All of the team here at Mount Gilead Estate’s retirement community play an important part in making sure every one of our residents’ needs are met. Their goal is to help residents achieve the best quality of life in retirement. This extends to both our residents and their families at times thanks to our team who go above and beyond to provide unparalleled support when it is needed.
The management team at Mount Gilead Estate provide several services here at the village. They are a team of administration, technical, and medical experts that operate out of the Mount Gilead Estate village offices.
When our residents’ needs change as they age, so do those of their family members. Recently this was true for a resident within our village. Thanks to the Mount Gilead Estate team, they received the care and support they needed. Soon after, we received a letter from the resident’s daughters expressing how thankful they were for the support and empathy shown by the Mount Gilead Estate team and one team member in particular.
The letter received touched our hearts so much, we wanted to share it with you all.
To Whom It May Concern,
My parents moved to Mt Gilead Estate a Human Touch Retirement Community in December 2014. They quickly settled into their new home and became involved in the local Gilead Community. After a couple of years, Mum began to talk about a lovely young lady, her name was Annette, an employee of Human Touch Retirement. Mum would talk about how lovely she was and how helpful she was to the residents of the retirement village. My first personal contact with Annette was she cleaned Mum and Dad’s house. Little did we know then how much my family would come to rely on Human Touch Retirement’s help, advice and care over the years.
In January 2018, Mum had a fall while on a walk during the day at the village. Annette was one of the first down to check on her and Human Touch Retirement delivered her a lovely bunch of flowers. Human Touch Retirement staff also continued to check on her over the following week to make sure she was ok. In August 2018, Dad had a major stroke. Again, the staff were there to check on Mum, making sure she was ok when my sister and I couldn’t be there. They also came down when Dad was released from the hospital to check on him and Mum to see if there was anything they needed. Dad had another stroke in July 2019. It was a Friday night and Mum and Dad were up at the clubhouse for a Friday night gathering. Mum became distraught when it was clear Dad was very unwell and it was Annette who stayed with Mum and helped to keep her calm until my sister arrived at the village. Annette even helped my sister out by sitting with Mum in the car, trying to help keep her calm while my sister drove up to the hospital. If it wasn’t for Annette being with Mum, she would’ve also had an ambulance called and would have also ended up in the hospital. Annette kept in contact with us while Dad was in the hospital and also called in most days to check on Mum.
Dad had a major heart attack in Jan 2020. Again, the village staff were calling and asking after Dad and how he was and if there was anything they could do to help. It was after Dad came home from the hospital and for the rest of this year that the Mount Gilead Estate team has been invaluable to us as a family, but also pivotal in helping to keep Mum and Dad in their home. Dad’s health has been declining this year. For our family, an indication of the esteem that Mount Gilead Estate staff are held within the village is that when some of Mum and Dad’s neighbours have noticed Dad’s mobility and care issues they have voiced their concerns to them. The village staff have always contacted us (always keeping the confidentiality of the people who voice their concerns) when this happens and keeps us constantly in the loop.
They have even brought up loan equipment for Dad to try to help him with his mobility issues. Mount Gilead Estate staff act as an intermediary between those who need resources and those who have those resources.
Most recently in September 2020, Mum fell and broke her hip. We were away. By the time my sister arrived at the house, Mount Gilead Estate staff were already there with the paramedics helping to keep Dad calm. Mum’s memory has been badly affected by the trauma of breaking her hip and the ensuing anesthetic, she was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease before Christmas. We are absolutely sure that if they were living anywhere else, both Mum and Dad would have no choice but to go into residential care. The village staff been instrumental in helping my sister and I develop a care plan that will enable them to stay where they are for as long as possible. They have given us advice and ideas on what services to contact and how. They devised a care plan for us and have liaised with RFBI to help with this. It has been a huge relief for my sister and I to have this extremely time-consuming task done for us, as a large part of our time is taking up at the moment caring for Mum and Dad.
It is extremely comforting for my sister and I to know that when we can’t be there, Mount Gilead Estate is looking out for them. I am sure that there are many other things the staff have done for Mum and Dad over the years that my sister and I aren’t aware of, but the village staff are very humble and just go about their job without any expectation of recognition. We truly believe that if it weren’t for Mount Gilead Estate, both my parents would be in residential care right now, which Dad’s doctors have all agreed, the stress of which would induce a life-ending delirium and Cardiac episode in my Dad. In our opinion, they have gone over and above their duty of care and we as a family feel very thankful and blessed that our parents live there.
Kind Regards
Joanne and Karen Wright.