Tall Trees are supported living neighbourhoods that adhere to the concept of ‘ageing in place’, which allows seniors to move into a feature-packed apartment within one of their developments and receive whatever level of care is right for them.

The company’s newly expanded Community Care has been designed to help seniors that need extra care on top of any assistance they may already be receiving government subsidised services.

Phil Usher, director of Tall Trees, says they set up their Community Care service after recognising an increased need in the marketplace for in-home assistance.

“There is a lot of emphasis currently being placed on the idea of ageing in place, as it allows seniors to live happier and more independent lives while taking pressure off the already overburdened nursing homes in Australia,” Mr Usher says.

“While we’ve been providing this service to residents living in our communities, we believe it’s of enormous worth to other seniors in the community to have high quality but affordable in-home care.

“Not only does it help to ensure that individuals are receiving the care that they require; it also means that pressure is being taken off partners and families who may be struggling to look after their loved ones.

“Our experienced carers have honed their skills both at Tall Trees and a number of other prior care roles and are very experienced at delivering tailor-made solutions in a home environment.”

The Tall Trees Community Care service encompasses a wide variety of facets, including nutrition and hydration management, medication administration, dementia management and disability care.

The Apia Easter Hunt is an opportunity for children from around the greater Logan area to participate in a free hunt for hundreds of chocolate eggs that will be hidden around Tall Trees.

In addition to the hunt, there will be a number of door prizes, a photo competition, a sausage sizzle, refreshments and other surprises throughout the day.

Tall Trees director Phil Usher says the Apia Easter Hunt is an initiative primarily to encourage interaction between generations.

“We have always welcomed guests of all ages to visit friends and family, and this event in particular encourages the young and old alike to get involved with the Easter spirit,” Mr Usher says.

“One of the most important things about delivering a high-quality aged care service is ensuring that there is no sense of disconnect or separation from the public.

“We see activities such as this as a great way to ensure quality ongoing relationships are built and maintained with the local community.

“Not only this, but it’s a great way for us to give something back to people in the local area while having some fun in the process.”

Part of the new guard of accommodation for seniors, Tall Trees aims to provide customised care services for their residents whilst offering an environment that’s more like a village than an aged care facility.

Mr Usher says there has been considerable interest in the event from local businesses and organisations.

“This has been a fairly big undertaking for us, and the support from the community has really been instrumental in helping to get it off the ground,” he says.

“Both My Fitness Studio and White Lady Funerals have been outstanding in their assistance they’ve given us for this event—we couldn’t do this without them.

“Additionally, we’ll be getting help on the day from both the Logan Ladies Business Lions and Logan Women clubs, who’ll be serving up some barbequed meals as well as selling hot drinks.

“Places to this are going to fill up quickly, so we’d encourage anyone that’s interested to book their spot as soon as possible.”

The Apia Easter Hunt at Tall Trees will run across three one-hour sessions on Saturday 16 April.

The sessions start at 9:30am, 11:00am and 12:30pm, with each having a maximum capacity of 20 children.

To book or register your RSVP visit www.talltrees.net.au, or for more information call 1300 304 413.

Tall Trees are supported living neighbourhoods that adhere to the concept of ‘ageing in place’, which allows seniors to move into a feature-packed apartment within one of their communities and receive whatever level of care is right for them.

l-r: Tall Trees director Alan Powell, builder Peter Hanlon, site foreman Andy Brice and Tall Trees director Phil Usher

Stage two of the Tanah Merah neighbourhood will see an extra 30 fully-featured units added to the development, with three different designs of 64.72 sqm, 72.86 sqm and 81.75 sqm.

Of these, 16 of the units will have one bedroom and 14 of the units will have two bedrooms.

All units and walkways will be wheelchair-friendly, with a lift providing easy access to the second level.

In addition to expanding the number of rooms in the development, stage two will also include a greenhouse where residents will be able to look after their own orchids, flowers and ferns.

The construction of stage two is due for completion in mid-2011 and will have cost a total of $10 million, with the units having a combined market value of $12 million.

Phil Usher, director of Tall Trees, says this is the latest phase in what will be a four stage development.

“We’ve had a great level of success with the completed Tall Trees neighbourhood at Rochedale, as well as the first stage of our Tanah Merah development,” Mr Usher says.

“With stage two, the company is at a point where we’re ready to take the next step in our history.

“The first stage is nearly sold out, and with that we’ve seen a really palpable sense of community grow with the residents we already have here.

“This latest development gives us a great opportunity to build on this.”

Part of the new guard of accommodation for seniors, Tall Trees aims to provide customised care services for their residents whilst offering an environment that’s more like a village than an aged care facility.

