Report: Community Engagement Experience at Aged Care Facility

This report details a student's community engagement experience at CASA MIA AGED CARE, a facility providing professional care services to the elderly. The report outlines the types of disadvantages observed among the residents, including nutritional needs, personal hygiene, and medical care, and h...Read More

Running Head: COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT 1
Report on Community Engagement Placement
NAME
UNIVERSITY/AFFILIATION
COURSE

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT 2
Contents
Introduction...............................................................................................................................................3
Kind of Disadvantaged Observed and Their Needs................................................................................3
 Nutritional needs............................................................................................................................3
 Personal hygiene............................................................................................................................4
 Medical care...................................................................................................................................4
 Social interaction...........................................................................................................................4
 Communication needs...................................................................................................................4
How I Related with CASA MIA AGED CARE Professionals and Their Clients.................................5
The Transformative Experience...............................................................................................................6
The Significance of Reciprocity in Community Engagement.................................................................6
Conclusion..................................................................................................................................................7
Recommendation.......................................................................................................................................7
References...................................................................................................................................................9

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Introduction
CASA MIA AGED CARE is located at Padstow. The facility provides professional care
services. It ensures that it has met resident’s specific needs including social needs. It consist of
not only government-funded places, but also self-funded. There is entertainment to enhance care
services. Other than the entertainment, there are also other activities such as games that enhance
resident’s physical well-being. Besides, there are also dining areas for catering services. Also,
residents can access internet services easily as Wi-Fi is available. Other features include the
following; delicious meals, beautiful garden, cerebrations, health and church services.
Furthermore, there are volunteer programs for educating residents on some important issues such
as different ways in which one can take care of disadvantaged members of the society. Last but
not least, there are also bus outings. Generally, the facility is equipped efficiently to ensure that it
has provided quality care services. I’ve been working in this facility for 5 weeks as a volunteer.
Helping staff is one of the services that I offered. The main aim of this report is to explain
explicitly about my experiences while working in CASA MIA AGED CARE.
Kind of Disadvantaged Observed and Their Needs
The kind of disadvantaged members of the society that I observed are the older people.
The following are some of their needs and how they were addressed by the aged care
professionals:
 Nutritional needs
The facility offers delicious meals to the aged people. These meals are not only delicious but
also nutritious. It ensured that older people eat balanced diet to reduce health problems that
are caused by lack of certain nutrients in the body (Beattie, O'reilly, Strange, Franklin &

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Isenring, 2014). Catering services are offered in a dining area. Other than the dining area,
clients can also eat their meals from their respective rooms. I assisted the waiting staff to
deliver meals to their clients.
 Personal hygiene
The care aides assisted the older people to maintain their body cleanliness by washing their
clothes. Other than washing, they also assisted them to shower (Gao, Newcombe, Tilse,
Wilson & Tuckett, 2014). I helped the care aides to wash their client’s clothes.
 Medical care
The facility has also medical professionals that help elderly people to control their conditions
effectively. Hypertension and diabetes are some forms of diseases that are associated with
older people (Xiao et al., 2014). Through physiotherapy, elderly are able to manage pain. I
helped professionals to educate patients regarding some of the ways that they can use to
prevent diseases.
Other than the above physical needs, CASA MIA AGED CARE also addressed the following
social needs:
Social interaction
The elderly may not able to interact with others due to physical disabilities (Roughead,
Semple & Rosenfeld, 2016). Therefore, social care assistants interacted with their clients so
that they feel to be part of the community at large. I also played some important roles in
enhancing social interaction by speaking to the elderly regularly.
Communication needs

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Some older people cannot communicate due to stroke, hence they feel frustrated (Roughead
et al., 2016). Therefore, the care aides ensured that they have communicated with those older
people. To achieve effective communication, care aides used sign language when the need
arises. I also tried to communicate with those older people who had problems. However, I
encountered some difficulties that resulted in misunderstanding.
How I Related with CASA MIA AGED CARE Professionals and Their Clients
Overall, I interacted well with nursing care professionals together with their clients. The
following are some of the communication skills that I used; listening skills, interpersonal skills
and non-verbal communication (Moore, Rivera, Bravo‐Soto, Olivares & Lawrie, 2018). I
listened attentively to my bosses and did everything that they instructed. Other than listening
skills, the following are some of the interpersonal skills that I used; reliability and positivity.
Regarding reliability, I ensured that I’ve carried out my daily duties and responsibilities within
the provided time frame. Also, I had positive attitude towards everything that I did, hence
enhancing positivity. Positivity enables one to deal with stress effectively (Arnold & Boggs,
2019). On the other side, I interacted with clients every day. I ensured that I’ve fulfilled all my
promises to them, hence enhancing trust. I communicated with them to identify their needs. I
applied appropriate non-verbal cues to enhance effective communication.
However, the community engagement experience enabled me to realize my personal
goals as well as professional. The following are some of my professional goals; improve
efficiency, maintain client’s privacy and observing organizational rules and regulation.
Regarding efficiency, I should be able to provide quality care to my clients by managing time
effectively. Also, I should be always available. Regarding privacy, I should be secretive. As a
professional, I should ensure that my client’s information has been protected (Goossens et al.,

