samarinda aged care service - spring newsletter 1 executive officer’s message samarinda aged care...

Samarinda Aged Care Service - Spring Newsletter

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IndexCover 1Index 2

Chief Executive Officer’s Message 3Samarinda Resident’s Committee 4Katrina’s Addition 5Sophie’s Babble 6

Elsie Salter House 7Diamond Day Respite Service 8Quality Corner 9Lifestyle 10

Fundraising and Community Development 11IT Report 12My Kitchen Rules 13

Birthday List:Last Name: First Name: Room: D.O.B:

OctoberHOPE Joyce 6 16-Oct-1934

NovemberKELLY Burnice 22 16-Nov-1921TANNER Allan 8 28-Nov-1916

DecemberFARRELLY Kath 26 16-Dec-1918NORTON Ina 20 26-Dec-1925NEWSTEAD Doreen 25 29-Dec-1921

Chief Executive Officer’s Message


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As we are near-ing towards the end of another busy and reward-ing year we con-tinue to focus on our major un-dertaking of the redevelopment project for Sama-

rinda Lodge.

Most of you would have had the opportunity by now to view the pre-liminary designs and attend vari-ous formal and informal informa-tion sessions which hopefully have answered questions that you may have regarding this exciting project. We are looking forward to working with you very closely at every step of the stages and will continue to keep you abreast with the development. Please feel free to come and see me or any of the members of the Execu-tive team for any clarification you may require.

Last week we had the pleasure of re-ceiving formal notification from Bo-roondara council regarding approval of our application for the planning permit. This is a fantastic result for Samarinda Aged Services and our community. The Building Commit-tee together with the Committee of Management are in full swing withpreparations for the next stages of this massive task.

In the meanwhile many other suc-cessful and rewarding events took place whilst we began our wake up from what seems to have been a very long winter:

We have been declared to be com-pliant in all 44 expected outcomes during our scheduled Accreditation Audit in July thanks to the efforts and dedication of our staff and your support and positive feedback. Spe-cial acknowledgments go to Sophie Brown and Karen Wilson whose ef-forts with the preparations lead to this great result.

We have completed the installation of the new call bell systems and feedback from you and staff has been of great satisfaction. More im-portantly we haven’t had any issues since!

We have farewelled Sarah Fagan our receptionist who decided to return to her previous interest –working in the mines of South Australia! We also said our goodbyes to Ash Rob-ertson our IT Administrator who has taken up a full time position with a larger care provider in our industry.

We take this opportunity to thank both for being part of our family and wish them every success in their fu-ture endeavours.

Our annual AGM was a very success-ful night, well attended by all and we were happy to report of another great year for Samarinda. I am sure that you will forgive me for repeat-ing as often as possible my enor-mous thanks and gratitude to all ourresidents, staff, relatives, friends, volunteers and service providers - our people who give the strength and uniqueness to our organisation. Your support and dedication ensure that our programs remain robust and provide the much needed care to our elderly members in our com-munity.

I look forward to seeing you at the upcoming various events organised this end of year.

Meanwhile please join me in wel-coming the recently appointed new staff members toour family:

Carmen Trimboli into the position of community Program Manager ESH,

Samantha Jeffers – Receptionist Ad-min and

John Dellios – IT Administrator.

Regards,Kathy Devitt


4Samarinda Resident’s Committee

This week we had a discussion with Ina Norton, from our residents com-mittee. Ina has been a committee member for 14 years, and thorough-ly enjoys attending the meetings, as they give her a chance to meet other residents and staff, and discuss any issues.

Ina is extremely happy in general with Samarinda, and the way it is run, in particular Emer Hughes from the kitchen, who Ina describes as being a

brilliant chef. Ina also made a point of commenting on how happy she is with Kathy Devitt. Ina described Kathy as being forward thinking, without being too extrava-gant, and a great person to have in charge.

Ina is very interested in the 2013 building project, and thinks the idea of having a dementia-specific wing is a great one, and will benefit all of the current and future residents.

Ina is very much looking forward to the Christmas Lunch, which will be held this Thursday, 6th December.

We welcome our new Administration Assistant / Receptionist Sam Jeffers to the Samarinda Family!


