A Day in the Life of Brooke Edwards

Brooke Edwards, Resthaven’s new Wellness & Active Ageing Manager, is an occupational therapist (OT) with over 13 years’ experience working in acute, sub-acute, community and residential care. She has worked in inpatient and community rehabilitation roles, and more recently, specialised in dementia care and behaviour support. She has a Master of Public Health qualification.

In her new role, Brooke is tackling the question: How can we shape residential aged care to better match each person’s abilities, interests and drive?

“At the centre of active aging at Resthaven is supporting individuals to continue to engage in the things that are most important to them,” Brooke says. “It’s about person-centred care — understanding residents, their interests and strengths, and facilitating opportunities for each person to remain engaged and active in what lights them up and gives them a sense of identity, purpose and enjoyment.

“Enabling meaningful engagement — supporting people to engage in activities that matter to them — is at the heart of being an OT and fits in well with my new role as Wellness & Active Ageing Manager. I have an interest in healthcare systems and how they can be designed to provide equitable and efficient care to those who need it, when they need it. I enjoy learning about different models and understanding how policy, technology and economics intersect healthcare delivery.”

Brooke and Resthaven resident Elizabeth Searle (supplied).

On a day-to-day basis, Brooke balances her time between Resthaven’s 12 residential sites and head office. She oversees and supports Resthaven’s lifestyle, allied health and chaplaincy teams, and is developing a wellbeing strategy which will streamline processes and support consistency across all Resthaven’s residential care homes and optimise wellbeing for residents.

She regularly interacts and engages with residents to hear directly from them their concerns and interests.

“It’s important to recognise the changing demographics of our residential communities, expectations and standards around wellbeing and meaningful engagement,” Brooke says. “I’m reviewing what is on offer and we will optimise and strengthen this for all residents. For example, we can see generational changes in residents who come to live at Resthaven, and we also see that individuals are coming into residential care later in life, after they have experienced changes in their abilities and function. There is often a wide spectrum in terms of interest and ability across all residents, so we need to support everyone, individually.”

Brooke with Resthaven resident Lola Reintals (supplied).

Brooke says the collaboration across the teams is essential in delivering this.

“We work together to incorporate physical, emotional, cognitive, spiritual and social wellbeing in the programs on site,” Brooke says. “Ageism in also being challenged, and we are creating more inclusive, empowering environments where older people can continue to embrace new opportunities.”

Top image caption: Brooke with Resthaven residents Lola and Noela (supplied).