Celebrating Creativity at Capecare Dunsborough

Creativity is thriving at Capecare Dunsborough, where a dedicated group of residents comes together each week to explore their artistic talents.

The weekly art group has become a much-loved activity, offering residents the opportunity to paint, draw, and express themselves in a relaxed and supportive environment. From vibrant abstract pieces to detailed sketches, each artwork reflects our artists’ individuality and creativity.

Beyond the canvas, these sessions play an important role in fostering connection, conversation, and a strong sense of community. Residents share ideas, encourage one another, and take pride in their progress and achievements.

A highlight of the year is the group’s annual art exhibition, where residents’ work is proudly displayed for the wider community to enjoy. The exhibition not only celebrates their creativity, but also helps raise funds for art supplies—ensuring the group can continue to flourish.

At Capecare, we are proud to support initiatives like this that promote wellbeing, self-expression, and meaningful engagement. The art group is a wonderful example of how creativity can bring people together and enrich everyday life.

Lions Club donation to Capecare will prevent hospital visits and potentially save lives

The donation of a bladder scanner by Dunsborough Lions Club to Capecare has the potential to reduce hospital visits, improve health outcomes and ultimately save lives for our aged care residents.

Capecare Board Member and Dunsborough GP Dr Mostyn Hamdorf said the new scanner would allow Capecare’s nursing team to test and assess residents quickly and support an earlier diagnosis and treatment of potentially serious conditions.

“The portable bladder scanner donated to Capecare by Dunsborough Lions is a quick, safe, and non-intrusive way of differentiating between urinary obstruction and dehydration,” Dr Hamdorf said.

“For older people, particularly those who may struggle to communicate their symptoms, this technology helps take the guesswork out of diagnosis. The scan only takes a few seconds, and the results can be sent immediately to the resident’s GP so treatment can be arranged quickly.”

The bladder scanner cost approximately $6000 and will be used across Capecare’s Dunsborough and Busselton residential facilities, as well as by nurses supporting home care clients.

Dunsborough Lions Club Secretary Kaye McCormick said the Club was proud to support an organisation that played such an important role in the local community.

“Capecare is part of the fabric of the Dunsborough community, so we didn’t hesitate when we were asked if we could help,” Ms McCormick said.

“We know many people who are residents at Capecare – in fact two of our own members now live at Capecare Dunsborough.

“If residents become unwell because of a urinary issue, they often need to travel by ambulance to Busselton Hospital, which is stressful for everyone involved and places pressure on local services. With this scanner, assessments can happen quickly on site.”

Ms McCormick said the Club had long supported the facility.

“We worked hard for many years to get an aged care facility in Dunsborough, so it’s wonderful to be able to continue supporting projects like this.”

The Dunsborough Lions Club previously donated a Tovertafel interactive memory game table to Capecare shortly after the Dunsborough facility opened in 2021, along with wheelchair-friendly raised garden beds for residents. The Club also contributed financially to the facility during its early planning stages.

Learn more about Dunsborough Lions Club at dunsboroughlions.com.au

A gift of music that lives on at Capecare

When Ishbel Casselton visited her husband Bob at Capecare Dunsborough, there came a time when his ability to communicate with her began to decline.

Determined to continue reaching him on an emotional level, Ishbel searched for another way to connect.

Bob had always loved music — especially listening to Ishbel play the piano. When Ishbel mentioned this to family friend Jason Cavallaro during a visit from Perth, the conversation took an unexpected and generous turn.

“I told Jason I would love to get a piano for Capecare so I could play for Bob,” Ishbel said. “Without missing a beat, Jason replied, ‘You can have mine.’ I almost dropped on the spot.”

Soon after, Jason’s piano was delivered and given pride of place in the dining room of the Bunker Bay wing at Capecare Dunsborough.

The impact was immediate. When Ishbel began to play, Bob’s face lit up.

“Through the piano, we were able to continue using music as a connector right up until Bob’s passing,” she said.

Bob sadly passed away in January, but the gift of music continues.

Jason’s generous donation has touched not only Ishbel and Bob, but also residents, staff, and visiting family and friends throughout the Dunsborough community.

Capecare volunteer Barton Hatherley now plays the piano during his Tuesday morning visits, and residents especially enjoy singing along to much-loved old-time favourites.

And this is no ordinary piano. Ishbel shared that the instrument originally came from the Japanese Embassy in Perth.

The Ambassador’s daughters learned to play alongside Jason’s daughters, and when the Ambassador’s family returned to Japan, the piano was gifted to Jason — who has now generously passed it on to Capecare.