Mr Usher says it’s a model that has already started delivering on its potential.

“Seniors have a couple of choices when they start requiring care: they can move into a nursing home, where they will be largely bed-ridden in a tiny room; they can move into a split-level facility, where they will be shuffled around between locations as their needs change; or they can stay at home and receive some help from in-home carers,” he says.

“Tall Trees, on the other hand, allows seniors to move once and receive any level of care they require, allowing them a high level of freedom and dignity that I believe would be hard to find elsewhere.

“We’ve seen great results so far for our residents, and I anticipate this continuing into the future as we build the service through Queensland and around Australia.”

Rochedale groundskeeper Frank Parker.

Frank Parker, 80, has worked at Tall Trees Rochedale for over two years doing grounds keeping, general maintenance and odd jobs for residents.

He says he came to like manual work from a very young age.

“When I was four, I remember watching tradesmen build our family home and being fascinated by it,” Mr Parker says.

“Ever since then, I’ve really enjoyed working outdoors and doing physical jobs.”

Mr Parker obtained a master’s degree in agriculture when he was young and had plans to buy a farm, however, when this fell through he migrated from Berlin to Australia in 1957.

Prior to working at Tall Trees, he worked as a taxi driver throughout Brisbane and the Gold Coast for 25 years.

Out of all the aspects of his job, Mr Parker says he enjoys being able to help people.

“I like lending a hand to anyone that needs it, but I do take particular pleasure in assisting some of the widows we have here at Tall Trees,” he says.

“There is a strong community here where everyone makes their own different contributions, and I consider being an active part of that to be a very important part of my job.”

Pauline Williams, Resident Liaison Officer at Tall Trees Rochedale, says that Mr Parker is a testament to the benefits of physical fitness.

“He really is amazing – there are people half his age who wouldn’t be able to work half as hard as he does,” Ms Williams says.

“You’ll see him around the grounds and he’s always doing something, whether it’s cutting down and mulching tree branches or helping residents with their gardening.

“Frank looks much younger than he is, and I think that is largely due to the fact that he’s very fit and spends plenty of time out in the fresh air.

“He’s always willing to lend a hand to both the staff and residents here – he’s a really valued member of our community.”

The Treetops Singers performing at Tall Trees Tanah Merah

The “Treetops Singers” consists of 12 residents from the neighbourhood’s Rochedale address, where Resident Liaison Officer Pauline Williams has been busily coordinating the group in preparation for their first shows.

The group is currently putting the finishing touches on renditions of popular music and Christmas carols, which they’ll be performing at the Salvin Park Nursing Home tomorrow.

After that date, they’ll be lighting up the stage at a special Carols by Candlelight function at Tall Trees on 8 December.

Ms Williams says that the singers are thoroughly looking forward to this run of performances.

“We’ve been preparing songs and arrangements for a while now, and to be able to perform them in front of real audiences is going to be a big step for us,” she says.

“Our group did a preliminary show at the Tall Trees Tanah Merah neighbourhood, but the date at Salvin Park will be our first to members of the public.”

The singing group is now looking to book more performances around the local area.

“Our singers are all very excited about the prospect of being able to make more appearances in the future,” Ms Williams says.

“The Carols by Candlelight at Rochedale is going to be fantastic – we’re hoping to get another show in before Christmas.

“We’ve learnt all these festive songs so it would be great to get some more mileage out of them!”

Supported living is a new paradigm in the broader spectrum of aged-care, where seniors are able to move into an apartment within a complex or gated village and receive a personalised level of care.

Tall Trees Rochedale is a complete supported living neighbourhood for seniors, allowing residents to live in their own apartment and receive whatever level of care they require.

The neighbourhood has a swimming pool, library with computer facilities, neighbourhood vehicle, and full catering facilities, as well as having the assurance of a registered nurse on staff.

Please contact Pauline Williams at Tall Trees Rochedale on (07) 3341 4166 to enquire about booking the Treetop Singers.

Jack Robinson, 93, and his wife and Olive, 90, have followed the horses and attended racing events over the course of their 71 year marriage.

Jack and Olive Robinson

They live together at supported living community for seniors Tall Trees at Tanah Merah, where the staff will be organising a Melbourne Cup event for the residents.

Jack says horseracing is still something that they’re passionate about, with the upcoming Melbourne Cup featuring quite heavily on their calendar.

“We’ve been to Flemington Racecourse a number of times during our marriage for the Melbourne Cup, and though we’re not going to be able to make it down this year, we’re looking forward to the day nonetheless,” he says.

