"Cooinda House Kippa-Ring."

Until my parent was into their 90s, they lived on their own down in Sydney. It had been a battle just to get them to accept the help offered. My parent was on a level 4 care package but would not let carers clean the unit or themselves. Stubborn? Oh yeah and vehemently opposed to the idea of a nursing home.

Anyway, in 2018 it was obvious that my parent could no longer safely live on their own. So I brought them up here to live with me and although at times a little strained we got on like a house on fire and all was good and they enjoyed the new additional socialising that they now could experience.

So all went well for almost 12mths until my parent had a bad fall at home. Ambos arrived and were fantastic in how they handled things and between the two of them and myself we managed to have my parent laughing by the time they were being stretchered to the ambulance that took them to Redcliffe Hospital with head injuries and they stayed there for 2 weeks.

Redcliffe ED were amazing, very caring and quick to pick up on how the injuries affected my parent's mind as well. The Aged Care Unit there looked at how parent was and how the Dementia had suddenly worsened, they looked at my health situation also and the decision was made that my parent needed to enter a Residential Aged Care Facility.

My parent was transferred across to the Brighton Health Campus Interim Care unit to give me time to find a permanent facility. Well....where do I start? Here I met the Social Worker, Paul, and he was a godsend. He immediately stepped in with help, suggestions and after a few weeks, he called me to say that a spot had become available at Cooinda House that would be perfect for mum but we would have to be quick. I didn't hesitate and on his recommendation, I said let's do it.

So my parent is now in Cooinda House and I left my first visit for a week and a few days as I thought there might be difficulties in settling them in. Well, when I got there my parent was in really good spirits, jovial, chatting with the staff etc. and I virtually had to say "Hey I'm here".

The staff there that we have dealt with are amazing, especially ones like Fiona, Belinda (the Nurse Unit Manager), Lissil (my parent's Case Manager), Maz (Activities Coordinator - I think) and all the others there, too many to remember names. In my opinion, the activities they do and the places they go and the way the residents are treated is nothing short of amazing. Now I am totally at ease about my parent's care and that they are happy. I might have to think about booking my place there down the track..haha.

Thank you so much to everyone at Cooinda House, you really are an amazing bunch of people and so different from what seems to be is usually thought about a Nursing Home.