Find out the benefits of aged care in Australia, including helping residents build social connections, guaranteed safety and more.
It can be emotional and challenging for older adults when it's time to move from the familiarity of their own home to a residential aged care home. However, aged care homes can offer a number of benefits.
Residential aged care homes are purpose-built communities where residents can receive professional and personalised care in a safe environment to maintain their quality of life. This blog will share some of the many benefits of being in a residential aged care home.
Benefits of aged care that residents love most
1. Social Connection with others
Combating social isolation and loneliness amongst the elderly is important, and being in residential aged care homes can be a good solution. In aged care homes, residents are introduced to new people with whom they would naturally build new friendships. Aside from that, there are always planned activities that residents can get involved in, which support their social, mental and physical wellbeing. For example, they could have group outings to the park or arts and crafts sessions at the home.
2. Less pressure on family members
As much as family members would like to look after their loved ones on their own, it can create a lot of pressure for them as they would naturally want to be able to provide the best care, which effectively requires a lot of time and attention. Residential aged care homes are there to take the pressure off family members, and their loved ones would be well-taken care of by professional care staff and clinicians. Family members are still able to visit their loved ones as often as they would like, physically or virtually, as it is important to stay connected with each other.
3. Looked after by specialists
In order to suit individual care needs, residents are looked after 24/7 by qualified care staff according to their personalised care plan. As residents will have access to a network of health professionals, they can enjoy peace of mind knowing that staff are effectively monitoring their health to ensure the care and support they receive cater to their changing needs over time. It is important to note that many aged care homes specialise in general, dementia and palliative care and have specialised suites that cater to each care need. So if a resident’s needs were to change, aged care staff would be able to cater to them accordingly.
Many purpose-built buildings, like residential aged care homes, have security systems in place for the safety of residents and staff - for example, security cameras in communal areas, alarmed doors and check-in reception systems. Apart from building security, care staff are always monitoring residents’ care needs and making sure that they are receiving the best care, i.e. keeping residents hydrated and fed and active could prevent falls from occurring. With care staff monitoring residents 24/7 and having the skills to respond to emergencies, resident safety is a top priority for aged care homes.
How the aged care experience can be made even better
Using an operations management and community engagement software like Centrim Life will allow residential aged care staff to focus entirely on residents' care and wellbeing rather than on unnecessary administrative tasks that take too much time.
With Centrim Life’s Maintenance & Asset Management tool as an example, it helps centralise all maintenance operations and assets in one place, allowing staff to view and manage all maintenance jobs easily. Furthermore, residents and staff are able to use a mobile app or scan a QR code in the home to raise a maintenance request, e.g. if a tap in their room is leaking, they would be able to raise the request to staff and also track the progress of the job through to completion.
Another example would be Centrim Life’s Dining & Online Ordering tool; residents can select and order their meals through a mobile app and specify where they would like their meals delivered i.e. in their room or a specific dining room. Staff can also use the tool to plan menus, manage recipes and create shopping lists. They can also manage residents’ dietary profiles through easy synchronisation from their clinical care system.
Benefits of using Centrim Life in aged care
Happy residents due to feeling part of a community and being able to take control of their lives at the aged care home.
Staff are less stressed as they can manage all their operations digitally and in one place.
A safe and secure solution to store important documentation is key for any audits and compliance checks.
Transparency for aged care managers as they have all the information they need in real-time and in one place.
Book a Centrim Life demo today
If you want to find out how Centrim Life can help you manage your aged care home, book a demo with us or get in contact.
Speak to us about Centrim Life and how it could work for you