“It’ll be great to be able to enjoy the races on the big screen at Tall Trees, alongside Olive and all our friends here.

“Last year’s Tall Trees Melbourne Cup event was fantastic, and I think this year’s will be even better.”

Jack and Olive married in 1939, with Jack coming from a family of horse enthusiasts, while Olive’s family were strictly opposed to gambling.

She’d never put down a bet in her life before meeting Jack.

“My family were non-gamblers,” Olive says.

“No way could we have anything to do with gambling, until I met Jack – we used to go the races twice a week on Wednesdays and Saturdays.

“I used to live in Victoria, and when I moved up to NSW to marry Jack I became a little bit lucky.

“They used to call me ‘The Quinella Queen’.

“All of the men around us would ask Jack what my picks were for the day.”

Despite their age, Jack says they still get out to the track when possible, attending their most recent meet a month ago for a charity event at Eagle farm.

“Four of us from Tall Trees went down, and we had a marvellous day,” Jack says.

“I didn’t have a win, but Olive got her quinella up.

“We can’t make it down to the track as much these days, but she’s still got that amazing luck.”

Siobhan MacDonald, neighbourhood manager at Tall Trees Tanah Merah, says Jack and Olive are a unique couple.

“They’ve got to be some of Queensland’s oldest racing fans – that’s for sure,” Ms MacDonald says.

“Going to the races was quite a popular pastime in their day, but they’ve shown true dedication to the sport by still attending events when they can.

“While we think most of our residents here at Tall Trees are looking forward to the Melbourne Cup, I don’t think anyone is as much as Jack and Olive are.

“I think their enthusiasm for racing will make the day that little bit more exciting.”

After spending much of their lives following the horses, Jack says there’s one simple piece of advice that he’s stuck to, and suggests young punters do, too.

“Bet within your means – enjoy it, don’t try to be a millionaire,” Jack says.

“It doesn’t matter then, if you win you’ve had a lovely day, if you lose, you haven’t done any harm.”

Tall Trees Rochedale resident Neville Sparks

 sharpening their tools and taking to the timber in their very own community ‘men’s shed’.

An initiative that encourages seniors to continue or take up manual woodcraft, men’s sheds also provide an opportunity for men to spend time together and interact with one another in a familiar environment.

They are aimed at helping men maintain vital motor skills, while giving them an opportunity to congregate with other men to talk about personal issues they may not feel comfortable discussing with a counsellor, nurse, or doctor.

67-year-old Neville Sparks, a resident at Tall Trees Rochedale, can often be seen in the neighbourhood’s dedicated men’s shed where he happily drills, nails, saws and sands his timber creations.

Over his life, Mr Sparks has built many items from wood, including toy trucks and train sets, hobby boxes and pieces of furniture.

Since living at Tall Trees, however, his repertoire has expanded to include playing card holders for fellow residents with arthritis, as well as bedside tables and dollhouses.

“I’ve been doing woodworking of some kind since I was 12 years old – it’s been a lifelong hobby,” Mr Sparks says.

“Having a shed here at Tall Trees is fantastic, as it means I can continue on building like I was before moving in here.

“What’s more, residents have encouraged me to make some new items, like playing card holders, which I might not have attempted before.

“It’s a great addition to our neighbourhood.”

Currently, residents at Tall Trees Tanah Merah are driven over to Rochedale when they want to try their hand at woodworking. A dedicated men’s shed will be built at Tanah Merah in the next stage of the development.

Tall Trees are supported living neighbourhoods that adhere to the concept of ‘ageing in place’, which allows seniors to move into a feature-packed apartment within one of their communities and receive whatever level of care is right for them.

Traditionally, aged care has been split up into high and low care; a dichotomy which can needlessly force seniors from home to home and cause problems for married couples who are in different states of health.

Part of the new guard of accommodation for seniors, Tall Trees aims to provide custom care services for their residents whilst offering an environment that’s more like a village than an aged care facility.

Pauline Williams, Resident Liaison Officer at Tall Trees Rochedale, says that the men’s shed is a valuable tool to ensure that residents integrate successfully into Tall Trees.

“Where a lot of traditional aged care facilities will have arts and crafts sessions for their seniors, we think it’s important to have diversity in our creative activities,” Ms Williams says.

“Providing comprehensive care requires us to think outside the box and beyond the services that are commonly provided at nursing homes.

“Woodworking is not only something that many of our residents enjoy – it’s a great way for them to hone their hand-eye coordination.

“We see the shed as an important way make our residents’ transition from their last home to their new home as smooth as possible, particularly as many of them would have been avid woodworkers before they came here.