“It is a beautiful piano,” Ishbel said. “We are so lucky to have it.”

Award for Clinical Coordinator Alvin Dube demonstrates Capecare values

At Capecare, we’re committed to nurturing the next generation of healthcare professionals. By actively supporting nursing and care trainees through clinical placements with educational institutions across Australia, we’re investing in a future where dedicated, skilled staff provide exceptional care to our residents and strengthen our team.

We were delighted to learn last week that Capecare Clinical Coordinator Alvin Dube has been recognised with the Outstanding Preceptor Award through the Clinical Placements with Older People Program (CPOP). The award honours his excellence in mentorship and the positive impact he’s made on student nurses during their placements.

A mentor who makes a difference

The recognition came through a heartfelt nomination from a student nurse who experienced first-hand Alvin’s exceptional approach to teaching and care:

“Alvin brought a wealth of knowledge to every buddy shift I had with him and approached teaching with so much patience, clarity, and genuine care. He consistently emphasised that caring for the elderly involves not only the individual, but also their entire family – a perspective that has shaped my understanding of compassionate, person-centred care.

“From the very beginning, Alvin made me feel valued as a student. He took the time to ask, ‘What can I teach you?’ A simple question that had a lasting impact on me. It demonstrated his genuine commitment to my learning and made me feel safe asking questions while growing in confidence. Thanks to his support, my confidence has soared throughout this placement.

Alvin also made the effort to walk me through procedures step by step, never rushing, and always ensuring I understood the ‘why’ behind the ‘how.’ His dedication to both patient care and teaching is truly inspiring, and I feel incredibly fortunate to have had the opportunity to learn from such an amazing nurse.”

Building a legacy of care

CEO Tim Nayton said Alvin’s award reflected the values at the heart of Capecare – compassion, respect, partnership, and a commitment to person-centred care.

“His ability to inspire confidence in emerging nurses while maintaining the highest standards of resident care exemplifies the quality of our team,” Tim said.

“We are so lucky to have Alvin caring for our residents and being part of the Capecare family. Thank you, Alvin, for everything you do.”

The Clinical Placements with Older People Program is funded by the Australian Government Department of Health, Disability and Ageing and led by the University of Canberra in partnership with Curtin University, Edith Cowan University, the University of the Sunshine Coast, Central Queensland University, Southern Cross University, and the University of Tasmania.

Two men smiling with a certificate.

Clinical Coordinator Alvin Dube with Capecare CEO Tim Nayton and Alvin’s award , demonstrating Capecare values in action

Remembering our servicemen and women

Remembrance Day is an important occasion at Capecare when we stop to honour the courageous men and women who have served and died for our country.

Individual ceremonial events were held at each of our facilities and were well attended by residents and staff.

Special thanks to Volunteer Barton Hatherly for providing musical accompaniment, resident Bob Muirson for his recital of In Flanders Field, and resident Nikolaus Selheim for laying a wreath at the Dunsborough service.

Thanks also to Rev Graham Lawn for officiating in Busselton. He is a regular visitor to Capecare, providing our monthly Christian church service, and thanks also to resident Glenys Reynolds.

And special thanks also to our Lifestyle Coordinator Megan Snitch for organising these moving and important events and to our hospitality team for providing morning and afternoon tea.

Lest We Forget.

Dunsborough Art Exhibition opens

Our Dunsborough Artists in Residence opened their third annual art exhibition earlier this week.

This talented group paints together every Wednesday morning, transforming the Capecare Dunsborough café into a creative workspace with extra tables, easels, palettes, paints, brushes and jars of water.

It is a hive of activity and positivity, sharing in each other’s creativity. Everyone works on their own project, drawing inspiration from life experiences and the things we see around us.

The group is united by a love of art, no matter the skills or abilities.

Volunteers, family and friends assist our Lifestyle Coordinator Kuvita Kumar and our artists almost every week.

Featured in this year’s exhibition is an intergenerational artwork made with the help of our little friends from GEMS Prep School Dunsborough and assistance of Debbie from Bunnings Warehouse Australia in Busselton.

“The Tree of Life” is a collaborative collage made of individually hand painted pebbles and is inspired by Gustav Klimt’s painting of the same name.

The exhibition is open until Monday 7 July, paintings are for sale and all funds raised are used to buy art materials and artist quality resources.

Capecare thanks local emergency services

Capecare Dunsborough’s management fired up the BBQs at their Naturaliste Terrace facility last Thursday to thank local fire brigades and emergency services personnel.

Capecare CEO Tim Nayton acknowledged both the emergency services personnel for protecting residents and facilities during the recent Dunsborough fires, and also his staff who were working on the day.

