Newsletter July 2010 for website

04 I S S U E

J u l y 2 0 1 0 Newsletter

Elizabeth Knox 523 3119

Welcome to our fourth newsletter – we are now past the shortest day and winter is certainly being felt. As I described in the last newsletter we are launching our Eden Alternative Quality Awards. These will be run twice a year and provide an opportunity for team members to put forward projects they have established to integrate the Eden Philosophy. The projects will be judged in July by an independent panel of judges and we will bring these to you in the next newsletter. We are also in the planning stage for Eden Registration this year – this involves an assessment and audit visit by colleagues from Eden in Oz&NZ.

The Redevelopment and Refurbishment Project is moving along and at the request of Auckland City Council further design work has been undertaken to ensure the new building fits more with the existing street-scape. We await the outcome of the Council’s review of that information. The first stage of the project is construction of a new porte cochere at the main en-trance, a new reception area, creation of a larger resident lounge and refurbishment of lounge, dining room, physiotherapy and occupational therapy areas. The courtyard garden is being incorporated into the building and will provide a spacious and light area for Residents. Temporary relocation of reception and staff will be necessary. The second stage is the construction of the new building where Kauri and the neighbouring flats are currently located. As previously described, temporary re-location of current Kauri residents within Knox facilities will be necessary and I will meet with affected residents and their families to discuss options for this re-location. The new building will be 2 levels and the residents rooms are designed around a “household’ model of 14 rooms with each “household” having its own kitchen/ dining / lounge space. The third stage is total refurbishment of Karaka, involving disestablishment of all shared rooms and creation of single rooms. Existing single rooms will remain unchanged

and all new rooms will have en-suite bath-rooms. During this stage the residents of Karaka will be temporarily located in the new building. The existing Karaka lounge is being altered and the current “cathedral” room will be re-instated as a Resident lounge / dining area with a kitchen. As you will note the completion of the new building will enable temporary relocation of residents, in order that other areas be refur-bished. For this reason we are not able to accommodate requests from residents to permanently relocate from other areas of Knox to the new building – current Kauri residents of course will be offered a room in the new building. Planning will commence very soon for the refurbishment and redevelopment of the remainder of the building. Building projects present a few challenges and at Knox we will have ours to deal with; however the work on the building is essential and we will have a much more modern and appropriate home when completed. I plan to hold regular meetings for family and friends and we will keep you updated in newsletters. I have also been meeting weekly with residents for approximately a year to discuss the plans and have received a great deal of feed-back from residents and team members.

Our Board Members Mr Warwick Peacock— Chairman Dr Alistair MacCormick Mr Andrew Smith Mrs Christine Hart Mr Geoff Wales Dr Ross McCormick Mr Malcolm Crotty Dr Bruce Foggo Our board meets on a monthly basis.

Knox Edenizing Journey

Family Meeting

Wednesday 4 August 2010

5.15pm—6.15pm

In OT

RSVP to Genine at Reception

Ph 09 5233119

www.knox.co.nz

I S S U E

The Knox Edenizing Journey ……

Knox now has 85 Eden Associates and in many ways we can see the influence of these superb people in bringing about a range of Eden focused changes to improve the lives of Residents. The investment in training our team is critical to ensure meaningful culture change is sustainable and that we as a team are dedicated to creating a human habitat where variety and spontaneity flourish. We are part of the world-wide Eden Alternative community and locally come under the umbrella organization established for our part of the world – that is “Eden in OZ & NZ” www.edeninoznz.com.au - a not-for-profit organisation operating in Australia and New Zealand established to develop the ‘down under’ philosophy and practice of the Eden Alternative™; developed in the United States by Dr William Thomas, and now spreading around the world with over 17,000 trained Eden Associates world-wide. In the next few months we will have a visit from Eden Alternative colleagues to evaluate our readiness for Eden Registration. The core concept of the Eden Alternative™ is simple: we must teach ourselves to see existing and new care environments as habitats for human beings that promote health and well being rather than facilities for the frail and elderly. The Eden Alternative™ shows us how companion animals, children and plants help in providing an opportunity for a meaningful contribution and care, and how the Eden Alternative™ works at preventing and eliminating the aged care plagues of loneliness, helplessness and boredom.

“Getting older is no problem. You just have to live long enough”.

