Aged care facility helps WA seniors stay close to family in Roebourne

In a remote part of Western Australia that’s twice the size of Victoria, finding an aged care facility can be quite a challenge.

There are only two aged care centers in the entire WA’s resource-rich Pilbara; the largest is at Port Hedland, 1,630 kilometers north of Perth.

This means residents, including the Pilbara’s remote indigenous communities, often have to leave the area to find adequate care.

For indigenous elders, this can result in fear of being separated from their culture and heritage and dying far from their home country.

Addressing this concern is one of the main goals of the non-profit Yaandina aged care center in the remote area of ​​Roebourne.

Betty Kelly grew up in Karratha before moving to the center four years ago.

“I just wanted somewhere to go… I was living in a nice house in Karratha,” he said.

“I think it’s nice here (because it’s outdoors and open).

“I wish I had a swimming pool.”

Adaptive care helps center win awards

Yaandina manager Joan Watt said the center was designed and operated differently to a typical aged care facility.

The facility recently won first place at the National Rural and Remote Health awards, winning the best aged care center of the year category.

“Many of our residents grew up on rural stations, so we have access to the outside… and the roof is open so people can see the sky and the stars like they normally did when they were growing up.” he said.

“There are actually a lot of art groups and language groups in Roebourne, so we decided to take one piece of art from each group to represent where we are.”

Center staff also receive cultural training from local people and are taught customs and traditions specific to local language groups.

“For an Indigenous person, there are a lot of different people you need to get permission from,” Ms Watt said.

“Men prefer to have women (caregivers) who are part of their culture.”

Traditional language speakers

Ms Watt said the majority of staff were also fluent in the languages ​​of Ngarluma and Yindjibarndi residents.

Ms Watt said since she started working at Yaandina at least half a dozen Indigenous Australians had returned to the area to grow old and die in their home countries.

“We’ve had at least six since I got here in September 2020,” he said.

Critical service to help older people stay in the country

Pilbara Aboriginal Voice co-chair Linda Doogiebee-Dridi said the facility also helped build critical connections between different generations of the local community.

“Since English is not the native language of our people, (it is important) for our own younger generation to work in these environments due to the language barrier,” he said.

Ms. Doogiebee-Dridi also said burying elderly family members who may have died in the country makes it easier for relatives to visit and maintain family connection.

“Family and friends who are alive and have a close relationship with the deceased will be able to respectfully clean the grave site and talk to the deceased,” he said.