Natasha and Justin Chadwick from New Direction Care are a mother and son team who have turned the traditional aged care model on its head. Their Microtown community is exactly that - a miniature community where aged care and dementia residents live in real houses, connected to a town centre complete with shops, cafes and all the services that you would expect from a real village.

This enables residents to thrive in an active, inclusive and fulfilling environment that’s a far cry from the nursing homes of old.

But like any revolution, change is hard and it takes a certain type of visionary with an unflinching drive and an even thicker skin to navigate the regulatory hurdles and cynical naysayers who said it could never be done.

In this episode of The Business of Ageing, we learn what it takes to instigate real change in the aged care industry and the implications for not only residents and their families, but also for care staff used to highly repetitive, task-based work.

The Business of Ageing podcast has been produced by Shaun Alexander at Pluss Communities.

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Click here to learn more about NewDirection Care