Seeing a growing need for home-based care for the elderly in the Eastern Bay, two experienced registered nurses have launched a new service designed to help older adults live safely and independently in their own homes.

Ann Bennett and Donna Hill opened Awhina Healthcare, a Whakatāne-based home-care company, in September. The service focuses on providing compassionate, professional support for people living with dementia and other age-related conditions.

“We aim to provide ageing in place,” said Ms Hill. “Our goal is to prevent people from having to go into residential care if they don’t want to. If someone has dementia, we can provide the carers and 24-hour support they need at home, along with GP follow-ups.”

Awhina Healthcare is a nurse-led service, they said, and they worked closely with general practitioners and the Eastern Bay Primary Health Alliance.

“We know we can keep people at home, we have the service and the resources,” Ms Hill said.

Recent reports from the Helen Clark Foundation, WSP, and the New Zealand Nurses Organisation have warned of growing strain on New Zealand’s aged-care system, including workforce shortages, long wait times for rest-home beds, and an urgent need for more community-based care options.

“There’s currently a shortage of around 12,000 rest-home beds across the country,” Ms Hill said.

“When we were working in facilities, we often had to turn people away because there were no beds. Many families only reached out when they were already in crisis,” said Ms Bennett.

Awhina Healthcare’s approach is person-centred, offering flexibility for families.

“If a couple needs assistance and they already have someone they know and trust, we can arrange for that person to be trained and paid,” Ms Hill said. “We act as the link between the client, funders, and carers.”

Both founders have experience in elder and dementia care.

Ms Bennett trained in the United Kingdom and has dedicated her career to dementia care and community mental health.

Ms Hill has completed post-graduate studies in aged care at Waikato University and has worked internationally, including internships with Indigenous Hawaiians, elderly monks in Thailand, and First Nations elders in Canada, as well as aged-care roles in Australia.

“Dementia has become my passion,” she said.

The idea for Awhina Healthcare was born after the pair worked together at Ōhope Beach Care, the region’s only dementia care facility.

“Ann and I were the clinical team there,” Ms Hill said.

They said they saw that there was a gap in services and decided to start something that would meet that need.

“We came up with the idea of doing home-based care.”

See more on the Awhina Healthcare website:  www.awhinahealthcare.co.nz and on Facebook - Awhina Healthcare