An Otaki woman is reveling in the opportunity to support Horowhenua’s elders.
Born and raised in Otaki, Joanna Thomson recently took on the role as manager of Enliven’s rest homes in Levin — Reevedon Home and Levin Home.
After spending the last three years managing Enliven’s Huntleigh Home and Apartments in Wellington, she says her appointment to Levin is like coming home.
‘It’s great to be back working in my home region of Horowhenua,’ says Joanna. ‘Now I can make a difference to the lives of people who have surrounded me throughout my life. Lots of the residents are from Otaki too so we have plenty in common.’
Joanna has been working in aged residential care for more than 10-years and brings with her plenty of experience. ‘This is an industry that I care about and have made my career in,’ she says. ‘I’m really excited about what the future holds.’
Enliven embraces an elder-directed model of care, which Joanna explains is something that is vitally important. ‘It’s about thinking about the way we support people in rest homes. At Enliven our focus is on supporting people to do the things they’ve always done and to maintain their independence. It’s important they feel as though they still have a purpose.
When someone moves into a rest home they haven’t changed, it’s just their address that’s changed so we want to make sure our place is as much like their home as possible,’ says Joanna.
Enliven offers full range of support services for Horowhenua’s elders including practical in-home support, a retirement village, and rest home, hospital and dementia care.