Aged Care Worker's extraordinary efforts recognised

Alicia Madden is the Leisure and Lifestyle Officer at Murrumburrah-Harden MPS and was a finalist in the Allied Health Staff Member of the Year category.

Alicia was nominated by Nurse Unit Manager, Leah Whitehead.

“I nominated Alicia because of the difference she has made to our residents here,” said Leah.

“They trust her, they love her, their faces light up when she’s there. If they have a problem, they go to her first. The quality of their lives has improved immeasurably since Alicia has been here.”

Leah explained that the atmosphere in the aged care wing, and the way they spend their days, has changed dramatically since Alicia joined the team.

“Our residents are actively involved every day in activities; going out, having special meals and lunches, cooking, games and exercise programs,” said Leah.

“They go out to picnics at the Dam, they go out for lunch and go op-shopping. She spends time with them as a group, and time one on one. It’s a busy, lively, active place now.

“She has just made such a difference.”

Alicia has worked in aged care for 22 years, mostly in activities roles, and started at the MPS about 16 months ago.

“It’s lovely to be recognised.  I think activities is a really important role in aged care, so I am over the moon,” said Alicia.

“There’s lots I enjoy about my role, but what I really love is getting to know the residents as a person and listening to their life stories. There is so much we can learn from them.

“They think we teach them, but really they teach us to appreciate what we have today, and what they never had when they were growing up.”

Alicia tailors her program of activities to suit the interests and desires of the residents.

“With activities, we have a group discussion and talk about what we’d like to do for the next month. Everyone gets a say in what they want, we have a vote and majority rules.

“We’re very flexible too. If what we’ve planned doesn’t suit on the day, we go with whatever the residents want to do.

“We try and get our exercises done in the morning and we’ll head outside for a walk as well if the weather is nice. We mix it up, using therabands, noodles and music. They love a bit of boxing too!

“We have cultural days as well. In June we have Italian Day, and we’ll have flags and decorations. We have a resident who is Italian, so we’ll cook ravioli and pizza. We’ll talk about Italy, and he will tell us all about his home and where he born.”

MLHD Chief Executive Jill Ludford said the 2023 MLHD Excellence Awards attracted 84 nominations across 9 team award categories and 4 individual award categories. A gala presentation evening was held on Friday 16 June.

“The Excellence Awards celebrate the achievements of individuals and teams for their pursuit of excellence and commitment to improving the lives of others,” said Ms Ludford.

"We've seen such a diversity and high quality in the nominations this year, the judging panels really had a tough time determining the top three in each category," Ms Ludford said.  “To be selected as a finalist is wonderful recognition and I congratulate Alicia on her achievement.

“MLHD’s vision and priority areas focus on wellness and seizing every opportunity to work in partnership with consumers to build and maintain wellness, and Alicia is a shining example of this.”