AGING WITH DIGNITY – CN967

AGING WITH DIGNITY

Thursday 26th June – 13 Nurses Rd, Central Mangrove
Meeting starts 1pm, pre-meeting lunch from 12pm

The vision is to enable older people to stay in their community for all of life.

Often in a rural community it becomes unsafe for frail elderly people to remain in their own home . There are obvious reasons why this may be so, isolation, lack of transport, disability, elder abuse to mention a few. However should that mean they must leave the community?

What we need is somewhere reserved for local people where they can safely spend their senior lives.

This would need to be in a central position, accessible to community.

The vision is for a permanent care, respite, convalescent care unit with attached hostel/ boarding rooms for those more independent people [this could actually be a purpose built “share house”].

A Central Mangrove situation appears to be the ideal, it is considered that a not for profit, community facility is most preferable. Permanent positions would have to be reserved for locals, otherwise it would soon become a “geriatric zoo”.

This poses problems in that it is unwise/ uneconomical to have vacant assets.

Suggested solutions:

1. Short term rentals to university students from the caring professions, visiting doctors.
2. Emergency accommodation for victims of domestic violence.
3. Overseas nurses coming to work in the area are finding it hard to get accommodation
4. Holiday lets to family members from other places

To compliment this we also need “composite homes” widely scattered around the community to allow seniors to retire in the community but still stay involved. As I already hold money donated for this purpose we need to form a committee.

A meeting will be held on the Thursday 26th June at the hall adjacent to Dr Anands surgery (13 Nurses Rd, Central Mangrove), in order to appoint the committee go forward with plans to allow older people to live with dignity in our community.

It is anticipated that councillor Belinda Neil will be attending the following meeting in July.

Clara Jones