“Aged care shouldn’t be about compromise, and that’s why we’ve done everything we can to make living at Tall Trees as much like living in your own home as possible.”

A fear of open, public spaces, agoraphobia will often manifest in a severe panic attack if the sufferer is put out of their comfort zone.

Jill, 76, and a resident of supported living neighbourhood Tall Trees at Rochedale, says that a series of events led to the condition exposing itself early on in her life.

“A few days after my first son was born, my father died – I was very close to him, and that was really hard for me,” Jill says.

“The next son arrived about 15 months later, after which I suffered another personal loss, and that was the straw that broke the camel’s back and stuck me in my house.”

At that time, agoraphobia wasn’t a particularly well known condition, and so it was hard for Jill to make excuses to not leave the house.

“I thought I was going mad, so I didn’t mention it to anybody and would say ‘yes I’ll go’ when people asked me somewhere,” she says.

“But then I’d always end up telling them that I didn’t feel well and I couldn’t make it – I lost all my early friends, or most of them, because they just got sick of me cancelling at the last minute.”

In 1978, on the day her husband left her, something as simple as her sons going to a party gave her the initial incentive to try and overcome her phobia.

“My two sons were supposed to be going to a party that night, and my youngest said he wouldn’t go so he could keep me company,” she says.

“I said ‘no way, you’re going to go to the party’.

“That was the day I determined I was going to do something about it.

“It took a lot of time, it took a lot of dead ends; the doctors offered me pills, which I didn’t want.

“Some of my better friends started coming around and helping me, and they’d drive me around the corner, then they’d drive me around two corners, and they’d take me home whenever I said.”

Since moving into Tall Trees at the beginning of last year, Jill has been able to conquer some considerable hurdles – including catching public transport.

She says her first time on a bus was a nerve wracking, but worthwhile experience.

“Not long after my arrival at Tall Trees, my friend Sally asked if I thought I could make a journey by bus down to the Greenslopes weekly craft meeting where I had been a regular visitor for about four years,” Jill says.

“We left the leisure centre at Tall Trees by nine o’clock to catch a bus to Garden City and then another bus down to the Greenslopes School – the closest stop to the Craft Centre.

 “I was so nervous I took a half a tranquilizer before I left home, but Sally was very good and she sat beside me and talked to me and kept my mind on different things.

“That was my first time on public transport in God knows how long – each time I’ve been down there since it’s just gotten easier.

“Now I can travel by bus to Garden City on my own and do not miss my weekly craft as I now meet the good friends I made there for a coffee or lunch.

“After that first trip with Sally some of the residents and I celebrated my success with a Champagne drink on my balcony and ever since then they have all been very supportive of my efforts and proud of my successes.

“I have made innumerable good and helpful friends at the village and now can’t imagine living elsewhere.”

Whilst Jill has come a long way with her condition, she says she’s glad to be somewhere where she’s been able to make good friends.

“I’ve found that there’s so much to do at Tall Trees – I still have my close friends that I meet at Garden City for a coffee, but I don’t miss going down,” she says.

“I thought I was going to miss all my friends, which is why I wanted to start using busses and getting out of the house in the first place, but I’ve got so many more friends here, and I can still see my old friends when I want.”

Jill is really very proud of how far she has come, yet she has even more goals she wants to achieve in the near future.

“I’ve never been on a plane in my life – the mere thought of it makes me feel ill,” she says.

“It’s one of those hang ups, but this year I’m hoping to go down to Sydney by plane with my eldest son.

“We’ll have a look around the city – I haven’t been to Sydney since my honeymoon in 1958.

“If I could do that, that would be a big step.”

Tall Trees Rochedale is a complete supported living neighbourhood for seniors, allowing residents to live in their own apartment within the development and receive whatever level of care they require.

The neighbourhood has a swimming pool, library with computer facilities, neighbourhood vehicle, and full catering facilities, as well as having the assurance of a registered nurse on staff.

Beryl Martin and Val Gilroy

When it came time for Val Gilroy and Beryl Martin to relocate to senior accommodation, they moved over three-and-a-half thousand kilometres from Perth to Queensland to be closer to their family.

The fact their respective children are married to each other made the move even easier.

Both have moved into Tall Trees at Tanah Merah, a supported living community south of Brisbane to be closer to Beryl’s son Garry and Val’s daughter Carmel.

The women lived minutes from each other in the Perth suburb of Morley, which is 12 kilometres from the CBD. They are now less than 50 metres from one another, and can be easily visited by their respective children.

Garry Martin says that his mum’s position was such that living alone in a large house was starting to become unfeasible.

