June 2016 Donwood Bulletin Dear Residents, Relatives, Staff and Friends, What a month it has been, I cannot believe we have hit the middle of 2016. I often think is time flying past because we are all just crazy on this merry go round of life. When I look back over the last months I actually think we have achieved and do so much each and every day. The opportunities we have at our finger tips are only as endless as our imagination. Whether it is learning a new skill, meeting up with old friends or going on an adventure it s all valuable time we have prioritised in our life. Our residents are the same. We recently had 25 Duke of Edinburgh students from Lilydale High School come through and enjoy the day with our residents. They will return for another two days over the next couple of months to share their time together. Both residents and students enjoyed the day immensely and discussed the lives, opportunities and shared experiences. It is so special to be connected with our community and for our residents to be able to feel a part of the community that they have lived in for so long. I talk to many people about the assistance we at Donwood can give our community. Our residents do have some spare time when they are not involved in outings, activities and living everyday life. We have over 90 residents living in our home and they all have such a wealth of life s experiences and knowledge. Our residents love to listen to live music, be that playing an instrument or singing, poetry readings and reading groups just to name a few, if you have a need for an audience or know of someone who requires an audience then please contact our administration office on 9879 7366 or jjordan@donwood.com.au and we can arrange a time to get together. On another note, I was talking with a number of relatives the other day and we were discussing the building developments, Donwood s reputation and the quality of staff and volunteers we have at Donwood. While discussing these topics we realised how lucky we all were to actually be a part of the Donwood community. For some of us its our home, for others its our workplace and for others it s a place they come and visit and enjoy time with loved ones and friends. However for all of us we have a common goal and a reason to be here and that s for our residents. It s very comforting to know that all the hours we all put into Donwood whether they are paid or not paid, every cent we save and make goes back to the lifestyle of our residents. We don t have an owner or shareholders who are reaping the rewards of our surplus, our residents reap these rewards and this is one of the reasons I believe Donwood has the reputation it has. We are not compromised, every decision made by our staff, management and our Board always has the underlying question is this is the best interest of the Donwood Residents. It s not hard to go over and above when you know you are directly contributing to the lifestyle of our residents and really making a difference. What a privilege we have in our lives to live, work and volunteer at Donwood. Finally, Donwood is now totally in construction mode with the new building about to connect with the old building. PLEASE READ the attached letter in relation to access and relocation of Reception, The Day Centre and The Physio Services. This change has come about earlier than expected and will affect the Donwood Community. It is very exciting times and will be amazing when finished, however we will have to endure some disruption till the New Building opens in March 2017. If you have any concerns please contact me directly 9879 7366 or nwilkinson@donwood.com.au. Be sure to drive by and drop in to see the transformation of the new building, it will be changing ever week from now on. So as winter approaches, enjoy the time you have with your loved ones and continue to make those special memories. Best Regards 1 Natasha.