5Katrina’s Additions

Katrina at the Dinner Dance with our guest speaker Travis Brooks Olympic Medal

Cimonne, Katrina & Sophie at the Dinner Dance

It was very pleasing to see so many familiar faces at our recent Annual General Meeting. The feature of the evening was to see how many motivated people are involved with Samarinda: from our various volun-teers who were recognised on the evening for their years of service, to staff and indeed peers who pre-sented their inspiring approaches to

caring for our elderly in the future.

You would have recently received a copy of your pru-dential compliance statements along with your accom-modation bond statement. Please be assured that this requires no action, it is simply a requirement of the Aged Care Act 1997 that we supply you a copy. If you have any queries in relation to these documents, please contact me.

On 20th September 2012, the daily care fees were changed and published by the Department of Health and Ageing. Here is a summary of these fees:

$Standard Resident Contribution 43.22Protected Resident Contribution 39.41Phased Resident Contribution 42.72Non Standard Resident Contribution 49.07

Letters have been sent to residents and their finance contacts to explain individual circumstances. If you are unsure about any of these fee changes please give me a call.

I recently was invited to participate in a promotional DVD for Bendigo Bank. Bendigo Bank is Samarinda’s bank and has supported many of our projects as part of their building better communities approach to business. Whilst the day was enjoyable and the DVD I am sure is a hit, I am not waiting for a Hollywood role any time soon.

As I am writing this, we are approaching our major fun-draising event – our Annual Dinner Dance which we are hoping will raise some funds for our future develop-ment. I hope to see many of you there and by the time this goes to print, the event will have occurred and I am sure will have been a great success!

Katrina ThurstonCFO

Sophie’s Babble


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Well done Nijole!!

The Christmas season has arrived and with it comes warmer weather and sunny days. Our heatwave manage-ment procedures are in place and I urge all residents and staff to ensure they stay cool and well hydrated dur-ing this period. The kitchen will be dishing up some summer favourites and I’m sure we will all welcome the smell of sausages cooking on the

BBQ.

Last month saw the implementation of our new clinical documentation system “LeeCare Platinum 5” which will assist us in improving our auditing and reporting systems. This has kept us all busy with training and data transfer and such a huge task could not be achieved without the dedication and support of the care team, I thank them all for embracing the change. Special thanks to the team of super users that have assisted in the process:

Karen Wilson Sue Styles Allan Majee Judy Moore Natasha Lima Sarah Fagan Glenys Handley Ashley Robertson Shukri Mohammed

Our new towels arrived this month and most residents will now have them in their bathrooms. The feedback has been quite positive with the resident committee verycomplimentary of the quality of the towels and colours chosen.

We have also received the beginning of our new furni-ture for the lifestyle room and are awaiting the delivery of the remaining furniture. I invite you all to pop your heads in over the coming weeks and test them out.

The Department of Health and Ageing has released an updated version of “Guiding Principles for Medication Management in Residential Aged Care Facilities”. Cur-rently we are reviewing the guidelines and any updates to medication management at Samarinda will be an-nounced at the next family forum

Nijole and I recently attended the ACNM conference at Caulfield Racecourse. We found the conference to have many topics of interest particularly in the area of Staff

Engagement and included a great talk by Dr Warren Sh-nider; one of our Dentists who visits Samarinda. Another highlight of the conference was when Nijole (pictured) won a Rollator Mobility Aid from LiftCare!

It was with regret that we received the news from Judy Moore that she was leaving Samarinda. Whilst under-standing her reasons for leaving (and wishing her everysuccess and happiness for the future) we are saddened by the fact that we are to lose such a dedicated nurse and hard worker, who has been with us for over 5 years.

I wish you all a safe and happy Christmas and hope to see you at our residents Christmas lunch and Carols night.

Take care,

Sophie BrownFacility Manager

Elsie Salter House


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Photos of our lovely Christmas decorating activities

Mrs. Terry Chalkidakis Mrs. Maria Koziol

Our Happy Reindeers

Hello everyone and thank you for a warm re-ception and wel-come to Sama-rinda and to my new home, Elsie Salter House. It promises to be a new and exciting

direction for Samarinda Aged Ser-vices.

I am fortunate and privileged to have been given this opportunity to join such a reputable and well awarded organization in particular at such an important time of new growth and developments.

At the same time I am humbled and in awe of the fantastic achievements and innovations that have cemented Samarinda’s place as provider of quality care and excellence in a chal-lenging and demanding aged care industry.

