Day program expands into night at Edenhope
Clients of Grampians Health Edenhope’s Day Centre are over the moon with the new expansion to its activities program
The Day Centre program is now including night-time activities as well as longer trips to dining spots and entertainment centres. Day Centre coordinator Kirily Ryan said the activities had become so popular that their biggest problem was finding enough team members to balance the consumer-carer ratio.
A feedback form issued to around 60 Day Centre clients in late 2022 asked them what activities they would like to see made available so the majority were invested in the program.
“The feedback told us that our consumers wanted to be able to go out to restaurants and other venues at night because many of them didn’t like driving outside the town limits after sunset,” Ms Ryan said.
“There was no opportunity to have a social meal with friends in a social setting at night and they were missing the social connection. We have taken that feedback on, and we now have a mix of centre-based activities as well as community-based and they are all consumer-driven.
“Fortunately, we also have the right team to support activities with longer trips.”
Ms Ryan said outings since the expansion have included trips to Mt Gambier and Beachport, SA, Jung Market, Lake Toolondo, Harrow, Natimuk and Horsham.
“We have taken busloads to Horsham for concert events at the Performing Arts Centre, movies at the cinema and shopping. The most we have taken so far is 22 because we had enough staff to cover the ratio.
One consumer Merilyn said the trips were usually enjoyable.
“It gets you out of the house and I enjoy the social side of it because it’s nice meeting other people and having time to get to know them. And a bit of shopping never went astray,” she said.
“It’s a great service and we’re very lucky to have it.”
Grampians Health Chief Operating Officer Aged and Community Care Craig Wilding commended Ms Ryan and her Edenhope team for going the extra mile in their roles.
“We empower our workforce to be ambitious and innovative in everything we do,” Mr Wilding said.
“This is a great example of reimagining the way services are delivered and providing more opportunities for our people.”
