Pioneer House Pearls
AUGUST 2009
Pioneer House staff are planning a fete, to be held in October and much activity is happening around the place. We are lucky to have Rhonda Brooke to guide and motivate us, and lots of enthusiastic staff and residents to help make the dream come true. A fete gives us all something to work towards and creates some quite feverish activity.
As a not-for-profit organisation we are always looking for ways to raise money to assist with caring for our residents. Our auxiliary, PALs, our Board and the staff work hard to raise money, as do other organisations and individuals within the community. We were so excited last week, when St Matthew’s 6K class donated $384.35 from their fundraising activities. This came unexpectedly and the students have helped us to provide things that otherwise could not be provided, to improve the quality of life for our residents.
We are always delighted when younger people think we are a worthy cause, because they are our future, and a willingness to embrace everyone, no matter what age, augurs well for our future.
To return to our fete, our team will be providing a huge range of things for this fundraiser and at the moment is a big piece of cardboard in our staff room asking us to nominate where the horse will poo! I know residents have been knitting the most gorgeous toys for the fete and notices keep popping up about white elephant stalls and things. If you wish to be a stall holder, please contact us on 6378 1144 as soon as possible.
We are also raising money via a Pioneer House Calendar for 2009. Photos have been taken and the finishing touches are being put on the wording for each month’s resident, along with the ‘before’ photos. When you buy a calendar for 2009, think of us and make a special purchase. They will make great gifts as well!
Don’t forget Race Day on Sunday 6th September, with proceeds to Pioneer House.
Diana Newman
CEO/Director of Nursing
JULY 2009
We are so lucky to have so much support from our Mudgee Community. Our Golf Day was held on the 5th July and we were fortunate to raise approximately $10,000. This sum enables us to provide residents with additional items such as care equipment, for a better quality life. Our Board at Pioneer House did a wonderful job in organizing and running this day and our thanks go to them, and PALs for a great day.
Providing support is a trait of Thiess, as well. This company is assisting Pioneer House to build a ‘Secret Garden’ for our residents, a long held dream that they are helping us turn into reality. Their contribution includes donations of time and money and we look forward to this special project getting into full swing.
We also like to provide support to our residents, and sometimes we get the opportunity to do that in a very special way. One of our residents is a keen landscape artist and he is constantly turning out some amazing pictures of local landmarks, and others that are significant for him, and all from memory! On Thursday 30th July we are having an exhibition of this gentleman’s paintings, to share with others his great talent, and to give people the opportunity to purchase them. We invite you all to come to the exhibition, morning and/or afternoon tea will be provided and we ask for a gold coin donation to keep Frank in paints and supplies!
Lots of our lovely ladies at Pioneer House are also artistic. They form a knitting group, knitting toys and squares for rugs, which they will sell at our Fete, planned for October this year. The things they create are quite amazing and generate lots of pride and delight. Some of them are getting orders from family members, such is their success!
Mutual support is an important part of the Pioneer House culture and demonstrated every day at Pioneer House. Thank you to the Mudgee community for being a part of it.
Diana Newman
CEO/Director of Nursing
JUNE 2009
You will all have been overloaded with information about Swine Flu, wondering what it will mean for you. At Pioneer House we have been keeping abreast of all the information through the Department of Health and Ageing, our peak body, Aged and Community Services, and our Infection Control body, Bug Control.
Luckily we already have good infection control measures in place, that we implement every flu season, and they are not much different for Swine Flu. We ask anyone with respiratory symptoms to stay away from Pioneer House. This includes visitors and staff and helps significantly in keeping ‘bugs at bay’.
But our most effective weapons are handwashing, cough etiquette and disposal of tissues into a bin. We ask everyone entering Pioneer House to use the alcohol hand rub at the Court St and Gladstone St entrances, to thoroughly clean hands. We encourage everyone to use it again when leaving, as well. We have well sign-posted hand washing stations throughout the facility, and we remind everyone to cover their mouths when coughing (and noses when sneezing). Bins are readily available for used tissues.
We will also ‘lockdown’ our facility in the event of an outbreak of a respiratory illness (or gastric illness). This means we prevent any non-essential visiting for visitors and outings for residents.
All these strategies work well to reduce the risk of serious outbreak in our facility. Everyone is usually very understanding of ‘lockdowns’ and understand the reasons.
On another note, we have a number of events happening in the near future. PIONEER HOUSE GOLF DAY is on Sunday 5th July. Everyone is welcome to form a team and play for a great cause. Staff are in the throes of organizing our FETE and we’ll let you know the date as soon as possible. MUDGEE RACE CLUB will also be assisting us in September to raise money for Pioneer House. More news when it comes to hand. The proceeds of this latter event will assist us to paint Braeholme, our high care dementia specific unit, the only area to miss out during our building and refurbishment program.