My commitment is to continue to up-hold and strengthen the programs and systems currently in place at Elsie Salter House. My previous ex-perience in aged care, residential, as well as community will enable me to build upon solid foundations and find new ways of supporting our ageing population in their quest to remain in control over their own lives and continue to actively live and participate in the community.

As we change and grow as an or-ganization we will face many chal-lenges during the various stages of the planning and development and I look forward to working very closely with the various stakeholders, in-volved in these processes , ensuring that communication and consulta-tion systems are in place at all times.

I would like to thank Karen Wilson and Maureen Hinksman whose ded-ication and commitment to the pro-gram ensured a smooth transition

in between my previous colleague’s departure and my commencement in November.

I look forward to working with Senior Management, our fantastic staff, car-ers, relatives, friends and volunteers as well as external service providers all of whom form the Samarinda - El-sie Salter House Family.

And finally, I look forward to partici-pating in the various upcoming cel-ebrations which are promising to be entertaining as well as delicious. El-sie Salter’s House Annual Christmas lunch is an event not to be missed so ensure that the 20th of Decem-ber is in your diary. Wishing you all a Merry Christmas and an amazing New Year!

Carmen TrimboliCommunity Program Manager Elsie Salter House

Diamond Day Respite Service


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The two Greek mates Nick & George! Ladies flower arranging

It is lovely to have a longer day, with the beginning of day light savings and to have the weather improving. Seeing the trees begin to leaf, and the blossoms on trees always lifts the spirits.

We send out a warm welcome to all our new clients coming to our program. Some projects undertak-

en since our last newsletter are planting of seeds into small containers – vegetables and herbs. They are grow-ing well and we have some fantastic seedlings, ready for transplanting. Some have been transplanted into the raised garden beds already, thanks to our Samarinda la-dies for giving them a drink.

Armchair travel to Brazil was fun, with facts, photos, food and music, great day had by all. Next armchair travel will be next year; we will be travelling to Greece. Our popularChristmas Auction will be held next month, so watch out for this.

Footy season is finished for another year, all clients that were in the footy tipping did well and enjoyed following the games each week. One of our respite clients was lucky enough to win some money in our Melbourne cup sweep.

Christmas is approaching quickly. Our recent survey to clients and carers indicated most wished to have a short break over the Christmas / New Year period, for this rea-son Diamond Day Respite will close from Monday 24th

December 2012 and reopen on Monday 7th January 2013. Letters will be sent home with detailed dates and remind-er letters sent home closer to dates.

We would like to say many thanks to Tracey, Michael, ESH staff and our volunteers for driving the bus to pick up and drop home clients whilst Connie was on leave. Mamta, Ashley and Rhonda appreciated your time.

I would like to take this opportunity to give a great big thankyou to Rhonda for doing such a wonderful job and keeping everything flowing so well whilst I was away. Also to Ashley and Mamta for stepping up and giving strength and support where and when needed - Fantasticjob guys, thank you. A special thanks to Tracey whom is always there and can always be counted on.

We wish all out clients and their carers and very Merry Christmas and a happy and safe New Year. We are look-ing forward to 2013, when the excitement and business begins all over again! Can’t wait!

Regards from Connie and Diamond Day Respite staff

Quality Corner


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Another year nearly over. Where did it go?As we start to move into warmer conditions and a high probability of a hot summer, heat wave preparedness is important for all, including our residents.

As providers of these services we are responsible for protecting the health and safety of our resi-dents, staff and visitors, so it is important to have plans in place to manage emergency events including those associated with potential heat wave situations.

Members of our OH&S Committee conducted a heat wave audit across the facility and our day programs this month. This is conducted to ensure we are prepared and have systems in place to

be able to respond to episodes of extreme heat and help minimize the health impacts on our residents and clients. Very good results with up to date procedures and sufficient resources to take us through the summer period.

In the meantime please make sure that you keep hydrated at all times!

