Quality retirement programs awarded

South Australian retirement living organisation, LHI Retirement Services, has been awarded two of only five National Awards for Better Practice in the state.

The Better Practice Awards are annual awards presented for any projects, initiatives or programs that act as exemplars for other aged care organisations, to assist and encourage improvement to care and services for residents and to recognise the industry’s high achievers.

The awards also provide the industry and consumers with information on better practices in residential aged care that can be widely adopted.

The Aged Care Standards and Accreditation Agency’s chair, Dr Andrew Refshauge, congratulated LHI Retirement Services, stating “the calibre and quality of all of the programs were outstanding, and the people behind them are the aged care industry leaders who are driving quality and improvement”.

LHI’s awards recognised two important and innovative programs:

• The ‘PANDA Palliative Care Programme’ which facilitates the dignity and care of residents and their families throughout the continuum of their palliative care needs. The program enables the end-of-life journey to be based on compassion and acceptance of the person’s uniqueness, promoting a more positive attitude to death and dying. PANDA also enhances the job satisfaction of nursing staff and other health professionals in the delivery of palliative care within a holistic environment.
• The ‘Well-being Carer Program’, another LHI project acknowledged for its innovation, is a successful initiative whereby a dedicated staff member is responsible for the ‘wellbeing’ of the residents in LHI’s Dementia Specific Unit (DSU).  The staff member doesn’t attend to any of the normal carer tasks but instead is trained to assist in ‘Life-style activities’ and is available at all times in the DSU. 

They monitor the safety of residents, intervene to prevent the ‘triggers’ of challenging behaviours, assist residents at meal times and provide reassurance for staff that the DSU residents are safe, thereby allowing those staff to focus on the other resident’s individual needs. The ‘Well-being Carer’ also runs activities to stimulate or relax the residents.

LHI chief executive, Tim Gray, said it was wonderful the great work of all of the staff at LHI was being recognised through the two awards.

LHI Retirement Services is one of South Australia’s leading providers of retirement services, with independent living and aged care accommodation available at two central locations, Glynde and Hope Valley.

LHI has received a series of awards over recent years including the Inaugural National Award for Excellence for Retirement Living.