Diana Newman
CEO/Director of Nursing
May 2009
Congratulations to the Rotary Club of Mudgee Sunrise for another successful Clock Awards. Margaret Barnes and her team have again done a wonderful job and provided us all with a great night. We invited seven of our staff along to this awards night, as a reward for their efforts throughout the year. Some of the staff were chosen because they offered innovative ideas that improved our service or work practices. Some of the staff were chosen because they have put in an exceptional effort in tackling a new role, and some were chose for their consistent work effort and attitude. We believe it is important for these things to be recognised and the Clock Awards are a great vehicle to do this. The fact that we won our category (Non-Profit/Government) was an added bonus and allowed us to celebrate, at the end of the night, with much dancing and singing!
I was privileged to be invited to the Dementia Carers’ Group this month, along with the Managers of Mudgee’s other Aged Care Facilities. This wonderful group of people care for their relatives with dementia, many of them still living at home, and this group provides them with support and an opportunity to ‘let off steam’. It is always a source of amazement to me, that carers carry out this role day after day, and still retain a sense of humour and joy. We are lucky to have such people amongst us.
One of the things that I stressed to this group was the importance of regular respite, to enable the carer to maintain good physical and mental health. It is a demanding job, and one from which we all need a rest from time to time. Each person who has been assessed by an Aged Care Assessment Team as eligible for respite care, can use 63 days per financial year for respite, with 21 day extensions of this time available. I urge any of you at home, caring for an elderly person, to consider booking a two week respite period, every three months. It gives you something to look forward to, and a chance to care for yourself and have a really good rest, so you can resume caring with a fresh outlook. It may be this that enables you to continue to care for your relative for longer than would otherwise be possible.
Contact us on 6378 1144 to make an appointment to discuss some respite care.
Diana Newman
CEO/Director of Nursing
APRIL 2009
Easter is over for the year. It is hard to believe that April is nearly over. Easter Bunny visited our residents and staff and a large amount of chocolate was consumed by everyone. Lucky it’s only once a year!
We make a special effort at Pioneer House, to ensure that days such as these are celebrated. Our next special event is Anzac Day, where we recognise those wonderful men and women who served their country. We are having our own special service at Pioneer House for our residents and their families on Anzac Day at 10.30 a.m.
Pioneer House is well supported by the Mudgee community and last week was no exception when the dancers from ‘Dance with Attitude’ entertained our residents, visitors and staff. They were fantastic and we received so much positive feedback. We thank them for such a professional performance and for taking the time to ‘show us their stuff’!
School holidays are a great time for us at Pioneer House. We see a big rise in the number of children visiting and it is always lovely to see the joy they bring to the residents. We also have the children of staff visiting, sometimes to work with Mum or Dad, for the day. This is another time of joy for the residents, as the children interact with residents and bring a new dimension to the day. One family brought in a four day old kid (of the baby goat variety!) for the residents to enjoy, which was very well received, and other pets visit regularly. Next on the list are some lambs for the residents to feed.
This year the Year 12 students at Mudgee High have nominated Pioneer House as one of the beneficiaries of their fundraising, so it is with pleasure that we were able to give something back to their community by offering one of their students a school based traineeship. We are providing a student with the opportunity to obtain a Certificate III in Aged Care Work, whilst she is still at school. This is also wonderful for our facility, as it brings youth and opportunity into our workforce. We are all aware that the Aged Care workforce is, itself, ageing and we need to attract younger workers. Our student is a promising student who is demonstrating a strong commitment to our industry.
Our next big event is the Clock Awards and we take this opportunity to wish all the finalists well. See you on the 8th May!
Diana Newman
CEO/Director of Nursing.
MARCH 2009
Come and support Pioneer House on the Saturday of the Easter Weekend, at Burnbrae. The Burnbrae Regatta will be an afternoon of fun and activity and includes dry land boat races, with fierce competition expected amongst entrants.
Pioneer House will be providing a barbecue for the hungry and a raffle for the gamblers among you. We will also be asking for a gold coin donation as you come through the gate.
This event will be one of our major fundraisers, and the money raised will go towards purchasing items that specifically benefit our residents. A recent resident request has been for a flag pole, a significant item for residents who celebrate Anzac Day and Remembrance Day and see the flag as a sign of respect and patriotism, for those days, and many others throughout the year.
We are thrilled that one of our residents, Rose Roberts gained an award during Seniors Week. Her ‘Highly Commended’ was presented to her for her painting of a set of coasters. Rose and a number of other residents are participating in the U3A classes being held at Pioneer House. These classes are providing our residents with an opportunity they would not otherwise be able to use, and introducing members of the community to Pioneer House. It is a highly successful collusion.
Pioneer House is again a finalist in the Clock Awards. We thank all the people who took the trouble to vote for us, and we are thrilled to once again have the opportunity to participate. We wish other finalists well, especially Imaginations, who visit Pioneer House and allow the children and our elderly residents to interact and build relationships.
Diana Newman
CEO/Director of Nursing
