Walk around Australia with Bupa

Bupa Aged Care Bellarine is the 2012 Leading Age Services Australia Victoria Organisation of the Year, awarded recently for demonstrating excellence, leadership and innovation in aged care.

Bupa Bellarine, an aged care home in Geelong, was announced as winner of the ACCV award and is the latest accolade for the organisation, also winning three Better Practice in Aged Care Awards last year.

The ACCV award recognised Bupa Bellarine’s innovations in resident lifestyle, excellence in clinical care and leadership in person-centred care.

The team’s ‘Walk Around Australia’ program is one example of innovation improving the lives of residents.

People with dementia often have an urge to pace and wander which can be viewed as a negative behaviour. However, Bupa Bellarine has measured the corridors around the care home and tallies the residents’ walking.

Collectively the residents are ‘Walking around Australia’, with their progress plotted on a map.

Bupa Bellarine last year circled Australia, arriving in destinations such as Coober Pedy, Darwin and Cairns, celebrating each with a party.

Leading Age Services Australia Victoria acting chief executive, Kate Hough, congratulated Bupa Bellarine on its “commitment to a person-centred care approach with its lifestyle program, which is a true example of excellence in the aged care industry.”

Bupa Bellarine care manager, Jenni McCurdy, says the award is recognition for the quality of care provided by committed staff, who regularly go the extra mile for their residents.

“Through our Walk Around Australia program, our Breakfast Club, which provides residents with a new breakfast experience every month, and our palliative care program, our residents are at the centre of everything we do,” Ms McCurdy explains.

“Bupa Bellarine really is a place to call home for our residents and it is an honour to be acknowledged as leaders in providing excellent aged care.”

Bupa Bellarine is now nominated for the 2012 National Awards, to be announced later in the year.