Golda Meir, Israel’s first female Prime Minister said, “You’ll never find a better sparring partner than adversity.”

Whatever you might be thinking about the long-term impacts of the COVID-19 epidemic, you’re probably not thinking large enough.

Our lives have already been reshaped so dramatically over the last eight months that it’s often difficult to see beyond the mere survival of our organisation. We’re bracing for the impacts of the recession post March 2021, with many government payments sunsetting. We are wondering just how long our once ‘taken for granted’ freedoms will last, and ‘if and when’ a third wave of lockdowns will commence, whilst all the time praying that our loved ones make it through this pandemic, particularly our elderly folk.

What this major health and economic crisis is forcing us to do, as individuals and as a critically important organisation, is think exponentially about its long-term impact. A year or two from now, the virus itself will likely have become a manageable part of our lives – effective treatments will have emerged and a vaccine will hopefully be made available, however, the impact of COVID-19 on our global citizenship will only just be unfolding. The massive disruptions we are already seeing in our lives are potentially just the first signs of a historic transformation. What will it mean for Jewish Care Victoria?

This year has been important for our Residential Aged Care services in many ways providing opportunities to reflect, grow and challenge ourselves as we stamp our identity and presence in the Jewish community as a leading provider of Residential Aged Care services. In striving to provide the highest standards of care and to assure our elders that they are supported to live a fully independent and meaningful life here at Jewish Care, we embarked on a journey of transformations across our models of supports, services, amenities, infrastructure and our product offering.

“Growing. For our Community.” capital campaign was launched in 2014 with a commitment of $200 million to develop six new facilities in 10 years. As part of this once-in-a-generation project, we were delighted to announce the opening of the Hannah & Daryl Cohen Family Building located in the Holckner Family Senior Living & Community Precinct in April this year.

Ninety-six elders were moved into their new luxurious homes built on the Hand-in-Hand™ model of supports, encouraging them to become active participants in their supports taking into consideration clinical, cultural and conversational requirements. The three-tiered accommodation offering; Traditional, Classic and Choice, provided further flexibility enabling our elders to choose the most appropriate environment befitting their lifestyles. The new home features five-star amenities, winter gardens, open courtyards, ergonomically designed private ensuites, accessible kitchens, cinematic entertainment in their rooms and an opulent theatre; all within the nine-storey Hannah & Daryl Cohen Family Building. Most importantly, our elders are supported and looked after by a dedicated team of staff trained on Jewish Care’s very own, person-centred, Hand-in-Hand™ model of supports enabling greater independence, social connectivity and flexibility.

A new era dawned on Jewish Care’s Active Living Services with the opening of Gita Smorgon Family Active Living Centre at the Holckner Family Senior Living & Community Precinct and commissioning of Anne & Eric Active Living Centre adjacent to Gary Smorgon House.

These vibrant, bustling, light-filled spaces have created connection centres for the community to get together, while enjoying a range of allied health, social support groups, respite programs and wellbeing programs to support independent living. We were delighted with many clients accessing our services seeking social connections and activities, until they were profoundly impacted by COVID-19 restrictions. Some of the most frequented programs were art and craft groups, storytelling, current affairs, excursions, in house entertainment and exercise sessions, and we continued to deliver vital services during the lockdown period via online virtual groups and limited one-to-one services in people’s home, including our new podiatry service.

It has been a year of consolidation for Jewish Care’s Disability Services. By November 2019, all eligible clients had completed the transition to the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) and we were operating as an NDIS provider.

With the introduction of the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission from 1 July 2019, our focus was on aligning our service delivery model and framework to that of the Commission’s Practice Standards. This in part prepared us for our successful NDIS Certification Audit in March 2020, which was the first time registered providers have gone through an audit process for the NDIS. It also enabled us to review how we as a provider had transitioned to the NDIS and where we could make improvements.

With a focus on improving our services, we commenced a review of each of our service areas and the changes to plan management and support coordination services have already resulted in improved response times and increased time spent supporting our clients.