Canberrans living with dementia will be able to have their care guided by their own interests and provided in a family-like environment, under an Australian-first initiative on offer in the ACT.
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The Salvation Army Aged Care Plus has been selected as one of only two care providers in Australia to implement the innovative model of dementia care, which was launched at the Mountain View Aged Care Plus Centre in Narrabundah on Thursday.
Salvation Army Aged Care Plus chief executive Sharon Callister said the difference was that the model of care was "very much more focused on building small family-like environments".
"It breaks down the barriers between residents living with dementia and tries to create more of an emotional connection and allowing residents to live as independently as possible," she said.
"The people that will benefit from this model of care are the people living in our memory support units."
In Canberra, there are 10-15 people living in the organisation's memory support unit.
"The idea is to try to make small households around the living area," she said.
"For us, it's not just about the things we do in terms of emotional care, connectivity, feelings, trying to engage the residents – that's a part of it in terms of how we care for them – but the other part is very much their living environment as well.
"What we're trying to do is make smaller home environments, fill them up with things that are really familiar, we're putting in different furnishings, new wall colourings, creating indoor gardens, creating smaller intimate living areas but also providing greater access to the outdoors.
"There's a whole host of things with the living environment but also the people and the care that we're providing."
The model of care – known as the Butterfly Household Care Model – was pioneered in Britain.
The care provided will be guided by residents' interests rather than specific tasks.
