Category: What the research tells us

Retirement villages again and again come up as a great seniors alternative in the Royal Commission into Aged Care.

This has never been more apparent than this week when the Commission focus has been on family carers at home driven to breaking point, alone and with a home ‘not fit for purpose’.

The isolation of wives, husbands and children who become carers, with nobody to talk to day-to-day, nobody to provide even simple support – things like collecting extra groceries or even sitting down having a cup of tea or giving some support navigating the aged care system – has been heartbreaking.

The witnesses at the Mildura commission hearings talked of suicide, mental breakdown, broken marriages and broken families.

The concept of retirement villages, being a supportive community, homes designed for ageing, village management to provide support and financial certainty tick a lot of boxes.

Most importantly, when the carer is eventually on their own, they are not alone.

We forget these important points at times.

Chris

This is a resident subject that is often talked about but so easily forgotten – but it is really important to understand.

Up until now most of the people joining retirement villages come from the Veterans generation – people who were born before 1945.

As you will have experienced, they are really solid citizens. They were hard-working, respect authority, loyal team players who don’t let others down, and thrifty. Market researchers say they ‘built the nation’, from the Snowy Mountain Scheme to our highways and cities.

Veterans don’t like to complain; they are likely to grin and bare situations.

But now we’re seeing the first Baby Boomers, which are a totally different breed people – and moving in as residents in your villages.

Baby Boomers were born between 1945 and 1965. The first Baby Boomers officially retired in 2010 and are now aged 74.

You will have read many times that Baby Boomers can change the world – and they don’t intend slowing down because they’ve joined a retirement village.

Things to think about

Have you ever stopped to consider how these differences may impact your operational activities?

Baby Boomers having a characteristic that blurs the line between life and work. They are accustomed to supermarkets being open until midnight. They may expect the same from you.

It will be paramount as a Village Manager that you are able to set, reinforce and abide by expectations that clearly set the situations and times that you will be available afterhours. 

Where the Veteran generation were happy to have one rule for all the Baby Boomer will challenge the status quo and potentially be seeking a rule applicable for themselves individually. 

As a Village Manager it will be vital that you are quick to set expectations upfront when new residents move into the village and then reinforce these standards often to ensure that it is clear how the community operates.  

There will be challenges in meeting the needs of both generations.  For instance the Baby Boomer is likely to want the ability to submit maintenance requests via an app or online. 

However existing Veteran resident may not have the technology or desire to learn a new way and therefore leaving you as the Village Manager the job of creating a win win process to meet both sets of expectations.

As a Village Manager it will be important to take time out to consider how operationally you will meet the expectations of both parties. The danger is loud Baby Boomers will swamp the preferred operations of the Veterans – and you as village manager!

Be aware, but not afraid!

This week Jodie Prosser and her team staged our first Village Manager PD days in Brisbane and Sydney.

Close to 100 village managers attended. Here are some of the comments and some pics.

(It is not too late for you to sign up for Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth, which are coming up over the next few weeks. Check the dates and VM PD membership HERE).

“Just wanted to drop you a quick note to thank you for yesterday. The inaugural NSW State PD day was well facilitated, very informative with excellent speakers providing constructive and useful, practical information and it was also most enjoyable”.

“It was great to meet so many working in the sector, to hear of their passion, the substantial combined knowledge available within the Village Management & PD Network and to come away feeling encouraged about the support available via DCMI, The VM Peer Network and the positive steps toward ongoing development of village management personnel”.

“Feedback from our staff was that they really enjoyed the day and are looking forward to the next one. Personally, I was really impressed with the content and the speakers. It was a bit scary committing so many staff to undergo the training, but I know we made the right decision and the staff will get so much out of the next 12 months”.