November 2002

It wasn’t built in a day

Months of planning preceded the move to the East Doncaster house.

As will be the case for each house to be built as part of the Kew Residential Services redevelopment, a house establishment group was set up to advise on making the house as homely, comfortable and safe as possible.

The group looked at all aspects of the house design, the equipment the staff and residents would need, even the colour selection and choice of fabrics to create a warm and welcoming environment where safety features were as unobtrusive as possible.

The KRS Human Resources Development and Staffing Services teams worked with the eight staff members to provide training in:

• Learning all about the residents—their likes, dislikes, interests, needs;

• Preparing ways to link into the local community and networks;

• Updating their skills around the health needs of particular residents moving to the house.

The staff, all experienced KRS members, are making a challenging transition from providing care in a large institution to creating a more intimate and personal environment.

While the staff are looking forward to providing more one-on-one care with only five residents to work with, they will have more responsibility and autonomy than is possible within the constraints of large-scale institutional setting.

Case managers from the Resident Assessment Consultation and Planning (RACP) Team have also worked intensively with families to make the move as smooth as possible.