Construction Completed At Uniting Amala Offering Best-In-Class 'Household Model of Care'

The 8-year construction of Uniting Amala aged care home is being celebrated as an innovative model of care that aligns with recommendations from the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety.

The 124-bed home in Canberra's south operates under the 'household model' of care which gives greater freedom to residents to make their own choices throughout the day in smaller households of 18-20 people.

This highly flexible approach honours and respects the wishes of residents by putting their needs first to make sure that they are living the life they want to lead.

Uniting Amala is proud that its model of care reflects the direction of the Royal Commission Final Report that states that the government should "create incentives for providers to develop small households of accommodation" (Recommendation 142) as well as guidelines for dementia-care that are "capable of application to small 'household' models of accommodation" (Recommendation 45).

The home is currently made up of six households, including two high-care 'memory support units' which offer state-of-the-art dementia care.

The aged care home sits within a campus which also features the Uniting Amala Independent Living Village and Uniting Canberra Seniors Gym. The campus has been designed to acknowledge a continuum of care between retirement living, home and community care and residential care.

The development will be particularly important to older couples whose care needs change over time as both will be able to receive the support they need without having to move too far from partners and friends.

A completion of construction event for the Uniting Amala campus will be held on Tuesday 4 May with local Federal Member for Bean, David Smith MP attending the event.

"We're proud to showcase the 'household' model in Canberra to be an example of how older Australians can have more independence in residential aged care," said Director of Ageing, Saviour Buhagiar.

"Uniting believes the Household Model is the future of residential aged care and our residents love the extra freedom it brings."

"The Royal Commission agrees that smaller homes with more personal care should be encouraged and developed, and we hope the Federal Government can look to Uniting Amala to see what can be achieved by this model." he added.

Director of Property and Housing, Simon Furness said, "Uniting sees the Household Model of care as the centrepiece of our approach that puts the dignity and wishes of our residents at its centre.

Something that is particularly important for older Australians living with dementia."

Uniting is one of Australia's largest providers of residential aged care in NSW and ACT, operating more than 50 sites across NSW and ACT.