Project 105 Update May 2016 ACCESS & RELOCATION DAY CENTRE, MAIN ENTRANCE AND PHYSIOTHERAPY Dear Residents, Relatives and Friends of Donwood I would like to inform of the significant changes taking place as at 6 June 2016 with regard to the current building project and access to Donwood. We have been informed by the builders that they require access to join the new building with the old building as soon as possible instead of original August timeframe. The impact this will have as at Monday 6 June 2016 is as follows: Main Entrance the corridor that leads down to the nursing home will be blocked off forever more. Walls will be erected just past the meeting room near reception and near the side entrance to the Nursing Home. The current Day Centre and Physiotherapy room will be no longer accessible. Access to the nursing home will only be through the Lodge. Temporary Relocation - after careful deliberation and consultation with all affected parties, we have decided to relocate the Day Centre to the Acacia Activity room and the Physiotherapy service to Primrose lounge in the Nursing Home. (The Physiotherapy service only operates on Wednesdays from 0830 1630) Gillian and the Day Centre Staff Office will be relocated to the Lodge Staff Room and our staff will all use the Nursing Home Staff Room during this three month period. Reception - Judy, Paula and Sharon will still remain at reception however they will be isolated from the rest of the building, except for outdoor access. ACCESS to all areas of Donwood will be via the Lodge entrance until the new building is completed, March 2017. The main entrance will then be directly off Diana Street. TEMPORARY DAY CENTRE ACCESS 17 Diana Street June till September Day Centre clients and their carers will access via the side doors at the front of Diana Street Lodge and move through to Acacia and the main activities room. TEMPORARY PHYSIOTHERPY ACCESS 17 Diana Street - June till September Physiotherapy clients will access the service via the main entrance to the Lodge, walk up the corridor to the lift into the lift, down the walk way into the Primrose Lounge. There is signage in the building to direct you and also staff will be able to help you with directions Another impact will be the week of Monday 20 June till Friday 24 June 2016: The Lift will be out of action from the 20 th June till the 24 th June due to an upgrade in its mechanics. During this time we will assist all visitors to the Nursing Home and physio therapy clients through the Nursing Home courtyard. 2
What have we done to make this easier for our residents, relatives and staff : Key pads are being installed at the downstairs entrance near the lift and on the door that leads out to the stairs in the walkway between the two buildings A Keypad is being installed on the doors that goes out into the courtyard from the Nursing Home. This will allow any visitors, staff and relatives to use the door to access the nursing home directly. The same code that allows you access to the building afterhours will be the same code used on all these doors. There will be a significant increase in both car and foot traffic to the entrance of Diana Street Lodge. Please remember that this is only a for a short period of time while we wait for the Day Centre to be completed. DAY CENTRE AND PHYSIOTHERAPY WILL MOVE TO THEIR NEW HOME 7 DIANA STREET AS OF SEPTEMBER 2016 - The move may happen earlier, as renovations have commenced. Parking All visitors to the facility will use the car park in Diana Street Lodge and enter the building via Diana Street. Staff working day shifts will park on the service road on Mount Dandenong Road or the driveway down to the Nursing Home. Staff working evening shifts must park in the car park in the Nursing Home and enter the building via the doors at the Nurses Station which has the new key pad installed. These changes have come sooner than I anticipated and I understand that this will impact all areas of the facility for a short period of time. Our staff are here to help reduce the effect that these changes will have on our residents, relatives and clients. Should you have any queries regarding any of the changes that are about to take affect please contact me to discuss further. I thank everyone in advance for their understanding and cooperation. The end result of this project will be a fabulous new building with great facilities for residents, clients, families and friends to enjoy. We knew there would be some pain to endure, however we are hoping the impact will be as minimal as possible. Kindest Regards Natasha Wilkinson Chief Executive Officer 3
Framework for new Residential Bedrooms Nursing Home One of our staff Hock Tan recently received a surprise visit from our Local Mayor Natalie Thomas when he and his family became Australian Citizens. Day Centre May was a month of celebrations in the Day Centre. We began by celebrating Volunteers Week with a Big Breakfast. Volunteers are a very important part of all Donwood programs so we wanted them to know how much we appreciate their work. Two of our volunteers, Pam and Ruth (pictured with Natasha and Gillian) have volunteered for more than 10 years so were presented with Service Awards. We also celebrated with the birth of little Lukas to our volunteer Aliza and a new granddaughter, Esmée for Gillian. 4
