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When we compare the aged care sector to the acute health sector, the latter is portrayed in a different light. It has lots to offer - research, copious amounts of public funding, grants and cutting edge surgical interventions that offer people the hope of a cure or at least a younger looking body at the end of a brief hospital stay.
Aged care cannot compete. We can only offer kindness, support, comfort and the provision of expert care at the end of a life. No cures or magical interventions. No brief visit and back home. Just being with people and supporting them through their last passage of time. Sometimes lives well lived. Often people living with sadness, loss and regrets. Our heroic staff go to work daily and expertly care at a very basic level for the dying. Assisting with meals, showering and bathing, cleaning teeth, assisting with toileting, dressing and having conversations.
I ask the public and media to take a moment and consider the real picture of aged care and put out a hand of thanks for a hard job and a job, for the most, well done. Spring is a time of hope and renewal. Mecwacare gardens are looking beautiful thanks to the expert care of the disability gardening team and some special volunteers.
Let’s hope the community can give support to the excellent efforts of workers in the aged care sector.
Best wishes
Michele Lewis
Chief Executive |