Groucho Marx

Elizabeth Knox 523 3119 www.knox.co.nz

We are also expecting our “spot audit” anytime within the next six months. Previously this would have been a routine surveillance audit occurring 18 months after the achievement of Certification; where this has been granted for maximum of three years as was the case for Knox. The “spot audit” also incorporates the voluntary Accreditation surveillance audit – this we also achieved last year for the maximum of three years. Many thanks to those who completed the Resident and Family Surveys, these provide valuable feedback and also identify opportunities for further improvement. It’s also a great morale boost for the team to hear the lovely comments so many of you made. We also got some very useful feedback at the recently held Family Meeting to discuss the Redevelopment and Edenizing – please note the date for next scheduled meeting. We greatly appreciate the support you show Elizabeth Knox Home and Hospital – please come along to the meetings we have planned it is always valuable to get together with family members. Keep warm and well ….

“We must become the change we want to see” Mahatma Gandhi

Jill


Donation of Children’s Art Work On Wednesday 2 June 2010 we were visited by the New Entrants from St Annes School in Manurewa. The school had undertaken a project to provide a service to the community which they entitled ‘Be the Change’. As part of this project the new entrant classes decided to create and donate art work to someone in their community. We were the lucky recipients of this. Matthew, Lupe, Monica, Eli and Muao along with teachers Karen, Tracey and Nicole presented to members of our Resident Committee a number of wonderfully colourful pieces of art which is now proudly displayed in the corridor outside the OT and Physiotherapy room.

Give a Hug Day On Wednesday 23 June 2010 we celebrated ‘give a hug day’ We were very lucky to receive a surprise visit from “Huggy Bear” who went around and gave out hugs to all of our residents and staff. As you can see from the pic-

Huggy Bear

HCA—PERSONAL JOURNEY—Lulu Colaco With my previous experience of rest home level cares I was offered a job at Knox a few years ago. I thought I will be able to work without much prob-lem. But No - I slowly realized I knew very little and had to learn a lot more. It was certainly not the way I thought it was. I had to switch off the fantasy world and come to reality. I had to learn a lot including how to use the hoists for lifting residents in a safe and proper manner. It was a big task for me and made me quite confused and I did not know what to do. After my orientation was completed I was not sure whether I should continue or give up the job. When I saw my name on the roster for the first time, I went home and had a good think about it. I was still confused and undecided. Finally the first day came without revealing my feelings to any of my family members I arrived at Knox. Gathering courage I followed the instructions and carried on my work. At the end of the shift as I was going home I had two unsolved questions: 1. Is this the job for me? , and 2) Am I a responsible person? As the days rolled on and the months passed by I can confidently say that accepting the job at Knox was a good choice for me. I have learnt a lot of things, met different people (co-workers and residents). I have gained a lot of knowledge on how to take care of the residents, to respect them, treat them with dignity, giving them their privacy, to communi-cate, share little jobs, make them feel at home, relaxed in a happy and healthy environ-ment, encourage them to take part in different activities. Making sure that they attend physio as it is very important for them. To also learn to give more consideration to those residents who do not have any visitors so that they do not feel lonely and I want them to be happy and enjoy their days. Knox is Edenising with many of the staff having attended Eden Training. We all work as a team. We encourage the residents with small tasks with supervision in order to retain their independence like folding the clothes, making their beds, cleaning their teeth or making their own cup of tea/coffee at suppertime in the hospital dining room. The HCA’s are encouraged to sit and have supper with them, watch TV, listen to music and encour-age them to sing-a-long. We also have some pets in the house where the residents can spend their time, enjoy their company. We have a flower and vegetable garden where some of the residents take part in the gardening activities with supervision. At the end my satisfaction depends on the happiness of my residents and a sweet smile on their faces. Remember we will all get old and we will all need support.


A profile on our Health Care Assistants Here at Elizabeth Knox Home & Hospital we employ approximately 70 people (including relief staff) in the role of Health Care Assistant. These dedicated people help to make up a team of staff who make a difference in the life that our residents chose to live at Knox. Education is a focus and almost all have either completed or are completing ACE train-ing as well as training as Eden Associates. Health Care Assistants are found in all areas of the facility and are on duty 24 hours per day. Shameem Sahib one of our Health Care Assistants wrote the following: ‘We are the people who make the difference in the lives of our residents. Providing care for the elderly and the young disabled. Helping residents in their everyday chores. It gives us a self satisfaction to see that our residents are happy. Eden training had a huge impact on the staff and our residents’.

