Hostel outing. Services provided by Italian Age Care. For enquiries on services provided by Italian Aged Care

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1 33 Kent Road, Marangaroo WA 6064 Telephone Fax Dear residents, relatives and friends, Another year has passed quickly and Christmas is just around the corner once more. It is often a period of not only celebration, but also of reflection on the past 12 months has been a great year at Italian Aged Care with many treasured memories. We have again shown that as a small provider we can deliver care and services as well as anyone with our own Italian slant. We have forged links with the immediate community with partnerships with local schools, child care centres and other organisations. We have also ensured presence within the Italian community through links with the Consulate, which resulted in a consular visit in early December, as well as other similar aged care providers. I feel that internally we have in place a stable and talented staff leadership team who are aligned to our mission and in 2015 we have benefited from Rachel Kogiopoulos joining us as business manager and Rachael Viney in her role as care manager for her full year. This puts us in a prime position to develop strategically as an organisation. We have also farewelled some long-standing staff members including Connie Coltrona who has given so much is many different roles over the years. However, first and foremost are our residents and clients and ensuring their needs are met. We have seen a changing profile of needs within residential care due to government resourcing of home care ensuring people can remain at home longer and coming to us with greater needs often for a shorter stay than we have seen in the past. We need to monitor this as an organisation to ensure that we respond quickly to changing needs and remain an aged care provider of choice that can deliver what the community expects of us. In 2015 we have undergone major change in our kitchen services and we are indebted to the work that Vince La Galia undertook on a voluntary basis. Vince assessed the kitchen for a few weeks and made recommendations that we have implemented to ensure optimal systems. Vince was then able to (continued on page 4) Hostel outing An outing was enjoyed by residents from Villa Terenzio who visited Rotary park in October. Services provided by Italian Age Care Day Therapy - activities for older people living in the community. Available twice a week providing therapies including physiotherapy groups and massage therapy. Independent Living Units - available on site for people able to live independently wishing to be in a supportive community. Residential care - for older people with who require ongoing assistance. Registered Nurses and other trained staff are on duty and able to provide 24 hour care. This is available on both permanent and respite arrangements. Specialised dementia care - Registered Nurses and other trained staff provide 24 hour specialised care to older people with dementia. Additional services - including St Joseph s chapel, pastoral care including our resident Sisters, hairdressing and special projects. For enquiries on services provided by Italian Aged Care please call on or visit

2 From the Care Services Manager On behalf of Italian Aged Care I would like to wish you and your Family a Merry Christmas. As 2015 draws to a close it is a great time to reflect on our achievements during the last twelve months. To mention a few; A new icare system was introduced and staff will use computers to write notes and plans of care to improve the way we deliver care; The staff have completed the first stages of education and we are hoping to see this rolled out in early January. Our memorial candles, first introduced in 2014, have continued to be appreciated by families, residents and staff. This candle helps us to celebrate a life and remember our friends at Italian Aged Care. Villa Terenzio had a minor refurbishment to the common area and made this a very comfortable place for your enjoyment for meals and leisure. I have received positive feedback that it looks refreshed and modern. We also had Vince La Galia assisting us with tutorials on authentic Italian cooking and has made many changes and improved the meals. His knowledge and insight assisted us all and I would like to sincerely thank Vince for his patience and persistence at Italian Aged Care and the mentoring undertaken. Whilst we have said farewell to a number of staff over the year, some have left to retire whilst others have received new qualifications or opportunities and have left the Italian Aged Care family to spread their wings. Our fingers are crossed that some of these staff will return to us at some point in the future. We have seen Hardev Singh promoted to Clinical Nurse Manager in Villa Terenzio and Dianne Barnett has also enhanced her role across the Nursing home and Special Care unit with the support of the senior Registered Nurse model of care with Jonita (VT), Liza (NH), Bishnu (SCU) and Kelly as an experienced EN (John Re) At the time of this report the Occupation Therapy department are planning many activities for the Christmas season and well into the New Year. I would like to make mention of the activities we have seen in 2015 such as Pizza Night, Aged Care Games, Royal Show Exhibition, Rock and Roll, Senior Citizen week, Melbourne Cup to name a few of the extensive program Claire and her team organize. I am sure you will agree and would like to thank the OT department for the effort taken to make these activities materialise. All teams at Italian Aged Care work hard every day to ensure our residents are comfortable and taken care of- Thank you to our care, administration, Kitchen, laundry, cleaning and Physiotherapy staff for a year of dedication to Italian Aged Care and our mission. The volunteers and the Board of management must also be acknowledged for you time, devotion and commitment to our unique community. We are busy planning quality activities for 2016 so don t forget about our Have your say feedback form if you have any ideas for improvement that you would like to share with us. There is also the Resident and Relative Meetings which provide a great opportunity to give us some feedback. On a final note, I would like to thank you all for another great year at Italian Aged Care. It s been another action packed year and I am sure that 2016 will also be an exciting time. Have a Merry Christmas and a Prosperous New Year Yours sincerely Rachael Viney, Care Services Manager

