Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1508267
maltatoday | SUNDAY • 24 SEPTEMBER 2023 9 COMMERCIAL 1. As the facility manager, what are the most vital ele- ments you focus on to ensure the highest level of safety and satisfaction for both the employees and residents at CareMalta Group? I try to make myself as avail- able as possible. First of all, I try to build trust between both residents and employees. I lis- ten to any concerns they may have and act accordingly. We strive to ensure we give the best care and highest level of quality to our residents. The facility is ultimately where the residents will be residing so we give the utmost importance to the upkeeping of the facility – obviously including the clean- ing and the maintenance need- ed. Upkeeping is also crucial for our employees so they are able to work in a well-equipped and cared-for workplace. Nutrition is also another vital element I focus on. CareMal- ta Group pays attention and gives importance to the nutri- tional value to ensure that the food is of good quality and is well-presentable. We strive to make sure that the menu is nu- tritionally focused. Recently, we are emphasis- ing the importance of social inclusion – especially after the COVID-19 period. We're constantly advocating for the importance and need of social inclusion, being active and ac- tive ageing. We are straying from the 'norms' that because our residents are residing in a long-term facility, they're au- tomatically excluded from the community and we are con- stantly doing everything we can to ensure that they are active in both the community and the facility itself. Obviously, we do our best to respect their privacy and dig- nity. We also try our very best to give them as much autono- my as possible. Especially my- self, most of the time you end up with relatives of residents dictating and making decisions on behalf of their relative, with the thought that since they aged they are no longer able to make decisions for themselves. Obviously, cultural compe- tency nowadays in Malta is common as we don't just em- ploy Maltese people. We have people from all over the world, some with their base being In- dia, the Philippines, Pakistan, and Nepal to name a few. Luck- ily enough, they integrated very well. Also nowadays, we are receiving admissions with different religions, different beliefs and spiritual needs and we try to cater for them too. In the near future (and which we already are), we will soon also extensively be admitting LG- BTIQ+ residents – obviously, we also need to cater to their needs and treat them equally. 2. With such a large organ- isation at CareMalta Group, as the facility manager, how are you able to efficiently communicate to all employ- ees and people involved to ensure smooth operations across the residence? As a group, we are very struc- tured. If we have a procedure here at Casa Marija, you will find the same procedure in all of the CareMalta Group facil- ities. Obviously, each facility has its own needs and dynam- ics but we usually share the same practices. The way forward – some- thing that we are currently working on is digitalisation. We are moving towards that route and it is something that we are looking into. However, face-to-face meetings still take place as we want the 'human element' to remain. 3. CareMalta Group obvi- ously obtains a high level of commitment, understanding and respectfulness, whilst also actively promoting and encouraging active ageing. In your position and with your experience, how do you personally aid CareMalta Group in continuously meet- ing these expectations and standards? The perspective of long-term facilities nowadays has shift- ed. It is no longer the idea that the resident is admitted and that they stay here. Nowadays, people are active, they go out into the communities. At Care- Malta Group, to ensure the purpose of active ageing, we recently structured ourselves a little more and organised an active ageing committee with- in the group. The aim of this committee is to think outside of the box rather than simply shifting from the old ideas and looking into this new perspec- tive of the long-term facilities. We organise several activities – with some being educational activities which are constantly promoting active ageing. Unfortunately in Malta, it is quite predominant that ageism is an issue but we do our best to fight it. Basically, this commit- tee is shifting and in the mean- time, we are hiring employees and are managing very well to change mentalities. What we used to do 10 years ago, was fine back then. Nowadays, it's not bad, but we need to refine it and make it valuable for the time we are living in. 4. Since taking on the role of facility manager, have there been any changes or new ide- as that you have implement- ed within CareMalta Group? And if so, what were they? I think this active ageing committee which I formed part of, was one of the most reward- ing experiences. As a team, as I mentioned, we managed to shift and get people out of their comfort zone and move away from their usual activities. One activity that comes to mind is when we organised an inter- generational activity with old- er adults and we started from child care centres – so we had residents going to the childcare centres once every two weeks. The idea was to keep the same residents and we managed to build a bond with both the res- idents and the children. We then moved to primary schools and secondary schools and we even went up to uni- versity where residents had the opportunity to meet students who were studying for masters and diplomas in Gerontology & Geriatrics and they had an open discussion and the end result was that the residents felt valued as the students were asking them questions and were listened to. The res- idents were yesterday's teach- ers, yesterday's housewives and yesterday's policemen. We are where we are thanks to their hard work and dedication. 5. Celebrating 30 years of CareMalta Group, what do you think CareMalta Group does right which in turn, helped the company reach this fantastic milestone? In my opinion, as a group, we always put the resident at the centre of all the ideas and decisions that are made. Yes, it's a business, but all of the decisions that are made with the focal point being the res- idents. We ensure safety for our residents, we ensure dig- nity, we ensure integrity and quality and obviously personal development of both residents and employees. The fact that the resident is always kept in the centre of any discussion, is what I think makes the group unique. We say that we are leaders in care and I think we are the most experienced in the field. Again, the dedication we have for our residents and the fact that they are always our main point of attention and focus, is what helped CareMalta Group reach this beautiful milestone. An Intergenerational 30-Year Milestone With CareMalta Group Mr. Antoine Borg, Facility Manager at Casa Marija