Heat wave information for residents, clients, carers and families

What is a heat wave?• A heat wave is a period of excessively hot weatherWhy are heat waves a problem?• Heat waves can cause people to become ill, and sometimes die.• Heat waves are most dangerous if they occur in the early summer season, if they last for several days and if

they include hot nights.• Heat waves can cause fatigue, heat rash ,heat cramps, heat exhaustion and heat stroke

What you can do during excessively hot weather Wear light coloured , loose fitting cotton clothing

• For women: sleeveless summer dresses and summer night wear• For men: short-sleeved shirt, shorts, summer cotton socks and summer pyjamas

Sip cool drinks as recommended by care staff• 1500mls a day is recommended

Tell staff if you feel distressed• Rapid breathing or difficult breathing• Weakness, dizziness, fainting, nausea, vomiting• Fatigue, headache, confusion

We have posters on all our notice boards and brochures for you to take at the entrance table .

Feedback mechanismWe always welcome and encourage feedback regarding any suggestions, comments, compliments and complaints from residents , clients, families and all stakeholders.

Verbal feedback is another way of capturing information but to ensure we can respond to this in a timely manner I also encourage you to complete an improvement form. Forms are located in a holder next to the entrance table as you enter the facility and at the entrance room at Elsie Salter House. There is a box to put them in or you may give the form to a staff member.I wish all our residents, clients, families and staff a truly wonderful Christmas and best wishes for the New Year.

Kind regards Karen WilsonQuality & Education Coordinator

Lifestyle


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Gidday,

The sun is finally shining!!!!!!!!

We have had some warm days, so the veggies in our patch, planted

by a couple of De La Salle boys, have sprouted in their pots and are grow-ing well.

I would like to thank Joy Hanrahan (Terrie’s Daughter) for her assistance in replanting some of them, that the young fellas had put in upside down (we all have to learn!).

My “assistant gardener” Elaine Thur-man requires some applause for herefforts in keeping the weeds at bay and watering them daily. All the love and attention means we will be eat-ing our sweet corn hot out of the pot covered in butter….YUM!

We have over the last few weeks been out and about in the bus down to Geelong where we had a lovely picnic by the water front. We also had a great look around the old

parts of Geelong and viewed the Bo-tanical Gardens from afar. As this day was a great success, we will fulfill an-other wish of our residents and head to Ocean Grove for a visit. When you may ask? Keep Friday 14th of Decem-ber free if you would like to come.

As the busy time of the year hits we will have our annual trip to see the Christmas lights on Tuesday 18th of December departing at 8pm.

Things are chugging along with the preparations for our Christmas lunch on the 6th of December, then the Carols on 12th of December. We have a great program lined up for the Carols including a Pantomime, staff dancing and kids singing. Please come and join us and remind your families.

I would also like to thank Judy Bent-ley’s family for buying the bird feeder that attracts all our colorful birds the parakeet’s. Actually, at the present time our garden is looking beautiful, I don’t think the roses have looked or smelt so good in years. I think we might have had just as good a show as they did at Flemington! Hope you all enjoyed the Race (Melbourne

Cup) the fashions on the field looked good. And we had plenty of winners in all our sweeps.

Those folk who attended our Night time Soirée, with our ”Young Frank Sinatra” had a great night; Lots of laughter and dancing. Thank you Kitchen girls for helping, you always add to the atmosphere on the night.

Our weekly Bocce game goes from strength to strength, with Elaine Shelton and others showing their prowess in winning the weekly cup.

Three of our lovely ladies Vi, Sheila & Val enjoyed the morning melodies at our local East Malvern RSL, we will visit them more regularly in 2013.

Rhonda and I have collected a HUGE basket to put one of our Christmas raffles in; any donations would be gratefully received (in Lifestyle room).

Thanks for your support.

Regards,Tracey PattisonLifestyle Coordinator.

Golden Oldie Night Our beautiful veggie patch

Fundraising and Community Development


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The Fundrais-ing Department has been very busy. Samarinda held its Annual Dinner Dance – “Celebrating a New beginning” at the Riversdale Golf Club on

24 November 2012. It was indeed a celebration of things to come –the redevelopment of the Samarinda fa-cility, including the very important Dementia Unit – a centre for people with cognitive disabilities.

The MC for the evening was Sama-rinda’s good friend and supporter and chairman of the Fundraising Committee– Michael Lanyon. Mi-chael has a pocket full of jokes and kept the audience in good humor. Thank you Michael – you certainly contributed towards the success of the evening.

We were very fortunate to have as guest speaker Travis Brooks, the Olympian who was a gold medal-ist at the 2008 Olympic Games, also won a medal at the Commonwealth Games and the World Cup.

