Community focus provides a new lease on life

Octogenarian Jan Littlejohn loves living in her retirement village among the gum trees on Sydney’s Northern Beaches, because it gives her peace of mind as she cares for her husband.

Ten years ago the couple bought into Minkara Resort – an Aveo village with more than 200 residents – and Jan tells AC it was the best move they could have made after selling their family home in Mona Vale with its many stairs.

“My husband has Alzheimer’s and dementia and it is safer living here than our old home,” explained Jan, whose selling agent suggested they buy into a village and helped the couple transition by finding them a home for sale at Minkara Resort. “There are no stairs here. And, if my husband goes for a bit of a wander there’s always someone to find him and bring him home.

“It’s paradise here, like living in the country. I can look out my windows and there’s the waters of Pittwater.”

Jan, who is a marriage and funeral celebrant, is also an active member of the Minkara Resort community, calling bingo for the residents of the village’s Endeavour Lodge, which caters to high-care residents, providing carers and nurses on demand.

“If the time comes when my husband and I need more help, Endeavour Lodge has full-time carers and a nurse three or four days a week,” she said.

“And, even though we’re currently living independently, we have that peace of mind that there are carers on the premises, so, if anything happens, we can just press our call button and someone will come and assist us.”

Jan said paying monthly fees of around $700 suits her, and her only out-of-pocket expenses are for her phone and electricity.

With weekly excursions, keep fit classes, a walking group, chair exercises, indoor bowls, water aerobics classes and a bus to take her shopping twice a week, Jan is delighted with life at Minkara Resort.

“If I was still living in our family home or an apartment I wouldn’t have so many options to keep me entertained and healthy,” she said.

And she has a piece of advice for those considering retirement village living: “Make the move by the time you’re 70,” she counsels. “And that way you have the time to make the adjustments and settle in to your new life.”