Ashlee McGlashan, Village Manager at Bethanie Gwelup Retirement Village, in the suburb 12km north of Perth’s CBD, said understanding all facets of aged care is essential to be a part of our residents’ care journey from the start to the end.
“Providing them with the continuum of care is important in supporting them as they age, and ensure they feel safe and supported,” she told The West Australian.
“There are constant legislative changes in aged care, whether it’s about new laws to improve seniors’ experience of living in and leaving a village, or for a new funding model in aged care, which provides increased transparency and accountability.
They can be challenging to manage so it’s really important to be resilient in keeping up with the changes. I don’t necessarily see this as “the bad” as I believe the changes are made for a better consumer model of aged care and will ultimately benefit our residents.
“We build a lot of trust with our residents and sometimes they will only open up to us about their struggles. It’s important we can give them the right information or refer them to someone who can.”
Ashlee’s path to being a Village Manager is, like many, not ‘her first choice’.
“I went to university to study a bachelor of commerce (a double major in human resources (HR) and management). After university, I decided to start a career in HR and after a short period of time, I found out this industry wasn’t for me,” she said.
“I wanted to work in a community service industry and applied for a care manager role in home care in 2014. Since my first job in aged care, I have worked as a regional manager for home care, a sales manager (looking after a team of eight people), managing a short-term restorative care program partnering with Medibank, and a Village Manager. I found the more “I climbed the ladder” in my career, the more disconnected I became from the people we support. This was the reason I requested a role back in the community as a Village Manager, so I could be back in a supporting role.”
It’s a decision she is not regretting.
“Knowing that you are making a difference in someone’s life is truly the most rewarding part of our role. I love working with the elderly. They are lovely, generous, caring and there’s a lot we can learn from them,” she said.