Today, 6 September 2012, Wendy (the Director of Abbeyfield) was kind
enough to take us to visit three of Abbeyfield’s retirement homes; two in
Rondebosh and one in Gugulethu.
This was a really interesting experience. It was great to be able to talk
to the residents and see how they feel about the retirement homes. It amazing
how much the houses diversify. The rent alone ranges from R400 to R3000 per
month.
There were several design factors that became apparent during the visits:
Firstly, it’s important to not have any stairs. While the intention is to
house able bodied elderly people, there comes a time when the residents can no
longer walk up and down the stairs. The ethos of Abbeyfield is to provide a home
until they pass away, ideally in the comfort of their own beds. This means that
it becomes a hazard to have stairs in the homes.
Secondly, there must be an adequate number of fridges and storage
facilities for the residents. The residents want a level of privacy. They want
to have an area where they can store their things without the fear that the
other residents will accidently/wilfully eat their food, etc.
Thirdly, there should be a seating area in the kitchen so that the residents
can sit and chop their vegetables, etc when cooking. It’s hard for the elderly residents
to stand for long periods of time. This will make it easier for them to prepare
their food.
Lastly, it is important to not waste space when renovating/designing a
home. We saw in the Gugulethu house that there was a large amount of wasted
space that could have been used to create more rooms and house more people.
All in all Abbeyfield is doing great work. One of the elderly ladies in
Rondebosh mentioned that they are very fortunate to have Abbeyfield and to have
been provided with such a nice home.
I think it was very beneficial for us to visit the homes, really helped deepen our insight into how these people live and the homes run. I think great consideration also needs to be put into the finishes, such as, most residence preferred showers to baths, and are a lot more easier for them to use. We will take time to explore different finishes, and how they will help contribute to a better home for the elderly.
ReplyDeleteI agree completely; I think this visit definitely gave us a better understanding of exactly how the homes operate and the ethos behind the Abbeyfield model. We can now address the problems encountered with certainty, and aim to adopt the elements that are most successful, and eliminate those less desirable, in creating an effective model for the organisation to apply in the future.
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