“As her only son I had to take responsibility for mum’s situation and find her suitable accommodation in Brisbane where I live and work,” Garry says.

“We had seen the TV advertisement for Tall Trees, so we went and saw the Tanah Merah complex.

“We’d visited several retirement villages and government aged facilities looking for an appropriate place given my Mum’s condition and we just thought the location and concept of being as independent as possible yet with as much care as was required was ideal for her needs.”

Garry’s wife Carmel says that for her mum, Val, the situation was slightly different.

“She had no pressing reason to move from Perth but once she was aware of what Garry had planned for Beryl she liked the idea, and she liked what she heard from us about Tall Trees,” Carmel says.

“Her duplex was getting a little too big for her, especially maintaining the garden as her arthritis affected her mobility, and she decided to come and see Tall Trees.

“She really liked the concept and location and the idea of being close to me; she made her mind up she was relocating as soon as she could sell up in Perth.”

Beryl is now a regular participant in the mystery tours, movie afternoons and other activities, whilst Val has personally organised a ‘card group’ and has taken responsibility of running the Tall Trees library at Tanah Merah.

Garry says from a family member’s perspective Tall Trees has been fantastic and that he and Carmel and could not be happier with the care and compassion of the staff.

“What’s more, we know both our mums are safe, being well looked after and they’re doing far more than they would ever have done if they were still in Perth – and of course, we get to see both of them at least two to three times per week which was just not possible when they lived on the other side of the country,” Garry says.

Tall Trees resident Genevieve McNeill with apprentice chef Ralph Ilagan

Apprentice chefs from Southbank Institute of Technology are dishing up professional quality meals in the kitchen at Tall Trees for both residents and locals as part of a practical approach to their training in commercial cookery.

Tall Trees, a supported living neighbourhood for seniors, offered up the cooking and dining facilities at their Tanah Merah site as an initiative to encourage interaction between students, residents, and members of the public.

Craig Sherrin, CEO at Southbank Institute, says the Tall Trees program has provided a range of benefits already.

“Not only does this program provide a real work environment for the students in our commercial cookery program – it gets them positively involved in the community,” Mr Sherrin said.

“It gives our younger students a great chance to interact with some older Australians, who in turn are able to give a bit of historical and cultural perspective to our international students who might not otherwise get many chances like this.”

Southbank Institute’s commercial cookery program coordinator, Rob Claridge said the apprentice chefs will be at Tall Trees on Tuesday and Wednesday each week throughout this semester, dishing up a wide variety of different meals in the supported living community’s fully featured kitchen.

“We’re going to be doing traditional Aussie tucker, as well as French, Italian and Asian – but more than anything I’m encouraging our students to try different things and use their own initiative to mix it up,” Mr Claridge said.

“We’ve been very conscious in designing the menus to provide quality, healthy meals for the residents here, and I think that’s something our students have achieved.

“We are supplying restaurant quality food at cafeteria prices, which is great for the locals at Tall Trees and gives out students’ invaluable experience in the commercial world.”

Carrie Fortunaso, neighbourhood manager at Tall Trees Tanah Merah, says the residents look forward to the days the student chefs from Southbank Institute come in.

“Whilst they certainly love the food the students are plating up, they also thoroughly enjoy having such a diverse group of people in the neighbourhood,” Ms Fortunaso said.

“In addition to the apprentices gaining excellent real world experience whilst preparing and serving the lunches at Tall Trees, the profits from these functions will be put back into the pockets of the residents, with the money made from the meals coming directly off our residents’ service charges.

“In a way it’s like they’re making their own incomes.

“In the next few weeks we’re encouraging members of the public to start coming here and having lunch – not only will they get great tasting, affordable meals, but they’ll be helping the apprentice chefs hone their skills and giving something back to our residents.”

Tall Trees has a history of volunteering their facilities for community usage, having recently started offering their dining room to groups to hold functions.

“Our dining room is currently open for use by community groups and businesses that may want to use it – free of charge – for lunches, meetings or conferences,” Ms Fortunaso says.

“We’ll be having the Chamber of Commerce breakfast here in September with 120 people.

“Having Southbank Institute in here is another way of continuing our policy of opening up to the community and encouraging public involvement.”

Mr Claridge says that whilst his students have worked very hard, there’s an element that they get at Tall Trees that adds to the experience they get at our campus kitchens.

“The students from Southbank Institute have really done a fantastic job, but I must say, I think having a group of diners as appreciative as the residents at Tall Trees helps a lot,” he said.

To enquire about having lunch at Tall Trees, please call 1300 304 413.