When we made the difficult to decision to close our rest home and hospital at Wesleyhaven in the Wellington suburb of Naenae in 2017 it marked the end of almost 60 years of providing aged residental care at the beautiful, 60-hectare site.
But it didn’t mark the end of our even longer history of supporting older people to lead meaningful, connected lives as they age. Instead, it was the start of an exciting new chapter that has seen Wesleyhaven reborn as Wesley Rātā Village.
This rebirth came about after we had conversations with the local community about how to develop the site into a community asset while respecting its historical association with older people. Working together we came up with a vision to create a place that weaves community and enhances wellbeing.
Seven years later we’re well on our way to achieving that vision. Wesley Rātā Village is now a vibrant, intergenerational community where people of all ages live together and the local community can gather.
At the heart of this transformation is the belief that, with the right support and access to affordable, good-quality rental homes, even the most vulnerable older people can successfully “age in place” and stay living independently and well in the community.
It takes effort and commitment but the results can be life-changing. We know this because we have seen it happen many times, including for Peter who featured in this 2022 article in North & South about the growing number of people entering old age with no permanent home. It’s estimated that by 2050 half of all people aged 65 or older will have never owned their own home.
Peter had been struggling in the private rental market and experiencing ill health as a result – including a heart attack brought on by stress. He now lives in an affordable, recently built social house at Wesley Rātā Village and he loves it. As he told North & South: “I’m just so happy here. I’m over the moon, to be honest.”
The importance of having a secure place to age in
It's this kind of transformation that has driven an ambitious social housing building programme at the village. We know that successful ageing in place is only possible if people have a suitable place to age in. Sadly, many don’t, so we’re doing our bit to change that.
Since 2017 we’ve upgraded 30 independent living villas that had been on the site for many years to meet healthy home standards and we continue to rent them to older people. Many of the tenants have lived in their villas for more than 10 years and once has been there for 17 years.
We’ve also built 25 new social houses at the village. The $8.3 million project was carried out in partnership with the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development (MHUD) and the houses, which range in size from 1 to 4 bedrooms, are rented to people on the social housing waiting list, with a particular focus on kaumātua / seniors. More than half the 25 new homes are currently occupied by people aged 66 or older.
We’ve now started a second building project to convert the former hospital into 15 small apartments. This $4.7m project is also being carried out through a partnership with MHUD and the houses will be rented to people on the social housing waiting list. Due to their relatively small size – around 49sqm – and flat access we see them as ideal rental units for older tenants.
Next up is a plan to turn the 50-bed Strand rest home into 16 apartments. Once this work is completed, the village will have 86 affordable rental houses and apartments.
Creating support to age well
The reinvented village is about more than just affordable rental accommodation. It’s also become a hub for a range of community activities, all of which help create a sense of connection and belonging for residents.
Some are targeted very specifically at older people, such as the Ageing Well Network which is a community-based initiative that began in 2018 to bring together kaumātua / seniors living in the wider community so they can connect and contribute as they age. The goal is to help isolated or lonely people re-find their social confidence
Ageing Well is made up of a 10-week course held at Wesley Rātā Village, followed by a weekly coffee group for those who want to continue to meet socially after the course.
We have tailored our Ageing Well groups to be welcoming for people who are in the early stages of dementia, or have other brain injuries, or who are experiencing social isolation or loneliness. Our wonderful volunteers – some of whom live in the village – are an essential part of the programme.
Ageing Well participants come from all over the Hutt Valley – we provide transport if necessary.
The network is based on a mix of mutual / peer support, existing community resources and resourced facilitation. Many members have built lasting friendships and continue to see each other outside of network events.
Other activities at the village are aimed at a range of ages, such as activities for parents, babies and children as well as regular art classes and a monthly Koha Café. There’s also a community food garden and a recently established community composting scheme.
Residents can get involved in these activities as much – or as little – as they want.
Supported Independent Living – a blueprint for the future?
One programme that has helped inform the changes we’ve introduced at the village is Supported Independent Living (SIL) which we’ve been running for more than 20 years.
Funded by Te Whatu Ora Health New Zealand, SIL is a unique programme for vulnerable older people that sits between labour-intensive (and expensive) specialist Te Whatu Ora multidisciplinary community services teams and the more tasks-oriented approach of home-care support services.
Our SIL social workers and support workers work alongside kaumātua living alone with little to no local whānau support, providing the support they need to stay healthy and continue their daily activities with enjoyment and confidence. This can include anything from linking kaumātua to social activities to helping them navigate complex health challenges and systems and making sure they have the necessary legal and financial support.
Through SIL we have seen the negative impact that years of poor housing, poor health, poverty and deprivation can have on people as they age. And we’ve also seen the huge difference that secure housing and the right support can make, allowing them to live independently and well in the community.
We believe that SIL provides a good model to consider when developing new approaches to community-based aged care.
How these initiatives add value to the Elder Abuse Response Service
We’ve been contracted to run the Elder Abuse Response Service (EARS) for the greater Wellington region since 2017. We support over 300 EARS clients a year.
Our social workers work alongside kaumātua and their whānau to make sustainable safety plans and establish protection for the future. While some of this work is associated with family violence, much of it is about providing education and support to help whānau understand the progression of serious illness and its impact, particularly when it includes cognitive impairment.
We’re finding that EARS meshes well with our other programme for older people, which means we are able to provide deeper, more effective support to many of our EARS clients. Sometimes we refer them to Supported Independent Living for more support. Sometimes we connect them with the Ageing Well programme at Wesley Rātā Village.
And occasionally we are able to find them a home at the village. The current housing crisis is having an impact on elder abuse rates, particularly when older people are living in crowded, multi-generational housing. Being able to offer older people experiencing elder abuse alternative accommodation in a supportive environment removes them from an unsafe situation and significantly improves their wellbeing.
What next for ageing in place?
We believe several things need to happen if the policy of ageing in place is going to work for all New Zealanders, not just for those who own their own homes and have loving family around them.
These include:
Based on our experience, doing these things can make a significant difference to the lives of even the most marginalised older people and help them stay living independently and well in the community.