24 February 2022
For his exceptional contribution to the care of residents living with dementia, Gary Mina who works with the Lifestyle team at our Regis East Malvern Home was recently presented with the Outstanding Dementia Care Award. Gary has built relationships with every resident and their families through kindness, patience, and understanding.
Growing up with the loving support of his grandmother, Gary knew from a young age that he wanted to work in aged care. When speaking of her, Gary affectionately proclaims that “she looked after me well. It will make her happy if I can return the favour by looking after residents in aged care”. This care and affection carries over into every interaction Gary has with our residents, who are always pleased to be in his presence.
Today, Gary is one of our most passionate employees and loves supporting our older generation. For Gary, putting a smile on our residents’ faces is an effortless daily highlight, as is working in a supportive and tight-knit team. Spreading joy, laughter, and delight is never a problem for Gary, and our residents love seeing him pop up around the Home to spread cheer and happiness.
A typical day for Gary involves providing support to our residents by keeping them active through fun exercises and exciting games. Additionally, Gary loves showing off his musical talents by hosting live performances and jamming out on his guitar to our residents’ favourite tunes. Our residents join in by singing and clapping along to Gary’s singing, dancing, and guitar playing. He brings people across the Home together through the engaging and cognitively challenging programs that the Lifestyle team creates which ensure that everyone is cared for.
To Gary, winning the Outstanding Dementia Care Award shows that he has the support of a great manager and an excellent rapport with colleagues across all departments at Regis. When speaking of the Lifestyle coordinator, Gary is enthusiastic about how they “bring out the best in me and is a role model who encourages the team to be real advocates for our residents”.
Gary is the embodiment of the Regis values. He is there to provide support when his team need it with generosity, enthusiasm, and care. The team loved celebrating Gary’s award by decorating the Home and enjoying a fun afternoon of food and drinks.
The advice Gary offers to anyone pursuing a career in aged care? “You have to be genuinely caring and patient”. We can’t think of a more appropriate description of Gary.
Highlighting the incredible work done by his colleagues, Gary would also like to thank everyone who nominated him as “it would not have been possible to receive the award if it wasn’t for the wonderful people across all departments and offices. The award goes to them too”.
From the entire Regis family, we congratulate Gary on his tremendous achievement and thank him for his hard work and commitment over the past ten years.
