Bev Smith, Executive General Manager of myHomecare Group, and Cam Holland, CEO of Ryman Healthcare, were unanimous at the Property Council’s Retirement Living Council Conference in Queensland’s Gold Coast.
Both said that there should not be any standalone retirement village or residential aged care homes built in the future.
“My experience and the research I've been involved in for many, many years has been that people are looking for the opportunity to age well. And we as a sector have an opportunity to really bring that to the fore in our thinking right at the start of our project,” said Bev, the former Executive General Manager – Residential Communities for Australian Unity.
She added that a standalone facility is not designed for today’s customers.
“Really the opportunity for us in our retirement planning space is how do we embed healthy ageing right from the start of our planning. There’s an opportunity for us to work better in that co-design process right from the get go. What you’re looking at is adaptive design and the built form,” Bev said.
Cam said there has not been a standalone aged care home built in New Zealand for at least 15 years, adding the difference between Australia and New Zealand is the more advanced home care market in Australia adds another pillar to the service model.
Ryman Healthcare offer a home care service in addition to its co-located retirement living and aged care homes. Summerset Group, which offer a similar model, are also coming to Victoria. LDK Seniors’ living and Odyssey Lifestyle Care Communities also provide ageing-in-place.
Cam said it is important to make that connection with potential residents as soon as possible and it is a strategy that is working.
He added many operators were interested in providing ageing in place but were scared off by the highly regulated care and nursing requirements.
“We are providing an ageing-in-place service that people want,” Cam said.
