Jessie creates gardens at aged care centre
When staff at Western Australia’s Amana Living Karrinyup noticed that 101 year old resident, Jessie Kay, was struggling with the change from independent living to residential care, they worked out how to enrich her life.
By paying attention to Ms Kay as a unique individual with her own story and personal wishes, the staff discovered that she loved gardens. So, they found a patch of earth for her to tend at the residential care centre, Amana Living Karrinyup (Moline House), and Ms Kay was at home.
The patch has blossomed into a lovely garden filled with attractive plants and colourful flowers, all tended by Ms Kay, and she is now creating a raised garden too.
“It’s opportunities like this that make Amana Living, not just good, but great,” says Ray Glickman, Amana Living chief executive. “Our staff do far more than provide quality care. They find out what makes each resident tick so they can find ways to enrich their lives in a meaningful way.”
Ms Kay was born and raised in Moora, and moved to Claremont about 50 years ago. When she moved into Amana Living Karrinyup last year at the age of 100, it was a big change. She had lived independently until then and had worked on a dairy and wheat farm for most of her life, getting up early to milk the cows. She had also been a Red Cross volunteer for many years.
Ms Kay and her husband Frank enjoyed Saturday night dances. After Frank died in 1985, she continued to go on her own until she was 85 years old. Ms Kay is still fit and active, and, even at 101, she never uses a walking stick or walker. As well as gardening, she keeps busy knitting matinee jackets for newborns at King Edward Memorial Hospital.
Her granddaughter, Sue, believes it’s the many years of dancing, plus a fresh healthy diet filled with farm grown vegies, that explain her grandmother’s agility and longevity.
