The pioneering dementia and aged care specialist said it will be the capital's first non-institutional palliative care service for people living with dementia and cognitive disability next year.
The residence will be located next door to the existing Kiah House, in Wanniassa, southern Canberra, and will be named Kot House, after Dr Marta Kot, an intensive care specialist who lived with younger onset dementia and was a resident of Community Home Australia (CHA) and died recently.
It will have three large bedrooms each with a disability compliant bathroom and shared kitchen, dining and social space.
Founder and Managing Director
Community Home Australia
Rodney told The SOURCE the cost of the build is about $350,000, less than the approximately $500,000 it currently takes to build one institutional aged care bed.
As has become a tradition with CHA, guests from their other houses and Club Kalina will be involved in the design and building of gardens, with the assistance of CHA's in-house gardener, when the home is complete.
The purpose of Kot Home will be to provide a place where people living with dementia can receive end-of-life care in a community setting, avoiding residential aged care, hospitals, and institutional settings. The home will be staffed with an experienced palliative care team, with guidance from the palliative care team at CHA.
Rodney said he expects Kot House will receive its occupancy certificate in January 2025. It will be funded by the NDIS and CHA's philanthropic and charitable fund. No funds have been provided by the ACT or Federal Governments.
Rodney, a registered nurse with more than 30 years' experience consulting on and managing aged care homes, founded CHA in 2020 with Nicole Smith, a registered nurse and gerontologist. Nicole is now CHA's Chief Operations Officer.
Today, CHA has four homes embedded in local communities, three in Canberra, and one in NSW. CHA homes have a maximum of six beds.
Earlier this month, we reported that CHA's Aashaya Jasri Resort, in Bali, had accepted its first guests, including two with younger onset dementia.
