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Jubilee Community Care – a Year in Review

The best wishes of the Jubilee Community Care Board members, staff, volunteers and myself are offered to all clients and your families for this Christmas and New Year.

Jubilee Community Care – A Year in Review

At the start of the year Jubilee was fortunate to have the wisdom and foresight of a new Board. The Board comprised three former long-standing Jubilee Community Care Committee of Management members, including two life members of the organisation; and three new appointees who were added to the Board at its December 2022 meeting.

I was appointed in January and, for clients and families who I have yet to meet, I was the former Director of Jubilee from 2009 to 2021. The new Board and myself immediately commenced the challenge of addressing a number of significant structural, operational and compliance issues facing Jubilee.

A new Finance Manager was appointed and, over the next few months, former key employees were re-employed within the administration, finance, client coordination and human resource areas. A Care Services Manager was appointed to oversee the coordination of client services and we employed additional staff in our aged care services and client coordination areas.

The recruitment outlined above, together with existing employees, has increased our procedural knowledge and provided a stable platform for the benefit of clients and the service.

All staff and volunteers have worked tirelessly to restore Jubilee Community Care as a service provider and employer of choice. The results of this are reflected in our latest client survey – see our story on the survey results on page 3.

Emergencies and Natural Disasters

Jubilee Community Care is committed to planning for the possibility of emergencies and disasters within the community, acting where possible to minimise the disruption of services to clients and employees.

In the event of an emergency or disaster within the community, we will deploy an Emergency Management Team who will be responsible for providing effective management and implementation of the recovery efforts to minimise the impact on clients and employees.

I recommend to clients, employees and all of us to consider developing our own Emergency Plan using the Red Cross RediPlan. The RediPlan is a free disaster preparedness guide with hints and strategies on how to prepare for emergencies and make our own emergency plan. The Guide can be accessed online at:
www.redcross.org.au/globalassets/cms/downloads/pdfs/disaster-plan/red-cross-rediplan-disaster-preparedness-guide.pdf

Please contact us if you would like assistance to develop your Emergency Plan.

Kind regards
Shaun Riley, Executive Director

 

 


Clients speak highly of Jubilee Community Care

The Jubilee Community Care Board, staff and volunteers have worked faithfully over the past year to turn around an unsettled 18 months and to herald in a new chapter in the life of our organisation. And the results of our latest client survey reveal we are on track.

The results of the survey, conducted in October, were overwhelmingly positive with 97 per cent of respondents saying they were happy with Jubilee as a service provider. In the same vein, 98 per cent of people said they would recommend Jubilee to others.

Most importantly, 100 per cent of respondents to the statement “Jubilee staff treat me with kindness, dignity and respect’’ agreed with the expression. And 99 per cent agree the services Jubilee provides allow them to continue to do the things they want and to maintain their independence in living at home.

Jubilee also ranked above 90 per cent in the areas of client involvement in the development/review of their care plans; client communication; planning by Jubilee to meet clients’ needs; clients being provided services at a time and day that suits them; and client understanding of Jubilee’s service fees.

In a sign of the issues facing Jubilee since mid-2021, COVID-19 and the industry-wide staff shortages, only 66 per cent of respondents said they regularly see the same support worker(s) for their services. This is something Jubilee is working to address, and has been actively hiring new support workers to provide better continuity of care.

Jubilee Executive Director Shaun Riley said the results of survey reflected the wonderful work of our support workers and office-based staff.

“Jubilee Community Care Board members and myself acknowledge the resilience, dedication and hard work of our staff and volunteers. We are so grateful for what we have been able to achieve collectively.’’

 

 


Hot weather precautions

With heatwaves expected later this summer now is the time to remind yourself how to keep cool and stay healthy in the heat.

According to Australian Government data, from July 2019 to June 2022 people aged 65 and over were the most common age cohort of all those admitted to hospital for heat-related injuries.

Elderly people are more likely to suffer from heat exhaustion/stress – the body’s response to an excessive loss of water and salt, usually through profuse sweating. People taking fluid tablets or on fluid restrictions may be unable to recognise and respond to thirst and are particularly vulnerable. Drinking too much water can also be dangerous, so monitoring the amount and colour of urine is important. The optimal level of water consumption should ensure that urine is light yellow.

Symptoms of heat exhaustion can include a headache, nausea, dizziness, weakness, irritability, thirst, heavy sweating, elevated body temperature and decreased urine output.

To combat heat-related illnesses clients should minimise the time they spend outside during extreme heat events, wear appropriate clothing, have access to adequate fluids such as water, and use cooling devices. If no air conditioning is available, a fan blowing with a wet sheet or towel in front of it (not over it) can be highly effective for cooling the air.

To find out more visit https://bit.ly/47mmTUV

 

 


Call out for Jubilee advisory body members

Jubilee Community Care will establish a Quality Care Advisory Body in response to changes to The Aged Care Act 1997. The Act has been amended to strengthen the governance arrangements of Government-approved aged care providers such as Jubilee. The amendments introduce specific changes aimed at improving leadership and culture, and increasing transparency and accountability.

Under the changes to the Act, from December 1, 2023, all approved providers must establish the Quality Care Advisory Body and also offer each year to set up a Consumer Advisory Body.

While the two bodies will have different responsibilities the intention is to provide the opportunity to support and inform the Jubilee Community Care Board with problem-solving and suggest improvements to our service.

Quality Care Advisory Body

The Quality Care Advisory Body will provide the Jubilee Community Care Board a written report about the quality of care and services at least once every six months.

The Jubilee Board will consider any reports or feedback provided by the Body when making decisions in relation to the quality of the aged care provided through our services.

Consumer Advisory Body

A Consumer Advisory Body will have the responsibility to collect feedback from members and share ideas with the Jubilee Board.

Being a part of a Consumer Advisory Body helps your voice to be heard. The information you give to our service can help shape the way your service is run.

Expressions of interest are sought from clients or your representative to join either of these two bodies.

Please contact the Jubilee Community Care Brisbane office by phoning 3871 3220 or email admin@jccagedcare.org.au to express your interest in joining either of these two bodies. We will be delighted to provide you with further information.

 

 


Jubilee services – public holiday changes

There will be changes to Jubilee services with the upcoming public holidays. These will fall on Monday, January 1 (New Year’s Day); Friday, January 26 (Australia Day); Friday, March 29 to Monday, April 1 inclusive (Easter Friday to Easter Monday).

On these days essential services of personal care, meal preparation, and medication assistance will be provided while domestic assistance, social support, respite and shopping services will not be. Also, please note that your services supplied on these public holidays may not be with a known support worker and may not be at your preferred time due to staffing limitations.

The office will be closed on all public holidays. For more information phone the Jubilee office on 3871 3220.