Sommerville local Rosie Murphy was fortunate to have someone “hold her hand” as she navigated the complex aged care system for her partner Max. She believes Mercy Health’s innovative new service, the Healthy Ageing Place, can offer the same helping hand to many others like her.
Mercy Health launched the Healthy Ageing Place, based in Mornington Victoria, in December 2021. It is a one-stop destination where people can get free information and advice about ageing well and how to steer through the aged care system — the same type of support that Rosie was fortunate enough to receive.
Rosie says that Max’s health had deteriorated in early 2021 and she had been “running around like a madwoman” to care for him when her own health started to fail. “My shortness of breath was so bad, it was stopping me in my tracks,” Rosie says. “As a former nurse, I thought to myself: you need to take responsibility for this.”
Rosie’s own hospital experience made her realise how urgently she needed to find a suitable care arrangement for Max. Investigating residential aged care had been on her to-do list for over a year, but she had been putting it off.
“It’s something you put aside and think you’ll get around to it,” Rosie says. “I was just dreading it.”
Rosie Murphy with dog Trixie at the Healthy Ageing Place in Mornington.
Rosie called Mercy Health Home Care Advisor Barbara Smith, who had been coordinating Max’s home care for two years. “She said to me: ‘Don’t worry about a thing, I will arrange everything’,” Rosie recalls. “A couple of hours later I got a phone call from a residential aged care home, and they had a respite place for Max.”
Max returned to their home for a brief period once the respite ended, but eventually moved into the aged care home as a permanent resident with the support of someone at the aged care home who also helped Rosie to navigate all the agencies and paperwork.
Rosie says Mercy Health’s new Healthy Ageing Place is a great initiative that will help other people who are trying to find their way through a complicated system. She counts her lucky stars that she had someone to “hold her hand” when she was figuring out care options for Max.
Last reviewed April 22, 2022.