Village wins aged care award

Peninsula Village Retirement Centre in Umina has won a $10,000 prize as part of the Positive Living in Aged Care Awards.

The awards were the centrepiece of the Positive Mental Health for Older People Seminar held at Luna Park, Sydney, on Monday, August 29.

Peninsula Village's Mosaic Project won the award for best preventative strategy, for promoting the mental health of residents and increasing protective factors to reduce the risk of developing symptoms of mental health conditions.

As part of the mosaic project, five groups of five residents were guided through conceptualising, designing, and producing large images from pieces of coloured tiles.

Artist Suzie O'Donnell, with the help of mosaic expert Miriam Ross, helped residents with the completion of their works, which were then hung up around the village.

Ms O'Donnell said art therapy was increasingly being used in aged care as a non-pharmacological intervention for mental health issues like depression and neurological diseases like dementia.

Participants in the project were asked about their overall satisfaction with life before and after completing the project, with the average score rising from 45 per cent before the project to 85 per cent after, according to Ms O'Donnell.

"Expressing thoughts and feelings is crucial to enjoyment of life," Ms O'Donnell said.

Email, 31 Aug 2011 Paula Newman, Peninsula Village