Last March, Judy Mayfield, President of the Association of Residents of QLD Retirement Villages (ARQRV) told me when the Village Manager goes home at night and on the weekends, the residents become the carers for village residents living with dementia – and the numbers are increasing. Is this a Four Corners event waiting to hit the sector like nothing else?
The answer is likely ‘yes’, but there is a solution.
The simple problem is that fewer aged care beds are being built, Baby Boomers will avoid residential aged care at any cost, and village operators can’t legally move residents out of a village.
The result is village residents will stay on in the village, even with increasing acuity, especially dementia.
The village sector is staring down the double barrel of ‘duty of care’. Who will have to carry responsibility? The operator is likely to have the Duty of Care imposed on them.
This is a significant and growing problem. What do you do?
My personal recommendation if you are a retirement village operator is to talk to Tamar Krebs, Founder and Director of Group Homes Australia (GHA), who have grown to 21 locations across Sydney.
Why? Because in recent months I have visited GHA’s homes in Sydney, and I believe they are the best dementia service and solutions across the world. I have visited many, but GHA Sydney is the best.
In simple terms, it is probable that within a few years every village could have a GHA group home on their campus, and residents and operators will be thankful.
Why? Because going forward every village will need a dementia arm that it can both provide residents and market to prospective residents. It will greatly support sales, support residents and importantly, negate the operator’s duty of care.
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