In 2022, ELDAC introduced the My Care Matters Campaign. Running over 15 months, the campaign invites people working in aged care to explore death as a natural part of life. The ELDAC Coffee Cart competition was an activity carried out under the My Care matters Campaign. The Coffee Cart Competition required services to sign up to hold a morning or afternoon tea with their staff during October. To help the conversation, they received a morning tea pack that includes some conversation starter resources, a photo prop, some tea, coffee, and (of course) hot chocolate supplies. Services sent a picture of their morning or afternoon tea to ELDAC as an entry into the Coffee Cart Competition.
Highlights of the Coffee Cart Competition
Over 100 services showed some interest in this competition, and 49 services actually participated by holding a morning/afternoon tea at their service and taking this opportunity to talk about end of life caring. The Coffee Cart draw took place on the 14th of November 2022 with the winner being Charla Lodge Aged Care in Bordertown SA. We asked some of the participating services what it was like to be part of this competition, and found out that the Coffee Cart Competition offered services the following five key things:
- Permission to talk about death & dying
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“It gave us a safe environment where over a cuppa and a biscuit or a piece of cake … we could all talk about it and feel safe”.
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- Space for knowledge sharing & upskilling
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“It provided staff an opportunity to share their experiences & knowledge on end of life caring, and prompted many to seek additional training on the topic”.
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- Opportunity to identify & address gaps in care
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“In the morning tea we began to talk about wills. We worked out that most residents don't have a will. So, we discovered that we probably need to change that”.
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- Mechanism to engage with ELDAC resources
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“Majority of our staff in the morning tea had not heard of ELDAC. So it was nice to be able to give them resources from the Coffee Cart Competition pack”.
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- Sustainable improvement at service level
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“This was a very insightful and rewarding experience for all. We are planning a monthly session but in smaller groups so that everyone can have a say”.
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