JourneyOnline
Maryborough’s new cutting-edge Blue Care Respite Centre Tirrike (tear-rick-ee) will officially open its doors tomorrow (November 30).
The $800,000 purpose-built facility, named after the Indigenous word for “joy and laughter”, specialises in day respite and in-home respite, an emergency respite bed for people with dementia and Veterans’ Home Care Program (VHC).
Blue Care Respite Co-ordinator Carla Blacklock said since Tirrike unofficially opened its doors less than a month ago their day respite client base had expanded from 60 to 90. “We wanted larger premises to meet existing needs,” she said.
Ms Blacklock added that the new centre made flexible use of spaces to allow for a wide range of activities, such as arts and crafts or time for seniors to use their computer skills to access the world of information technology.
“To help meet the rapidly increasing need for services for the frail aged and people with dementia, Tirrike also has one emergency respite bed that is accessed by the Commonwealth Carer Respite Centre and Carelink programs,” she said.
The second component to Tirrike is in-home respite and VHC services. Ms Blacklock said the whole project had helped up to better integrate respite, aged care and dementia care services to better assist the older members of our community.
“The benefits have ranged from improved use of the buses that some of our clients rely on for transport to and from the centre, improved training of staff and closer working relationships between staff from our various services.”
Tirrike’s official opening kicks off at 10am with a tour of the new facility at 163 Fort St, Maryborough followed by the official opening and dedication service by Uniting Church Chaplain Coral Deeth.
