New research released by Alzheimer’s Australia NSW says greater clarity is needed, in particular for prospective village residents, around the difference between a retirement village and residential aged care facility.
For some people, it’s a case of “don’t mention the D-word” when it comes to talking about dementia. Ask Alzheimer’s Australia – an organisation that has been campaigning for more than three decades to broaden community understanding about dementia, and provide support for the rapidly growing number of people living with it.
Like many things most commonly associated with older people, the attitude is often one of fear and denial, no matter how irrational that is. When you’re trying to support people and change those community attitudes, it makes it even harder work.
Surprisingly, up until now, one of the great bastions of fear and denial regarding dementia was the retirement village industry. In fact, until quite recently, there was a staunch rear-guard in the retirement village (RV) world that actively argued that villages needed little or no knowledge about anything to do with ageing or health.
RVs were all about lifestyle, about carefree travel, a nightly happy hour with friends and three rounds of golf or bridge a week! RV residents are young and vital. If they need to deal with ageing, there’s aged care, they said.
A wake up call to support ageing
It was always going to be a matter of time before the RV industry had the wake up call. And in the end that wake up call would come from the very clients they sought to protect from such slings and arrows of outrageous fortune as ‘old age’.
Residents of retirement villages, like people in older age groups anywhere, have to face a range of ageing issues to varying degrees, including dementia, and for the most part, they expect their village to provide an environment that supports them.
However, new research released earlier this week by Alzheimer’s Australia NSW says expectations among village residents are frequently misguided about support available in the village for people who have dementia.
The report, Dementia in Retirement Villages – produced with support from the Property Council of Australia and the IRT Foundation – finds that greater clarity is needed, in particular for prospective village residents, around the difference between a retirement village and residential aged care facility as there is confusion about the difference in the level of support provided.
“If they don’t want to support people with dementia, then they need to be upfront about that so residents don’t buy in to a village thinking certain supports may be available when they are not.”
A first and a milestone
According to Alzheimer’s Australia, this is the first time dementia in retirement villages has been looked at in-depth. The research has found a vast variation in the design, management, operation and business models of retirement villages, and thus, a large variation in the types of support and services offered.
Alzheimer’s Australia NSW CEO, John Watkins, said retirement village operators need to make a decision.
“Do they want to operate a model that supports people with dementia or not?” he said.
“If they do, then they need to incorporate dementia-friendly design and principles to ensure they support people living with dementia. This could include education for staff and residents to be more dementia-aware and co-locating the village with an aged care facility for a smoother transition to aged care if the need arises.
“If they don’t want to support people with dementia, then they need to be upfront about that so residents don’t buy in to a village thinking certain supports may be available when they are not.
“We have heard of vastly mismatched expectations where family members think their loved one with dementia is receiving certain supports and care in the village, when they are not.
“Some of that comes down to a misunderstanding of what a retirement village can and does offer compared with a residential aged care facility, so there really needs to be greater understanding about that.
“At the same time there are many things village operators can do to enable residents with dementia to stay in their home, in the village, for as long as possible before a move to a residential aged care facility needs to be considered.”
Villages for healthy ageing
The report says there is an opportunity for retirement village operators to make villages ‘healthy ageing places’ which help reduce the incidence of dementia by promoting social interaction and healthy lifestyles, as well as sustaining the independence of residents.
Mary Wood, Executive Director – Retirement Living – at the Property Council of Australia, said retirement villages are a great setting to ‘age in place’’ with age appropriate housing design and supportive communities, which leads to reduced hospital stays, improved mental wellbeing and delayed entry into aged care.
She says retirement villages are ready to take this next step in providing support for people with dementia. “This research will provide valuable guidance to village operators and their staff,” she said. Residents will expect it, won’t they?
