Residents and their families at AQ Health’s Garden City Aged Care recently marked Father’s Day with a fun morning tea.

Families arrived to see a decorated marquee and enjoyed spending time with each other in a festive environment.

Norm enjoyed spending the morning with his daughters Sarah and Kate. It was an extra special day for Kate, who flew to Brisbane from Sydney especially for the event.

Another resident Terry enjoyed spending time with his wife at the morning tea.

“My wife has dementia, but it was good she able to be there, it’s not something we can do at home anymore,” he said.

“You’ve just got to make the most of the time spent together, and it was a good event they put on, it was much appreciated.”

Helen is part of the lifestyle team at the Garden City Aged Care, and said it was vital for families to keep celebrating milestone days throughout the year, even though their living arrangements had changed.

“It’s about keeping those memories alive, and the interest ongoing at every step – it’s still important to have those special moments,” she said.

“When families come and visit, they can sit and have a meal together, we have special areas to sit away from everyone, small spaces with tea and coffee, lounge areas – like you would at home, so that people aren’t just in their rooms.”

She added it was about creating “inviting spaces” and continuing the kind of interactions people would have at home, “because this is their new home”.

“We have events for Mother’s Day and Father’s Day, as well as Christmas in July, and in December we have a Christmas party as well,” Helen said.

Regular events and get-togethers are part of the landscape at all AQ residential care homes.

“Everyone gets a cake on their birthday, and if someone has their husband or wife come and visit, and it’s their birthday, they as a visitor get a cake too, so that our residents feel they’re still able to do something for their loved one,” Helen said.

“Once a month we have a barbecue, and we have a lot of the men who like to cook the barbecue for us.

“Also, every fortnight we have a group of ladies who go to the flower market, they choose the flowers and then they come back here and make arrangements to share with everyone.

“We help people FaceTime with their loved ones, we have an email newsletter that goes out to all the families, with photos, and we have print copies here as well.”

At AQ, we know families are dealing with a lot of emotion with a loved one coming into care. It’s our belief they shouldn’t feel like they’ve lost their old life.

“All these activities we have, they actually benefit the whole family unit, as well as the person in care,” Helen said.

“We do get a lot of lovely feedback; we appreciate that families trust us with their loved ones, and they like to be able to have a chat to the staff when they come to visit.

“It’s a lovely connection, and all the lovely emails are printed out and put up on the notice board for the staff to see, so that’s very validating for us.”

To find out more about AQ Garden City Aged Care call 07 3349 0110 or email gcrh@alzqld.org.au.