Celebrating three years of St Martin’s Special Dementia Care Unit
Recently we celebrated three years since the launch of our Specialist Dementia Care Program Unit (SDCPU) at St Martin’s Residential Aged Care Home in Taigum.
The unit was one of three successful sites in Queensland to receive the Commonwealth Government’s first round of funding for the program in 2020. The program offers a ground-breaking new framework in care and provides a dedicated, dementia-friendly environment for people living with dementia who are exhibiting severe behaviours.
Group Manager of Residential Aged Care and Retirement Living, Kate Hawkins, and St Martin’s Facility Manager, Priyanka Titus.
The program has supported 25 residents, with eight residents currently living in the unit.
The program aims to:
- Enable residential aged care providers to deliver care in a dedicated dementia friendly environment.
- Provide intensive, specialised residential care with a focus on stabilising and reducing the person’s symptoms over time with the aim of enabling transition to a less intensive care setting.
- Provide care for people exhibiting severe symptoms of dementia who are unable to be cared for by mainstream aged care services.
St Martin’s Special Dementia Care Program Unit team members
According to Dementia Australia, more than 400,000 Australians are living with dementia and that number is expected to rise to above 800,000 by 2058. More than two-thirds (68.1%) of aged care residents have moderate to severe cognitive impairment and is one of the reasons why the SDCPU is beneficial to alleviating the pressure on mainstream aged care providers.
The unit consists of nine rooms and living areas that have been designed to foster a small, cottage-like dementia friendly living environment.
Learn more or enquire about St Martin’s Residential Aged Care Home.
