When staff and volunteers put on a right royal show for the wedding of William and Kate in April, the Little Sisters of the Poor in Glendalough hardly expected it would lead to their nursing home winning a major award for the quality of life given to residents.
The “Wedding Belles at Glendalough” bridal fashion show put on for residents was a major factor in the nursing home being awarded the 2011 Better Practice Award for Resident Lifestyle by the Aged Care Standards and Accreditation Agency (ACSAA).
On the day of the wedding, staff and volunteers donned wedding dresses from different eras and residents were treated to a breakfast fit for a queen (or king).
A live viewing of the wedding on a large screen in the home’s main hall followed.
“One of the residents said it was the best day of her life,” a staff member said. “They were very excited and it gave them a lot of pleasure. They are still talking about it and saying they feel like they were at the wedding itself.”
She said she thought the wedding was “one piece of good news the residents latched onto because it gave them hope in a time with so many dreadful events happening in the world”.
The Better Practice Awards are judged by a panel of aged care experts. This year, 41 awards were given across five categories. The Glendalough home was the only aged care home in WA to win a better practice award.
ACSAA’s chairman, Jim Harrowell, praised the Little Sisters of the Poor. “Their efforts are testimony to the high quality care in Australia’s residential aged care industry and they are deserving of recognition,” he said. “The managers and staff at the Little Sisters of the Poor Glendalough Home are going above and beyond in providing the very best care for their residents.”
Sr Elizabeth Anne Lee said the award was an honour for the home. Ever since the order’s founder, Saint Jeanne Jugan, and the first members of her religious community began caring for elderly abandoned women in 1839, she said, the Little Sisters had always sought to ensure that residents had social stimulation and a sense of a family spirit.