Staff Spotlight: Courtenay Trinder, Day Centre Coordinator at Burrangiri Aged Care Respite Centre
Burrangiri Aged Care Respite Centre (“Burrangiri”) is an ACT Health site operated by The Salvation Army Aged Care. The Respite Centre provides specialised respite (short-term) care for older Australians, in turn providing a break for both the carer and the older person being cared for. The Day Centre gives respite clients the opportunity to stay active and be social while they are on-site. It has 15 places for seniors to come in to Burrangiri daily and explore their interests and make friends in a supported environment.
Courtenay Trinder has been the Day Centre’s Coordinator, since August this year and many of Burrangiri’s clients have dementia, she says. “The mantra for supporting people with dementia is orientation, diversion, distraction,” she explains. “When they’re starting to experience symptoms, divert them to an activity.”
Courtenay has seen clients with dementia come to life through a simple game of balloon volley.The mind may forget, but the body remembers. Tapping into the inner child, play, brings out an innate sense of competitiveness, as Courtenay refers to it, “that inner divine spark for joy,” she states. “They see that balloon go past and they cannot help themselves and they just start forming real friendships and genuinely laughing.”
Not only does Burrangiri provide respite for the carers but is also often a welcome ‘change of scenery’ for many of the clients themselves who visit the Centre for the day, or in a short-term capacity. “It might seem kind of insignificant when you’re a younger person but watching two people make a jigsaw puzzle together, they form friendships with the regular groups. Here they can socialise with their peers, people who really understand what they are going through. So that would pretty much be what makes this place so special,” Courtenay notes.
Other initiatives at the Centre include their recent ‘Pen Pals’ program with a local school. “I think people forget that, you know, elderly people have lived, they want to tell their stories and they have wisdom that they can impart to children,” she explains. “We are all learning from each other.” The value of this initiative has not just been in providing connection to the clients, but also in the children who have participated in the Pen Pals program. “So, for these kids, no one’s writing a letter anymore. So, you know, it’s probably very novel for them.”
Whilst Courtenay has recently completed her studies and is relatively new to the Centre, it is clear she finds her role abundantly rewarding. “We live because there is a divine spark in all of us. And that doesn’t die, just because we have dementia. To give people a place where they can be themselves, without other people judging them or wrapping them in cotton wool,” is one of the aspects of her role that Courtenay finds most rewarding.
Not to mention, some of the heart-warming activities that often occur at the Centre. “We had someone bring in puppies yesterday and it’s the first time I’ve seen some of our clients smile, and cuddling the puppies and remembering that there’s joy and you know, that’s the most rewarding part, reminding people life is sacred.”