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2014). I should not share information such as medical records to other people. Finally, I need to
follow rules and regulations of different facilities. Other than professional goals, managing stress
is one of my personal goals. Sometimes engaging with people may result in stress and depression
(Helmerhorst, Riksen-Walraven, Vermeer, Fukkink & Tavecchio, 2014). Therefore, I need to
ensure that I’ve managed stress effectively so that I can provide quality care to my clients.
The Transformative Experience
The community engagement experience has made me to change my negative attitude
towards the aged and other disadvantaged members of the society. Previously, I had no interest
with helping the disadvantaged members. However, I’ve realized that everybody plays some
important in the society, therefore; disadvantaged members like the elderly, deaf and blind are all
important (Gaugler, Westra & Kane, 2016). I’ve also understood that aged care organizations are
very important. Therefore, I’ll visit other facilities so that I can learn more on how they offer
their services to their clients. It will help me to develop my professionalism. Having understood
how aged members should be treated, I’ll participate in voluntary activities to educate the society
on the importance of taking care of disadvantaged members.
The Significance of Reciprocity in Community Engagement
Basically, reciprocity is concerned with mutual dependence (Lough & Oppenheim,
2017). It played some important roles in community engagement since it helped the staff and
other professionals to build and maintain relationships. I was invited for dinner by health care
professionals and other staff often. Other than dinner, they also gave me some gifts such as
clothes and cake. These gifts and their invitations triggered feelings of indebtedness (Stephens,
Breheny & Mansvelt, 2015). Therefore, I was more committed on my daily activities and I
followed everything that they instructed me. Apart from the staff, the family members of the

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clients also rewarded me some gifts for taking care of their clients. These gifts were not any form
of bribes or whatsoever as I understood concepts of ethics and integrity. Therefore, I worked
hard to ensure that I’ve returned the favors to the staff and client’s family members as well. I
achieved this by taking care of their clients. I ensured that I’ve provided all their needs that they
require not limited to social and physical needs.
Conclusion
In conclusion, my experience at CASA MIA AGED CARE was good. The kind of
disadvantaged members of the society that I observed are the older people. The following are
some of the needs that they required; nutritional, personal hygiene, medical care and emotional
needs. There are many ways that I helped the staff to address their client’s needs not limited to
delivering meals, washing clothes, educating patients and speaking to them. Listening skills and
appropriate non-verbal cues are some of the communication skills that enabled me to interact
well with the staff and their clients. I realized my personal and professional skills such as;
enhancing client’s privacy and improving efficiency. Other than skills, the community
engagement experience also made me to change my negative attitude towards the aged and other
disadvantaged members of the society. In addition to communication skills, reciprocals also
played some vital roles as it enabled me to build and maintain relationships with the staff and
client’s family members.
Recommendation
The CASA MIA AGED CARE should consider the following to enhance community
engagement; community rewards, offer recognition, be responsive and using visual content.
Community rewards will enable residents to participate actively in all activities that take place in
CASA MIA AGED CARE. Other than participation, it will also encourage volunteers to work

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hard and be committed in their work. Apart from community rewards, the management should
also recognize the importance of residents in the facility. Furthermore, the management should
respond to resident’s concern on a real-time basis, hence enhancing trust. Last but not least,
integrating visual content is equally important. The residents will understand the types of
services that are offered by Casa Mia Aged Care. Visual content enhances effective
communication.

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References
Arnold, E. C., & Boggs, K. U. (2019). Interpersonal Relationships E-Book: Professional
Communication Skills for Nurses. Saunders.
Beattie, E., O'reilly, M., Strange, E., Franklin, S., & Isenring, E. (2014). How much do
residential aged care staff members know about the nutritional needs of
residents? International Journal of Older People Nursing, 9(1), 54-64.
Casa Mia Aged Care: https://www.chomes.com.au/home-village/casa-mia-padstow/
Gaugler, J. E., Westra, B. L., & Kane, R. L. (2016). Professional discipline and support \
recommendations for family caregivers of persons with dementia. International
psychogeriatrics, 28(6), 1029-1040.
Gao, F., Newcombe, P., Tilse, C., Wilson, J., & Tuckett, A. (2014). Models for predicting
turnover of residential aged care nurses: A structural equation modelling analysis of
secondary data. International Journal of Nursing Studies, 51(9), 1258-1270.
Goossens, J., Delbaere, I., Van Lancker, A., Beeckman, D., Verhaeghe, S., & Van Hecke, A.
(2014). Cancer patients’ and professional caregivers’ needs, preferences and factors
associated with receiving and providing fertility-related information: a mixed-methods
systematic review. International journal of nursing studies, 51(2), 300-319.
Helmerhorst, K. O., Riksen-Walraven, J. M., Vermeer, H. J., Fukkink, R. G., & Tavecchio, L.

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W. (2014). Measuring the interactive skills of caregivers in child care centers:
Development and validation of the caregiver interaction profile scales. Early Education
and Development, 25(5), 770-790.
Lough, B. J., & Oppenheim, W. (2017). Revisiting reciprocity in international
volunteering. Progress in Development Studies, 17(3), 197-213.
Moore, P. M., Rivera, S., Bravo‐Soto, G. A., Olivares, C., & Lawrie, T. A. (2018).
Communication skills training for healthcare professionals working with people who
have cancer. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, (7).
Roughead, E. E., Semple, S. J., & Rosenfeld, E. (2016). The extent of medication errors and
adverse drug reactions throughout the patient journey in acute care in
Australia. International journal of evidence-based healthcare, 14(3-4), 113-122.
Stephens, C., Breheny, M., & Mansvelt, J. (2015). Volunteering as reciprocity: Beneficial and
harmful effects of social policies to encourage contribution in older age. Journal of Aging
Studies, 33, 22-27.
Xiao, L. D., Wang, J., He, G. P., De Bellis, A., Verbeeck, J., & Kyriazopoulos, H. (2014).
Family caregiver challenges in dementia care in Australia and China: a critical
perspective. BMC geriatrics, 14(1), 6.

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