Lulu

Shameem Shameem

You work where they live They don’t live in your workplace

Lulu


FROM OT

Visitors to Our Shores

On 20th May our YPD Residents and OT staff welcomed a group plus two staff from St Joans to join us for a general knowledge quiz, followed by lunch. We made four groups of six for the quiz and the morning was very successful and lots of fun. After a Pizza lunch a movie was shown but unfortunately our guests had to go half way through due to an emergency back home!

New Group

In response to a request from a resident, OT has now formed a new Bowls Group, held each Friday in the Physio Room from 1.30—3.30 pm. Two teams have been formed and these people will play each week. Our first session was very competitive and I am sure that before too long we will be challenging other homes for a Cup!!

Kaye, Paula & the OT Team

Don’t Mess with the Housie! A number of times a week our Residents gather in the OT department and the hospital and its eyes down to play Housie. Paula or Pam are our callers and the competition is often fierce to win one of the fabulous prizes on offer at each session. The residents participating make a small contribution of $1 per week to attend three session . This entitles them to play at any of the session held during the week. It also supports our ability to provide prizes for the winners. Housie is one of the most popular of our regular activities held and seating space is at a premium, although there is always room for one more. The tension builds as each game progresses and then there is a winner with shouts of delight from the winner and groans of despair from those who had just about completed their board with only one number left to get.

VOLUNTEERS A big thank you to all of our volunteers who support our residents by donating their time to them. Their contribution to our services is invaluable to our residents and staff We are always keen to expand our great volunteer team and would welcome your sup-port. Can you spare a few hours per week? Do you have a special something you are good at that you could share with our residents. Perhaps you like to cook and could come in and help a few of our residents to make pikelets, muffins or scones or maybe you could assist in cooking a dish from your own culture. Have you traveled anywhere interesting? A talk about your adventures with or without pictures would be of great interest to our residents. Maybe you belong to a club of some kind that you could talk about or demonstrate what you do at the club. These are just a few ideas of where you could provide volunteer assistance to us. If you have any ideas at all and are interested in sparing a few hours for us please phone: 09 520 8446, we would love to hear from you. We are open to all of your ideas.

Bev de Vink Volunteer Coordinator


A Contribution from Gerald Holloway, Resident, Rimu Court 1. It is this global resistance that conditions spiritual practice uncover and frus-trate.

“Myself of long ago By nature non-existent

No where to go when dead, Nothing at all”

- was so exasperating it then becomes apparent why the search for unity con-sciousness; everything we tried to do was wrong, because everything was already eternally right. 2. The reality is the infinite undivided consciousness; which consciousness not being an object of observation is unknowable. Creation not having a cause, nor a reason, is non-existence, nor that is something when one’s mind rests in perfect tranquility, what is the reality. The is Brahman (God) “I”, “You” and “Me” and the “World” are names that exist in Brahman. 3. Visitor “Give me the substance, now, not mere words. I shall be eternally grateful to you” “Very well you shall have the substance now, said Maharaj” ; but I will have to use words of course. If I say, reverse and go back to the source of your beingness, will it make any sense to you?” In reply the visitor said that “in his heart intuitively accepted the truth of Maharaj’s statement, but would have to go deeper into the matter.” He must find out said Maharaj the system, how the seed is the thing. Find out the seed of this being-ness and you will know the seed of the entire universe. 4. There is a eternal, ever-present one life beyond forms of life that are subject to birth and death. Many use the word God to describe it. The Word Being explains nothing, but nor does God. Being however has the ad-vantage that it is an open concept, and it does not reduce infinite invisible to a fi-nite entity. Nobody can claim exclusive possession of Being. But remember the ego cannot abide a happy person, what we give our attention to thrives, what we neglect shrivels away through the lack of attention “so we attend to the positive”.

“

We said thank you and farewell to Business and English language student Manuel Schroer at the staff lunch on 26 May. Manuel has completed a two month volun-tary internship in the Administration department. Manuel departs for travel in the South Island and Australia before returning home to Osnabruck, Germany.

Vending Machines (snack machines) are available for residents, families, visitors and staff. There is one lo-cated in the Main Lounge and in the Karaka Dining Room there is a coffee machine.


