A ‘Grandfriends’ program creating one-on-one connections between aged care residents and employees is boosting wellbeing for residents at Bolton Clarke’s Darlington home at Banora Point in the Northern Rivers region of NSW.
The initiative has paired all 90 of the home’s residents with a team member who is their nominated ‘Grandfriend’, spending time getting to know them and providing a single point of contact to understand individual needs.
Lifestyle Coordinator, Kelly Gawthorne says her team were looking at ways to strengthen the connection between residents and team members.
“We noticed there was a gap for some residents – for example those who don’t like to get involved in group activities often – and we wanted to close that gap,” she says.
“We decided to try giving each resident a team member – whether that’s a team member from cleaning, maintenance, lifestyle or even clinical, who becomes their go-to person.
“Residents and their team member get together for anything from sitting down for a cuppa to doing a jigsaw puzzle, even enjoying a TV show – it’s different for each resident and can change on any given day. It could even be as simple as going out for a walk.”
Kelly has been paired with resident Kevin McGrath who says after being at Darlington for eight years, the program is helping create connections and simplify communication.
“Last week we had a big breakfast together that Kelly cooked for me and brought down to the dining room, which was a great morning,” Kevin says.
“That was only one little thing but it was really good and it’s those small things that matter.”
The program is in its initial stages but Kelly says residents and team members have already noticed a positive change.
“From a lifestyle point-of-view, I’m finding it absolutely amazing because it’s building stronger relationships – I have all these team members coming up to me with moments of reminiscing for residents or new points of conversation.”