The dinner was a fundraising event so we had to have the best auction-eer in Melbourne, Bryan Cain of First National JA Cain. Bryan is one of a kind with a wonderful sense of hu-mor who helped us on the night to raise over $15,000 towards the rede-velopment.

And of course the success of the night was due to the hard work and dedication of our FundraisingCommittee who worked tirelessly the last few months: Special men-tion goes to Kathy Devitt, SophieBrown and Cimonne Fuller, our staff and to Tracey Bartlett and Rex Swin-dle-Hurst our volunteers.

The venue was Riversdale Golf Club – the ambience was great, the cater-ing first class.

Patrick our DJ from Jag Entertain-ment kept our guests on the dance floor.

Last but not least – WE THANK OUR MANY SPONSORS AND OUR GUESTS WHO GAVE US THEIR SUPPORT AND ENCOURAGEMENT.

Until next yearZirka Yaskewych

Our MC Michael Lanyon with assistants Carmen Trimboli & Janet Savige drawing the raffle at our Dinner Dance!

Entertainment of the evening Flamenco Dancing

IT Report


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When I last wrote for the newsletter we were in the stag-es of planning and preparing for the installa-tion of Samarin-da’s new Nurse Call system. As

you may be aware of by now we have completed the installation and testing of the new system and things look to be travelling quite well.

The new Nurse Call system will allow Samarinda to provide a much safer and more secure environment for our residents as well as improving resident care. We have also built a degree of redundancy into the sys-tem as it is now integrated into our recently upgraded server system.

What the above really means is that Samarinda is now able to provide an even better level of care to our resi-dents.

As you may know by now, I have de-cided it is time for me to move on with my career as I have been given an opportunity to which I simply can-not miss so I have decided to go for it. I have enjoyed my time at Sama-rinda and I have enjoyed the support and assistance of the management/administration team and also the patience of the care staff and resi-dents. I do know we have had a few trying times with some of the old systems failing us in the past. I could not have moved Samarinda forward without everybody in the Samarinda community being fully behind what I was trying to achieve. All this will provide a solid grounding for the re-development process.

Finally, I would like to welcome my replacement, John Dellios. John has a wealth of experience to share with Samarinda and I am confident he will be able to guide the organisa-tion through the redevelopment and beyond.

Wishing you all well.

Cheers,AshIT Administrator

We welcome our new IT ManagerJohn Dellios to the Samarinda Family!


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FOOD GLORIOUS CHRISTMAS FOOD

Hell Everyone,

Where has the year gone!! Christmas has crept up on us. We are busy in the kitchen preparing for our exciting so-cial events of the year. The family luncheon and the Carols night. We are looking forward to sharing good food fun and laughter with family and friends. This recipe is quick and easy to prepare and you will recognize it as the entree served for our Christmas lunch last year.

Salmon Mousse 2 x 220g cans red salmon 1 tablespoon gelatin ¼ cup water 1 tablespoon sugar ¼ teaspoon chilli sauce ¼ cup lemon juice 1 tablespoon bottled horseradish relish 1 tablespoon mayonnaise ½ cup cream Salt, pepper

Place unstrained salmon in food processor fitted with metal blade or into blender, process until pureed. Sprinkle gelatin over cold water, dissolve over hot water.Combine in bowl sugar, chilli sauce, lemon juice, horseradish, mayonnaise and gelatin. Pour into pureed salmon and process 10 seconds or until combined. Season mixture with salt and pepper.Whip cream until soft peaks form. Pour salmon mixture into cream and gently fold through. Pour into lightly oiled 1 litre (4 cups) capacity dish or mould.Refrigerate covered until set.Cut into portions serve with some tzkiki dip and baked pieces of pita bread

Enjoy!

Wishing you all a safe and happy Christmas from the Samarinda kitchen.

Emer HughesCatering Manager


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Contact Us

Dear readers, do you have an interesting idea for an article? If you would liketo make a comment or suggestion, or would like to contribute a story to our

next newsletter please feel free to contact us. We would love to hear your ideas,stories and what’s happening within our Samarinda community.

Please email your responses to [email protected]

286 High Street Ashburton Vic 3147T (03) 98850062 F (03) 98859829

www.samarinda.org.au

samarinda aged care service - spring newsletter 1 executive officer’s message samarinda aged care...

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