Gemma here, reporting on animal antics since our last newsletter.

Life here continues to go well. Life is very sweet with plenty of company, lots of food and warmth.

We have a new four legged resident here - Baggins the cat. Baggins spent a few days with us in April and then went missing. We advertised that he was missing and recently we had a call from the SPCA to say that he had been found in Halifax Ave nearby to here. He was missing for 8 weeks but there must have been some wonderful people out there feeding him as he returned to us in good condition. He is now settling in and getting to know the residents, staff and the rest of us animals. Baggins seems to be an affectionate cat that enjoys being stroked, finding a lap and giving a hug. Coco and Evie have had their noses out of joint a wee bit but they now seem to be coming round.

Buster the Miniature Schnauzer is still coming to work with Jill everyday. He is get-ting bigger now and runs around like a mad thing for some of the day. I’m sure that they put ‘energiser’ batteries into him!! Oscar and Nippett also visit from time to time. Buster just loves it when he has someone to run around with.

The fish are all fine and the Guppies are breeding like mad. The tank will be overrun with them in no time. Ray our Maintenance man does a fine job of looking after them.

We have had a very funny looking dog here from time to time. I hear the people types calling him Peter the lamb—seems like a very funny name for a dog!!! They have been feeding him out of a bottle which this picture shows.

I hear from the people types here that there maybe birds introduced shortly. That will be an interesting challenge with the resident cats. I will keep you all posted in the next newsletter but keep an eye out if you are visiting as you never know what you will see next.

Gemma

Oscar and Peter catch a ride!!

Supporting Knox into the Future For over 100 years Elizabeth Knox Home and Hospital has provided care and sup-port for those in need. This was made possible through the generous bequest of Elizabeth Knox. One way you can help us to continue to provide these services and to secure the future of Knox is to consider making provision for a donation or bequest. If you would like to leave a gift to Elizabeth Knox Home and Hospital in your will we sug-gest you consult a lawyer, the Public Trust or a Trustee company. Your legacy would be greatly appreciated and would assist in securing the long term future of Knox. If you wish to discuss this further please feel free to contact Jill Woodward, CEO.

SOAR (in Support of Residential Care) Every month we participate in the Aged Care Quality Benchmarking Programme SOAR (supporting our aged residents). We record information on falls, infection control, skin integrity, behaviours of concern, compliments and complaints, as well as completing various self as-sessments quarterly. This provides a way to monitor our own quality, and in the future, will give us the ability to undertake benchmarking outside of our organization. We will be able to compare ourselves to other organizations and that will give us an indication of our home’s achievement against best practice and standards. If you would like any more information, please visit the website www.soar.org.nz Liverpool Care Pathway The Liverpool Care Pathway (LCP) is currently being implemented into hospi-tals, residential care facilities, communities and hospices around New Zealand, and we are very fortunate to be one of the first residential care facilities in Auck-land to be using the pathway and were a ‘pilot site’. It was developed in the UK to transfer the hospice model of care into other care settings. The LCP is evidence based and provides guidance on the different aspects of care required, including comfort measures, prescribing of medicines and discon-tinuation of inappropriate interventions. Additional psychological, spiritual, cul-tural care and family support are included. If you would like more information on the LCP, please visit www.lcpnz.co.nz or contact Kath Candy ([email protected]) or Nena Delos Santos (our LCP re-source nurse).


There was a young lady named Rose, Who had a huge wart on her nose.

When she had it removed, Her appearance improved,

But her glasses slipped down to her toes!

There is a young golfer from Troon Who always plays golf with a spoon

“It’s handy, you see, For the brandy” says he

“If some poor soul happens to swoon”

Mid Winter Xmas Lunch

Residents enjoyed a sing-a-long to Xmas Carols followed by a Mid Winter

Xmas lunch which included: Roast Chicken

Baked Ham Roast Potatoes and Kumara

Glazed Carrots Broccoli and Cheese Sauce

Pavlova Fruit

A big thank you to the kitchen staff for preparing such an enjoyable meal for all to share.

Our website is constantly being improved, extended and updated. To learn more about us, the services we provide, view up coming events and activities, view photo’s of recent events or check current job vacancies go to: www.knox.co.nz

Documents

Newsletter July 2010 for website