PRH Disabled Facilities

DISABLED CARE SERVICES AT PHYLLIS ROBERTSON HOME

We offer competitive value for money disability care services 365 days a year and our monthly fees cover private rooms, tasty nutritious meals, laundry, transport, housekeeping, medical and social services, an arts & crafts workshop and regular entertainment. The Home is positioned in a secure garden setting with well-maintained facilities, a wheelchair accessible pool and TV room with DSTV.

Care workers are on duty 24/7 and we strive to provide a homely atmosphere where these diverse personalities all feel welcome and appreciated.

Disabled accommodation categories we cater for, with respect to Activities of Daily Living (ADL):

• Dependent care - This facility is not suitable for frail or acute care. Where a resident requires more care than what can be provided by a shared care-worker, a private care worker is hired for daytime hours (for the family's account). This includes profoundly disabled residents who require intensive assistance with ADLs
• Full care - Residents who require moderate assistance with ADLs fall into this category. Care-workers and a staff nurse look after the wellbeing of residents
• Supervisory care - Residents who require minimal assistance and supervision with their ADLs
• Standard - Residents who can largely see to their own ADLs

We also offer daycare, as well as a respite service to give full-time carer-families the occasional break.

ROOMS

We currently (2024) provide single rooms and care to 67 adults between the ages of 18 and 73, the average age being 45. Of these 44 are males and 22 female and 26 are wheelchair-bound.

• Rooms are allocated to a single resident
• Standard rooms have a basin and a second door onto the gardens and communal relaxation areas
• All rooms have built in cupboards
• Residents furnish the room with own familiar furniture, curtains and linen which helps them to adjust quickly to the new environment
• Each passage has both male and female communal bathrooms with access for wheelchairs

MEALS

We love being complimented on the quality of our food, especially since our budget precludes luxuries.

• A 28 day menu approved by a dietician provides 3 tasty, nutritious and portion controlled sit-down meals a day
• Tea, coffee or cold drink/juice three times a day with a small sandwich or biscuit
• Packed lunches for residents who go to work, medical appointments or outings
• Special dietary prescriptions within reason
• Family members may join residents for meals at very reasonable prices (prior notice required)

LAUNDRY

Our laundry is staffed by handicapped ladies.

• Weekly washing routine collects washing from the rooms according to passage schedule and returns it to the room two days later, folded and ironed (including bed clothes)
• Quarterly washing of curtains
• Where required, wet bedding is removed daily and replaced with clean, dry linen

HOUSEKEEPING

We pride ourselves on our pleasant, neat and clean facilities.

• Cleaning is done between 06:00 and 18:00, 7 days a week
• Rooms are cleaned thoroughly once a week including residents’ furniture and appliances
• Curtains are removed, washed and returned to clean windows quarterly
• Passages are cleaned once a day and spills when necessary
• Bathrooms are cleaned several times daily
• Spills and accidents are cleaned up after hours
• Toilet paper is provided to residents

MEDICAL & SOCIAL SERVICES

The Home functions like a family which means care goes beyond the minimum requirements.

• Experienced, professional Nurse in Charge every week day and available telephonically 24/7
• The Assistant Manager resides on the premises and is on duty during residents' waking hours, on stand-by after hours
• Medication is collected from state clinics and handed to our local pharmacy where it is blister-packed according to prescription and returned to us; medication is dispensed from the blister into the resident's hand and the nurse observes that it is taken
• Nurse on duty 24 hours a day
• Care workers on duty 24 hours a day
• Social worker available by appointment
• Medical doctor from Tshwane Hospital visits weekly and attends to residents' medical complaints
• Medical appointments made as required and referrals obtained where necessary
• Staff member accompanies residents for medical appointments where required
• Assistance with SASSA applications

TRANSPORT SERVICES

Residents are taken on regular outings as appropriate beyond standard outings.

• Residents transported to medical appointments and to hospital in emergencies after hours
• The Assistant Manager accompanies the residents on a weekly shopping trip on rotational basis
• Residents transported to special functions to which we receive invitations

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SECURITY

Since our residents are especially vulnerable, security is a priority for us.

• Secure, fenced in safe terrain
• 24 hour monitoring and electronic access control
• Smoke detectors in all rooms and passages
• Fire extinguishers accessible and serviced
• Building outside doors are locked at night
• Evacuation plans in place and drilled
• ID cards provided to residents to wear when they leave the premises
• Only residents with standing permission from parents/guardians have freedom of movement; others only leave the premises with a staff member or family
• Residents going out late receive a late-pass and need to report back to duty nurse

OTHER SERVICES

We also offer the little things taken for granted in a normal home.

• Fenced wheelchair accessible pool on the premises for residents’ use
• Pocket money controlled by finance office if required
• TV room with DSTV
• Maintenance of rooms
• Assistance with maintenance of residents’ personal items
• Assistance with repairs to wheelchairs
• Regular, free entertainment for the residents
• Supervised hygiene where required
• Minor repairs to clothing items

ADDITIONAL ASSISTANCE

Where additional assistance is required, this can be arranged for a resident.

• Residents who require assistance with temperature control to bath or shower or with shaving pay a small ablution supervision fee monthly
• Residents who require assistance with basic functions pay an additional caring fee monthly which includes but is not limited to:
  Bathing/showering/bed bath as required
  Assistance in the toilet
  Cleaning bed pans, bottles or chamber pots where necessary
• Feeding or assistance with meals
• Dressing or assistance as required
• Assistance with laundry preparation
• Making of beds and packing of cupboards
• Wheelchair cleaning
• Packing of overnight or weekend bags
• Basic exercises to maintain mobility and promote health as prescribed by medical practitioners.

PURPOSEFUL ENGAGEMENT

We help our residents to experience dignity and belonging by providing purpose to their days.

• Employment Solutions is an independent protective workshop on the premises where residents who are able to work with their hands may be occupied with assembling and packaging work from 08:00 to 15:00 from Monday to Friday.
• Tolbos Stimulation centre - Residents are kept busy with supervised crafting activities 2 mornings a week from 09:00 to 12:00. This facility is also available for day attendees. Any participant who requires a care-worker to take part will have to have one provided by the family at an additional cost for lunch.
• Integrative Activities - on-site entertainment includes dances, stretching classes, braais, movie nights or just the whole family watching the rugby together. There is also a Full-Colour Choir made up of residents.

"On behalf of my family and myself, I'd like to express our deepest gratitude. My brother Dave Scott is a resident at Phyllis Robertson Home. It's been his home for many years and we are incredibly thankful for the dedication and care of the staff towards Dave. He is very happy there!" - Dalene Grimbeek