The Homes
Experience a new direction in small-house aged care design
Traditional nursing homes are typically large non-descript institutional buildings - uninviting, clinical and more like a hospital than a home. They have large wards where 20,30 even 40 people all live together with dozens of rooms coming off large hallways that feel like they never end. The people that live there don’t have access to the laundry, kitchen and other parts of the home. They use large dining rooms and common areas where all residents are sat together. They are not supported to do things for themselves, and they have to fit their life into how that specific place likes to operate.
Instead, NewDirection Care provides 17 domestic-style homes, each accommodates only seven residents each who live together. Every individual home features private bedrooms with ensuite, a fully functioning kitchen, laundry, sitting rooms, front and back yard; beautifully furnished and intentionally curated to fit the lifestyle of the people living there. This is unlike anything else in Australia!
Intentional Designs That Feel Like Home
Our community offers an entirely different kind of residential care than what you are used to. Within our MICRO TOWN®, residents continue to live their life how they want – enjoy a good life with NewDirection Care.
Created for Comfort
The 17 high specification domestic-style houses come in one of six types, catering to each resident’s lifestyle and resembling surroundings that residents are already familiar with. Each home accommodates only seven residents, offering space and room for independence.
We worked with Shaynna Blaze, award-winning Interior Designer and TV personality, to carefully curate the interior design of each unique home. These beautifully finished homes feature an open-plan kitchen with modern appliances so residents can continue cooking, a laundry for individuals to do their own washing, a family dining room to share meals and cosy sitting rooms that are ideal for relaxing and spending time with visitors.
Catered to Each Residents Needs
At NewDirection Care, residents are enabled to lead an independent life and contribute to a community within the supportive MICRO TOWN® environment. residents have their own daily routines, not one that is forced upon them. Residents are free to spend their days how they like, just as they would living at home before coming to NewDirection Care. Residents get up and go to bed when they want, can join in with preparing their meals, do their own laundry, leave their home whenever they want day or night, pop into the neighbours for a chat, wander freely down to the retail precinct to shop and see what's going on.
Our team maximise resident independence and self-sufficiency, meaning residents enjoy a better quality of life filled with joy, purpose and community. Each day, residents are assisted as needed by our House Companion™ Support Workers in daily activities such as cooking, cleaning, personal care and medication administration. Freedom of movement is crucial and Bellmere enables residents to come and go as they please. In additional to the MICRO TOWN® being staffed 24/7 NewDirection Care utilises a suite of sophisticated digital tools and technologies to ensure resident safety and security.
House Companion™ Support Workers
NewDirection Care developed a unique 24/7 role that you will not find anywhere else in Australia, our multi-skilled House Companion™ Support Worker forms part of the family unit and helps with daily running of the home including cleaning, cooking, personal care, medication and more. There is a minimum of one House Companion™ Support Worker in each house and they wear everyday clothes, not uniforms.
Operating around the residents in each home, House Companion™ Support Workers help each resident determine their day-to-day patterns, menus, activities and outings as needed – As Normal a Life as Possible® - giving residents at NewDirection Care a level of freedom and autonomy they wouldn't find in traditional institutional services.
The House Companion™ Support Workers Program
Our House Companion™ Support Workers are another world first in residential aged care. Recruited through a details assessment process based on our values of “individuality, community, relationships, respect and empathy”, each House Companion™ Support Worker completes intensive multi-skilled training through a rigorous 5-week induction programme.
This program covers dementia care, medication administration, manual handling, first aid, personal care, nutrition, cooking, cleaning, laundry, food safety, manual handling, diary management, customer service and more. Training is ongoing to ensure our team stay up to date with best practice around the world, ensuring residents and their loved ones receive the best possible care and support. In addition to House Companion™ Support Workers in all houses, NewDirection Care has an expansive multi-disciplinary team that provide additional assistance to residents in the MICRO TOWN® throughout the day.
The Professional Services Team includes clinical managers, registered nurses, House Companion™ Liaisons, dementia support specialists. The Wellness Team includes physiotherapists, occupational therapists, exercise physiologists and a range of specialists all supported by a larger team of administrative supports, Maintenance team, Lifestyle & Events team, Café & Corner Store team and more.