A caring place for young and old alike
Jul 14, 2019 Media Coverage

Integration is vital to providing services that care for a family’s multiple generations in a single cutting-edge facility.

Visiting ageing relatives and chauffeuring children to and from childcare,while also finding the time to fit in a workout at the gym and meet friends for coffee can be tiring. Luckily for parents, all these activities can be undertaken under one roof when TLC Healthcare’s latest development opens in
Mordialloc.

The integrated, intergenerational care facilitywill be opposite Woodlands Golf Course and is set to incorporate a child care centre alongside a residential aged-care home, community medical centre, health club, swimming pool and cafe.

Due to be completed in 2022, TLC’s innovative facility is likely the first time such a range of intergenerational care services have been offered in one location by a single provider; one that is set to create a beneficial shift in the lives of parents, seniors, children and the broader community.

The CEO of TLC Healthcare, Lou Pascuzzi, says this latest endeavour is designed to expand on the company’s health care integration strategy. “We have already integrated community medical centres with aged-care homes across Melbourne and Geelong,” he says. “This Mordialloc development will be the first to add childcare to the mix, one that feels like a natural progression for the organisation, given the synergies between aged care, primary care and childcare. “Our current program of childcare and school visits to our aged-care homes benefits everyone by bringing people of all ages together. This new project willmake that valuable program an everyday part of what we do.”

The concept of integrating child care with aged care has been around for some time. However, TLC’s development at Mordialloc goes a step further by adding primary care to the suite of services available. Intergenerational programs can be beneficial to seniors and children alike.Areview undertaken by aged care researchers of a Perth-based program run by a not-for-profit organisation found that interactions between young and older generations benefits everyone.

These interactions can give children a better sense ofwho they are and where they have come from, and older participants show an increase in positivity as well as improvements in their health.

The concept of intergenerational nonfamilial interactions is based around the simple philosophy that both the old and young can bring new energy, knowledge and enthusiasm to each other’s lives.

“TLC Early Learning’s centre will be state-of-the-art and located right next door to a communitymedical centre, which gives peace of mind to the parents,” says Mr Pascuzzi.

“Parents will also be able to join our onsiteTLC Health Club, making it easier to fit in aworkout or swim knowing their child is being well taken care of right next door. ’’TLCis taking its philosophy to the broader community by integrating access to a coffee shop, the health club and the medical centre.

“The local governmentwere very supportive of our innovative plans. ‘‘They appreciate that an integrated development of this kind is theway of the future and a huge benefit to their local community,” says Mr Pascuzzi.