.
• Special needs – better care environments for people of all ages with special needs.
• Palliative care – greater resources for palliative care training and support across both the healthcare and aged care sectors.
• Mental health – recognition of the complex care needs of older people with mental illness.
• Infrastructure – incentives for not-for-profits (as significant providers of care to concessional residents) to improve care infrastructure.
• Technology – technological aids for sharing resident history, maintaining mobility, monitoring falls and connecting residents with the wider world.
• Innovation – incentives for exploring innovative care environments, multifaceted supported living communities, creative engagement, supported recreation and travel opportunities.

We are doing whatever is needed to protect our older Australians and our strong track record for more than 80 years speaks truly to that. This really is a watershed moment for the industry, we are focused on addressing the challenges and we look forward to seeing much-needed improvements for the sector across the board.

From us to you – Merry Christmas. Wishing you a joyous day spent with loved ones.

A message of thanks from Bishop Paul Smith to our care givers on behalf of all Lutheran congregations in Queensland.

Lutheran Services was pleased to be able to thank staff recently for their enormous efforts during the COVID pandemic.

Large brightly coloured posters with a loud and proud ‘thank you’ message greeted staff when they arrived. A sweet treat was a small token of thanks.

It’s wonderful to celebrate our workers – including staff across disability, aged care and youth & family – who bring their smiles to people’s homes everyday.

Thank you!

In 2019, Lutheran Services embarked on an exciting intergenerational initiative to bring together elder citizens and young children in the community – ‘to spend time together and share moments of joy and wonder’. The project was aptly named ‘Moving Moments’.

With financial support from the Australian Health Department’s Commonwealth Home Support Program, a pilot project began in Buderim on the Sunshine Coast – involving children from Immanuel Early Learning Centre and residents of Immanuel Gardens Retirement Living.

The pre-schoolers and elders would come together to take part in a range of fun activities, after which the grown-ups could enjoy lunch together. The pilot project was designed to explore the potential health and wellbeing benefits for seniors.

As David Gerrand from the Lutheran Services Creative Engagement Team explains, there’s much more to Moving Moments than just fun and games.

“The Sunshine Coast is home to more than 70,000 people aged over 70. Many seniors report feeling isolated due to factors such as reduced mobility, no longer driving and loved ones moving away or simply being too busy.”

David sees Moving Moments has two broad aims.

“Firstly, to bring joy and connection for seniors who may feel isolated. And secondly, to break down intergenerational barriers, building valuable interactions between young and old. Moving Moments fosters connection and strengthens community involvement as our elder participants build new relationships with the children and each other.”

And it was all going swimmingly until COVID-19 and physical distancing came along!

“We had built this wonderful social program, then suddenly we were no longer able to socialise! We had to make the transition from physical gatherings to virtual interactions.”

As David explains, Moving Moments has now gone from strengthening social connection to building technological capabilities.

“We spent time teaching our elders to use their smart phones and tablets to communicate and connect via Zoom and FaceTime. Of course the kids were already very tech savvy. Now we have virtual art and craft sessions and exchange the things we make. We even have a virtual choir, so we’re singing together across the social divide.

“The added benefit is that, while remaining connected to the kids, our elders also built more contact with their families and friends. Those who had never used such communication technology before have now become enthusiastic advocates.”

Moving Moments has attracted strong community interest and featured widely in the media. A recent independent assessment of the pilot program has demonstrated increased wellbeing for senior participants through greater social connection.

Best of all, lots of new friends have been made, with tons of fun along the way – and there’s so much more to come. Face-to-face sessions are finally back on the cards.

And Lutheran Services is expanding the project to new communities and regions in South-East Queensland.

For more info on Moving Moments and how you could be part of something wonderful, looky here …

We are delighted to introduce our newest chaplain Marie Thomas who will soon be installed as a permanent part-time chaplain at Trinder Park Retirement Living and Aged Care in Woodridge.

Marie has completed her year’s onboarding and is now offering our residents spiritual support and pastoral care.

We would like to take this time to thank all of our chaplains at each of our aged care services and our volunteer hospital chaplains for their devoted work in making a considerable difference to people’s lives.

You can find more information on our Lutheran Chaplaincy here: https://www.lutheranservices.org.au/chaplaincy

Bishop Paul Smith shares his joyous Christmas message!

www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1790100081149352

Audience members felt the emotion during the uplifting performance of If Only I Could… at Laidley Cultural Centre earlier this month.

It was a labour of love for director Angela Chaplin, who worked closely with professional dancers and Lutheran Services residents for three years to bring this unique story to life.

Here, we take you through the journey, from rehearsals all the way to curtains-up.

Hay Hay! The Kalbar Country Day is approaching and Teviot Villas resident Margaret is sewing up a storm for a market stall.

The Boonah resident says the most popular items are the insulated microwave bowl holders (pictured with Margaret) and trivets in the pattern of fruit flans.

All the items are meticulously sewn using beautiful materials. Kalbar Country Day is Saturday 16 October.

To celebrate National Carers’ Week, Salem Aged Care in Toowoomba pulled out all the stops to show just how loved our carers are!

Not only were notes of appreciation placed all over the grounds, there was free coffee, massages and a raffle with prizes donated from staff and suppliers.

To top it all off, staff dressed up in sparkles – just to show how much sparkle they put into our lives!