3 A visit from the Australian animal farm In September we had a visit from the Australian animal farm. As you can see they brought a couple of snakes, a koala and a dingo. The residents really enjoyed the visit, especially the dingo which I m sure they would have kept if it was offered! Afternoon tea with the Governor of Western Australia In September a number of our residents had an outing to Government House for afternoon tea and a tea dance. This is a popular annual trip and marked the first visit with Kerrie Sanderson as the latest Governor of Western Australia. to

4 (continued from page 1) work alongside our staff in the kitchen to ensure that we were able to provide authentic homestyle Italian meals. The improvements that were achieved with Vince s support were significant and we look forward to further improvements. During the second half of 2015 a number of our staff reached milestones in their service. I would like to acknowledge that and express my gratitude to them publicly below: 5 years - Ylede Harman (PCA); Jodie May (PCA); Carmen Matteo (Day Therapy Centre Coordinator) 10 years - Rinha Soares (PCA); and 20 years - Claire Webster (OT). Additionally, 2015 has seen the inception of the Olive Branch Awards. These are staff recognition awards that are nominated by residents, relatives or visitors. Each recipient is awarded a special badge that they can wear to demonstrate that they have been recognised as excelling or going above and beyond expectations. Recipients of the Olive Branch Awards in 2015 are: Marina Van Kleef (Multi-skilled Carer); Kelly Solyk (Enrolled Nurse); Judy Prosser (OTA); Kristy Lee Bennington (PCA); Anna Oncken (PCA); Claude Zambrano (PCA); and Nicole Langford (PCA). Congratulations to all for their service or recognition award. I look forward to presenting more awards next year. I feel that 2016 will be an exceptional year where we continue to improve and further progress. Until then, Buon Natale and Buon Anno! Chris Roberts, Chief Executive Officer Royal Show art exhibition September saw us convert our Reception area into a Royal Perth Show art exhibition

5 Grand Final Barbecue 2015 Our traditional Grand final barbecue was enjoyed by all, despite the unusual sighting of Gold Coast Suns caps, flags and shirts around Villa Terenzio! Melbourne Cup 2015 All residents enjoyed a superb Melbourne Cup day, although not many predicted the winner. Well done to those who did pick Prince of Penzance at 100-1!

6 News from the Nuns Dear Residents and all our friends at Italian Aged Care, This joyful season is coming that Jesus brings PEACE to all of us in our hearts. Keep our eyes firmly fixed on Jesus and our heavenly Father. Live Lighter Aged Care Games As per previous years, Italian Aged Care residents have participated at the Aged Care Games. In September, residents from the Nursing Home attended the Games at Joondalup where they participated with great enthusiasm. With the joyous Christmas we wish all of you. May the grace of God and the love of the Holy Family be with you always. Sisters Therese and Mai TORCCH Shopping trolley Earlier in the year Italian Aged Care started a group named the TORCCH group. This was a group of staff members from across the organisation who wanted to get together to work on a project using something called a TORCCH framework. While the team may not have won overall, they were awarded medals and it was noted that they had the largest cheer squad supporting them with lots of relatives of all ages! Volunteers Our volunteers are invaluable members of our team that allow us to give extra support and offer more activities through the year. We are very grateful for not only having so many volunteers, but also their dedication to the residents. The next meeting of Volunteers will be held in the activity room at: 10:30am on Thursday 18 February 2016 TORCCH is an acronym standing for Towards Organisational Culture Change and the framework was co-devised at UWA. The group got together with a brief to devise a project that would benefit residents. Some 8 weeks later the Shopping Trolley was ready for its fortnightly travel around the facility allowing residents to maintain their independence and decision making through purchasing items. If you are interested in volunteering and would like more information, please join us at the meeting or call Claire on Resident and Relative Meetings Please join us with your resident family member for morning tea and the short three monthly meeting regarding residential matters. Nursing Home (in NH lounge) 10:30am on Wednesday 3 February 2016 Hostel (in Activity Room) 10:30am on Tuesday 9 February 2016 Hostel SC (in Hostel SC lounge) 10:30am on Wednesday 17 February 2016 Nursing Home SC (in NHSC lounge) 10:30am on Wednesday 24 February 2016 Key staff will be at the meetings to give updates, answer questions and receive suggestions.