Lodge Australia s biggest Morning Tea, this was a huge event for Donwood. It is a chance for everyone to help in the battle against cancer in fund raising for the cause. $500.00 was sent to the Cancer Council as a donation. The event saw 105 residents from Nursing Home, Day Centre, Lodge, Acacia and Independent Living Units joined together to make this a Huge day. May also saw some wonderful entertainers take us away to a beautiful place. The Opera Singer Paul always makes us all remember the beauty of such a voice. A calypso afternoon with David and the magic of the keyboard and sing-a-long tunes of Jane Stamp that leave us all with a song in our hearts and sometimes a tune that you just can t get out of your head. Duke of Edinburgh Program Visits Donwood On Thursday 26th of May, a group of Duke of Edinburgh students from Lilydale high school visited Donwood. The group split into three and spent time in the three sections of Donwood. The students who spent time in The lodge played games like bingo and hangman, drunk tea and celebrated a birthday with the residents during their time at Donwood. The students in Acacia made planter boxes, played a balloon game and spent time with the residents. The students in the nursing home played some introductory quizzes, played bingo and spent quality time with the residents. From the trip, the residents learned that there is hope for the future and the students learned that you're never too old to have fun! Written by: Chloe Lea Year 9 Lilydale High School Nurses day is a nice way to say thank you to our wonderful nursing Staff who take such great care of all the residents at Donwood. The Lodge residents made them gifts to show their thanks. The Day Centre & The Lodge are battling it out in their monthly Carpet Bowls venture and it is being very keenly contested..and the battle goes on in June. Lilydale High School students seeking the Duke of Edinburgh award are completing their community service with us at Donwood, their first day was Thursday 26 th May and 2 more days of community service will be on Monday 6 th and Tuesday 14 th June. This is a very rewarding adventure for cross generational interaction for both residents and students. The student will finish with sharing their assignments of their life stories as part of the program. Thank you to all residents for sharing their time with these young students. REMINDER All Hairdressing fees will be invoiced on Residents Accounts effective July 1st, 2016. 5
Acacia Over the last month we had set up our office area and library corner. A big thanks to all the staff and families that have help with this. The residents have already shown areas of interest for everyone. Our busy boxes have had an overhaul and we will continue to review and change these according to people's interests. We also have a drinks station in the kitchen and in the next month want to set up our coffee machine for lattes and cappuccino. This will be lovely in the cold weather. Our flower bench is currently being given a sand and stain and should be back in action soon with some new baskets. We would like to welcome our new volunteers who have been regular visitors over the last few weeks. Thanks to Bev who this week organised a knit and natter group. It was a real hit and we hope this continues. We love having you all here. The next month will bring lots on new exciting things with our day centre joining our space for a few months while the building renovations continue. 6
Auxiliary Dear Residents, families, staff and friends, It is so hard to believe that we are half way through the year already. The renovations seem to be moving along quite quickly. Donwood will be even more amazing when they have finished. The auxiliary has been busy making plans for the next few months fundraising and I would like to let you all know what to look forward to and prepare for: In June we will be having a cakeless cake stall. Information in relation to this will be coming out shortly. Please help us out. Also in June, we will be holding an afternoon tea, Meet and Greet, for all residents and families to sit have a cuppa and a chat to meet and welcome all new recent arrivals. This will be held on Sunday the 19 th June in the Lodge and 2pm. Please be so kind as to RSVP by the 12 th June to the office on 9879 7366 or call myself (Cheryl) on 0409 193602. We want very much to meet you all and make you feel welcome. August sees our biggest fundraiser for the year on Saturday the 13 th at 7.30pm at St. Stephens. It is a Trivia night, and if you came to our last one, you will be aware of how much fun there is to be had. Tickets are $25.00 each. Contact: Cheryl 0409 193602 Judy 0432 535 516. Please circle this date in your calendars. You will also note that the Auxiliary has 2 display cabinets (one in the Lodge, the other in the Main reception) and these contain goods for sale to help with the fundraising. Should you wish to purchase anything from these cabinets, please ask a staff member to assist. All the Auxiliary members work on a volunteer basis and give their time to help raise much needed money to buy all the little extra goodies to make the resident s feel more at home and to make their life that much easier. Give them a big smile should you see any of them walking around Donwood. CHERYL STUART 7 President.
Spring Harvest Festival Donwood Community Aged Care would like to invite you to join us in celebrating the arrival of Spring. A festival to celebrate Spring with Local Produce Stalls, Baby Animal Farm, Home craft Stalls, Scrumptious Food Stalls and lots more to enjoy. Where: Donwood Community Aged Care Home 1-5 Mt Dandenong Road Croydon When: Saturday 3 rd September 2016 Time: 10am till 3pm Save the Date! For Information see Administration Book with Administration Commencing Wednesday June 8 8