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The ARVAS Standards are designed to work directly with the Retirement Living Code of Conduct, which is the sector’s self-assessment tool. Any organisation wishing to apply for accreditation under ARVAS must also be operating according to the Retirement Living Code of Conduct.

ARVAS was developed with an entirely new set of national standards to reflect the various elements of a resident’s experience within a retirement village.

Please note: You will need to be signed up to the Retirement Living Code of Conduct before becoming ARVAS accredited.

What are the ARVAS standards?

The ARVAS Standards applies to most retirement villages in Australia, and it includes seven quality areas:

ARVAS Standards	Description
Standard 1 Community Management	The Community is managed efficiently and effectively; the Community Manager is a positive and proactive leader of the Community team with a strong customer service orientation.
Standard 2 Human Resource Management	The Community's employment management practices ensure that the quality and quantity of staff are sufficient to meet operational needs.
Standard 3 Resident Entry & Exit	The Community's processes for managing resident entry and exit are effective and focus on a positive resident experience.
Standard 4 Resident Engagement & Feedback	The Community engages residents effectively.
Standard 5 Community Environment, Services & Facilities	The Community environment, service and facilities are managed effectively and in accordance with contractual obligations.
Standard 6 Safety & Security	The Community's processes for managing safety and security are effective.
Standard 7 Resident Care (Only applies to communities that provides care services)	Residents receive safe, high-quality care consistent with their needs and preferences.

The ARVAS Standards have a three-level hierarchy comprising of Standards, Criteria, and Indicators. Each Standard is comprised of a Criterion and each Criterion is comprised of Indicators.

For example:

Standard	Criteria	Indicator
Standard 5: Community Environment, Services & Facilities	5.1.1. Common areas, facilities and equipment are clean and fit for purpose	Sale/lease agreement/disclosure documents in relation to common areas, facilities, and equipment. Policies and procedures in relation to management and maintenance of common areas, cleaning, and maintenance.

Standard

Criteria

Indicator

Standard 5:
Community Environment, Services & Facilities

5.1.1. Common areas, facilities and equipment are clean and fit for purpose

Sale/lease agreement/disclosure documents in relation to common areas, facilities, and equipment.

Policies and procedures in relation to management and maintenance of common areas, cleaning, and maintenance.

The benefits of being ARVAS accredited

You might be wondering… ‘Why should I get ARVAS accredited? Is it worth it?’

Well, there are numerous benefits that come with a retirement village meeting the ARVAS standards, including:

Gain formal recognition in meeting a national set of standards while being aligned to the Retirement Village’s Code of Conduct.
Demonstrate a commitment to your residents while ensuring the village is safe, secure and operating to high quality standards.
Stay resident-focused, having clear processes for residents to be consulted, engaged and heard.
Reduce organisational business risk.
Educate and engage staff in the provision of quality service, building a positive culture for everyone in the village.
Show a clear commitment to continuous improvement in your operations.
Promote your village as being committed to improving their levels of safety and quality to current and prospective residents.

Having the right system that supports ARVAS

Knowing the benefits and importance of your retirement living organisation being ARVAS accredited, it inevitably will be an easier process to get accredited when you have implemented an operations management software that supports ARVAS.

There are only a few software solutions on the market that specialise in retirement living operations management, and it is unknown if these solutions can actually support operators with their ARVAS accreditation… until now!

According to retirement living industry professionals, Centrim Life, the only end-to-end operations management software on the market, supports more than 80% of the ARVAS standards.

This means that retirement living operators will be able to easily use the software to provide evidence to the ARVAS accessors that they have met majority of the indicators per criteria within each standard, which really helps providers towards completing their accreditation.

What about the other 20% you might ask?

Depending on which criteria needs to be evidenced, Centrim Life is able to integrate with other solutions on the market that will help complete your ARVAS self-assessment. For example, to meet Standard 2: Human Resource Management requirement, we are able to partner with a HR specialised solution of your choice, which will mean that the technologies implemented in your village will meet 100% of the ARVAS standards.

3 Pillars of Operational Excellence

When considering the right system for your village that can help with ARVAS, you also have to consider if the operations management system is able to support the 3 key pillars of operational excellence. See below:

Governance, Risk, and Legislative Compliance

Centrim Life has the capability to consolidate various governance, risk, and legislative compliance aspects into a single system, eliminating the need to track them in different systems. In addition, it also provides a range of reports offering visibility to management and the Board, enabling informed decision-making.

Workforce

Centrim Life supports staff by allowing you to manage tasks through the use of checklists and workflows, increased clarity around individual responsibilities, improved visibility on task deadlines and progress, easier handover to temporary staff during planned leave and a reduction in key person risk. In addition, the ease of report creation saves time and effort when specific information is required to be provided by management or the board.

Best Practice

Best practice in retirement living involves designing and developing retirement communities that promotes social connectedness, better well-being, active aging, and providing a choice of lifestyle options for residents. Centrim Life provides a number of functions to enable these key areas.

Preparing for ARVAS accreditation

Sometimes, even thinking about starting an accreditation process can be overwhelming due to lack of resources or not knowing where to start.
Below we outlined some steps which you can take to get prepared:

Know the standards: Read through the ARVAS standards. As you read, highlight any evidence which you may not yet have. This will assist you in mapping any gaps.
Develop a plan: Once the standards have been reviewed, and any gaps identified, you will need to create a specific plan. This plan should include specific actions that will be taken to address any gaps in the current policies, procedures, or processes. At this stage you may consider implementing a system which is able to contain most of the ARVAS relevant documentation and evidence. Centrim Life is an excellent choice as it is able to retain up to 80% of the required evidence.
Implement the plan: there is no point having a plan if it doesn’t get implemented. Allocated tasks to your team and have a consultation process too for any of those that affect your staff or residents. Once the new policies, procedures or processes are approved, communicate those to all involved and make sure they are implemented.
Train employees: Accreditation is a team effort, so it is important to ensure all staff are aware of the changes and able to perform the new expectations.
Gather documentation: Evidence will be required to demonstrate compliance with the ARVAS standards. Your organisation will need to gather all relevant documentation, such as policies, procedures, and records, to support the accreditation process.
Conduct an internal audit: Before the ARVAS accreditation starts, an internal audit can be conducted to identify any areas of non-compliance and to ensure that everything is in place.

Please note: Upon the implementation of the new processes and systems, it will be necessary for you to utilise them exclusively for a period of 3-6 months. This will serve as evidence that you have successfully transitioned from any previous processes and systems to the new ones.

As a minimum, to prepare for your accreditation journey you will need several documents and evidence, including, but not limited to:

How to get started with your ARVAS accreditation

It might not be mandatory yet to get ARVAS accreditation, but it will set you apart from other villages and have that formal recognition that your organisation is offering top quality services to all residents. In the long run, the accreditation will help you with marketing your village to prospects and reassuring residents on the quality and safety of your community.

QIP (Quality Innovation Performance) is the authorised accreditation provider for ARVAS, on behalf of the Property Council and ACCPA. This is due to their previous experience as assessment provider for the International Retirement Community Accreditation Scheme (IRCAS).

To get started, you will need to enquire on the QIP’s website here to start the accreditation process. Or you can simply call 1300 888 329 or email info@qip.com.au.

You can also engage with the Centrim Life team to see how our operations management system can support you to record and maintain your records and transactions required by ARVAS accreditation.

Find out more about Centrim Life, the all-in-one operations management software, that can support your ARVAS accreditation journey by filling in the form.

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