Moving a loved one into an aged care home

Gloria knows she made the right choice for her husband Neil.  Making the transition from living at home independently to moving into aged care can be a difficult time, especially for a spouse of a loved one who may have had to make the decision. This was the case for Gloria, who experienced feelings of guilt when it came time to arrange residential aged care for her beloved husband, Neil.

Gloria and Neil had lived a long and happy life together since their blissful but freezing wedding on 14 April 1951. According to Gloria, Bathurst had more frost on that day than ever before. Following 66 wonderful years living together, of which the final few involved Gloria being Neil’s full-time carer, in January this year, Gloria made the difficult decision to find a residential aged care home for him. After researching a number of homes, Gloria chose Whiddon Kelso in the outskirts of Bathurst.

Getting used to no longer having Neil living at home with her was one of the hardest things Gloria had ever done. In fact, she said at first, she would come home from visiting him and cry buckets. Seeing the wonderful staff at Whiddon and knowing he was cared for so well, helped reassure her that she had made the right decision.

Gloria is able to visit Neil almost every day and is driven to and from the aged care home by Whiddon Community Care team member, Kathryn. For Whiddon, keeping residents connected is very important and they’ve been able to help Gloria to visit Neil most days and spend time with together, just like they used to.

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