Braemar Invests In New Memory Support Service

A new dementia care service has been launched by Braemar Presbyterian Care at its Braemar Village residential facility in Willagee, with the facility joining Braemar House and Braemar Cooinda in providing a dedicated secure area for residents requiring memory support and dementia care.

The new specialist care service includes 26 rooms, with an array of features such as internal gardens, a dining area and communal lounges. It will aid in the availability of secure specialist care services for residents with dementia and other cognitive conditions in the City of Melville.

Chief Executive Officer of Braemar Presbyterian Care, Wayne Belcher, says these dementia-specific services will meet the rising care needs of the local region, and reflect Braemar’s commitment to the local community.

“Braemar is committed to the seniors of the City of Melville. The establishment of this new service will not only meet the rising care needs of the community, but will also enable those residents to enjoy the high quality care and friendship that Braemar Village is known for,” he says.

Braemar has engaged leading Perth Dementia Consultant Michelle Harris-Allsop of Care Partnerships Australia to ensure the memory support environment at Braemar Village is of the highest standard, taking resident’s needs and wants into account.

Ms Harris-Allsop says that every dementia experience is different, and common misconceptions of the condition can lead to negative stigma and a misunderstanding of the needs and wants of those with memory support needs.

“The guiding principle of the work at Braemar Village is to help the facility establish an environment that is enabling and supportive of the residents to maximise their quality of life,” comments Ms. Harris-Allsop.

“We have built up a substantial amount of knowledge about the significance of the environmental design and the psychosocial, spiritual and emotional aspects that are best suited to people who live with a cognitive disability such as dementia, which is being taken into account at Braemar.”

Since 1952, Braemar Presbyterian Care has been offering care and friendship to the elderly in Western Australia. Braemar currently operates three residential care facilities, providing care and support to over 200 people. Braemar’s care philosophy is one of Relationship Centred Care, which supports the relationships that exist and develop between staff, volunteers, residents and their families.