While the pandemic may have brought life to a standstill for many, for those across a number of sectors including aged care that have made caring for others their mission, 2020 was a year to rise to the challenge and innovate in the delivery of care.
Firmly focused on supporting those that we care for experience a better quality of life, Bene responded to the challenges posed by the pandemic by implementing a range of new and adapted services and protocols to ensure the continued safety and wellbeing of our residents and those in the community.
An initiative that began in 2019 and took on even greater significance in 2020 as the pandemic led to heightened stress among our residents, their families and our staff, was the participation by Bene St Clair in the nationally recognised End of Life Directions for Aged Care (ELDAC) program.
Identifying the importance of fostering a stronger framework of clinical care and support around advance care planning and palliative care delivery, Site Manager Louisa and her team at Bene St Clair worked with the facilitator of ELDAC to upskill in evidence-based end of life care practices. strengthen connections with external care partners and develop strategies for continuous improvement.
Peggy, who was diagnosed with terminal cancer, and her family experienced first hand the benefits delivered by the ELDAC program at Bene St Clair. Empowered by their training, Louisa and her team were able to deliver a more positive and personalised experience along the entire end of life journey from the very first conversation with Peggy and her family.
‘It’s been about five weeks since we lost Mum and I still think about you all every day. Why? Because you all gave us the confidence to put our Mum’s life in your hands… I still feel the friendship, caring, love from each and every one of you. From the kitchen, cleaners, carers, maintenance, nursing, you all work so well together. I take my hat off to you. You have a hard and emotional job and it takes special people to do that every day. You are all special.’ -Pegg’s daughter
Louisa said, ‘We felt very proud that our staff had the skills and confidence to contribute to this best outcome for Peggy and her family. Moving forward, we will continue embedding the processes that we have put in place and are excited to build on the foundations of the program.’
Bene St Clair completed its participation in the ELDAC program in December 2020, and its achievements have been recognised by ELDAC.