As they say, all successful businesses start with one great idea and complete dedication towards it. When a good soul through his own experience saw the lack of proper facilities in old age care homes the gentleman sought to bring a change in the system, to provide dignity to older people in care. Thus Maroba Caring Communities began its journey in 1954, with three church members mortgaging their homes. The founding philosophy of the company from the outset was the scripture “Love your Neighbour as yourself” [from Mark 12:31].
Since the early days, the Maroba philosophy has been to focus on individual needs, ensuring dignity with every point of service. Maroba has placed themselves in the shoes of the elderly and created a home and service accordingly.
Maroba, set in picturesque grounds, caters for the elderly requiring full residential care, and those who can look after themselves but would like to be part of a supportive community. If beds are available Maroba provides respite options to the elderly recovering from any acute medical episode or serious fall, and who is discharged from the hospital system but unable to return home. Aware that keeping active has many health benefits, Maroba installed a state of the art gymnasium, and with allied health support, residents are able to have a targeted gym program developed that will help them to regain their strengths, and capabilities, or at least gain improvement for a better quality of life while in care.
By allowing its resident to choose what they aspire to do, Maroba targets its services ensuring residents live their life how they wish. From giving residents a choice in their wake up time, to having access to an on-site hairdressing service and day spa treatments, to a choice in food offerings, everything is taken care of. A weekly happy hour, sing a longs, regular community outings and on-site activities ensures there are plenty of activities to choose from, helping to keep residents active and engaged. “I think it is all about giving them a choice,” says Viv Allanson, CEO, Maroba.
Maroba provides complimentary high-quality coffee for all residents, and visitors allowing residents to host a coffee catch up with family and friends in their own home. Residents and community members are able to access a Community Service program that is designed to keep clients active, maintain or improve health and facilitate social interaction. The program can be tailored into packages and can include Café days with a guest speaker, Tai Chi classes, and themed luncheons with a concert, gym sessions, and physiotherapy. Maroba tailors its services to enable choice and control, ensuring residents and community clients are offered a unique service in a competitive market.
Besides offering bespoke services, the company is also technologically advanced. Maroba was one of the first to install electronic care planning, a medication management system, and a nurse call and communication system based on WiFi. This has been a game-changer for the care staff who can now be contacted more easily ensuring resident care needs are promptly attended to, and the maintenance team can promptly attend to any maintenance issues. Moreover, the company introduced Simavita in 2010, an electronic incontinence system for assessing continence frequency, and is a great asset for care planning helping to highlight additional support a resident may require.
For the past 25 years, Maroba has supported the Aged Care sector, collaborating with educational institutions and developing a “Teaching Facility “model. It is a win-win situation, providing opportunities for students in an award winning facility and residents benefit with a multidisciplinary team of students and qualified practitioners on-hand. With students alongside, it helps the company to keep abreast of new learnings and ideas, maintaining a momentum in achieving and discovering best practice in a clinical setting.
Whilst the company continues to review opportunities to expand geographically, Maroba is also focused on a development on its current site that will cater to the retirement living sector, assisting seniors over 65 years of age. Maroba is also growing organically through its pay-as-you-go community service program within its residential service.
The company believes that strong leadership sets the tone for the outcomes of older citizens in Residential Aged Care, so it is vital that as an aged care provider, Maroba continues to grow the leadership capacity of its staff. Moreover, every layer of the organization believes in the Love Your Neighbor principle and works accordingly, no matter if it is consumer, volunteer or employee. Maroba values living like a family in every situation and stands as a mirror of humanity. With this Truly Human Leadership, the company aims to bring authentic caring and trust into all their systems, processes and every interaction.