Tim was at Capecare Dunsborough at the time of the fires and said, while obviously concerned about what was happening on the reserve across the road from the facility, it was reassuring to see the services in action.

“To watch the emergency services teams and know that there was that level of support was amazing to experience, and to witness the confident way, what became quite a threatening fire, was managed,” Tim said.

The BBQ was attended by DFES Area Officer Andy Thompson, Mayor Phill Cronin, Ben Small, Liberal representative for Forrest and a number of professional and volunteer firefighters, Capecare staff who worked on the day of the fire, and Armstrong Village residents and their families.

Andy Thompson also thanked volunteers and said the incident response ran like clockwork thanks to practical exercises carried out with Capecare.

“To our volunteers, thank you. They’ve had a busy past couple of months, including turning out to Windy Harbour and various other fires.

“The accolades also go out to Capecare staff and management. Thanks to pre-planning and on-site training and evacuation drills carried out last year, it went like clockwork.

“Staff knew we were going to ‘protect in place’, which we had planned. We had the resources here, which the volunteers are trained for, and working with Capecare staff and management was faultless. It couldn’t have gone any better.

“It goes to show the strength of all of us working together in the community and the number of volunteers that we have… Fire, Search and Rescue, SES, St John Ambulance… it was a fantastic response and hats off to everybody.”

Mayor Phill Cronin, who was a volunteer firefighter on the day, reiterated the community response.

“As I’m driving down the road, I see a big billow of smoke in the distance. The radio’s chattering. The sirens are going off. The Dunsborough guys were having a bit of trouble at their own fire station. Then I’m hearing: ‘Capecare, get down there’. We get down to Cape Nat, and there’s smoke everywhere.

“We had 125 firefighters. We had 50 units down there. We had two helicopters. The whole point was how we all came together. The DFES guys, they were protecting the structures, we were doing the bush. There were queues of St John Ambulance people down there. DFES were setting up an incident support group. It was all done professionally. We also had a lot of the City (of Busselton) involved.

“At the end of the day, we didn’t lose any properties. There were no injuries. there was no loss of life.

“Everybody here, you all played a part, you made people feel safe. The Capecare guys were out there as well, getting wet and smoky. but we all did a great job and look, I really want to say thank you. Thank you for this event to recognise this and bring us all together.

“The next thing that we are doing is getting the reserve back to how it was. We instantly go into recovery mode.  One thing we’ve learned is recovery is the quickest thing that we can get on top of rather than leaving it weeks down the line,” Mayor Cronin said.

Tim concluded by praising the amazing community spirit, also demonstrated by the generosity of wineries and breweries approached for the event. Special thanks to Shelter Brewing, Eagle Bay Brewing, Baileys Brewing, Skigh Wines, the  Highbury Project and Cape Cellars.

Capecare Dunsborough invites new residential care residents

Expressions of interest are now open for the 41 remaining beds at Capecare Dunsborough’s deluxe residential care facility, located just a short stroll to the beach and town centre.

Capecare Dunsborough is the town’s first and only residential aged care facility, opened in late 2021. Its residents enjoy premium accommodation, state-of-the-art facilities and high quality, personalised care.

Capecare CEO Tim Nayton said the rooms being released have not previously been used. “Capecare delayed opening the whole facility until we were confident it could be consistently, fully staffed with an exceptional care team.

“When Capecare Dunsborough opened two and a half years ago, we only released rooms in the two ground floor wings in a staged process,” he said.

“A stabilisation of staffing across both our Dunsborough and Busselton facilities has allowed us to move forward to release the remaining 40 rooms, which were designed with residents in mind.

“Much care was taken in the planning of bedrooms, bathrooms, living, dining and outdoor facilities to ensure the best quality of life for our Dunsborough residents.

“We hope to welcome new first-floor residents to this beautiful facility from November 2024 to early 2025 and look forward to operating at our full capacity.”

Capecare Dunsborough’s residential facility features plenty of natural light, fresh air and stimulating outlooks. Rooms are positioned around central courtyards, and many have bay windows.

Jon Farr, whose father was a resident of Capecare Dunsborough and Aunt Janet is a current resident, said he and his family’s experience with the facility had been nothing but positive.

“My Aunt moved into Capecare in June 2022 to be closer to Dad who lived in Busselton. After getting to know the facility my dad said he thought he might need to go into residential care, and when a room came up he also moved into Capecare in Dunsborough. About a year later another of my aunties moved in, so it was a family affair!”

“From the time we first connected with Capecare through to ongoing relationships with the whole team, the main thing is that they really make you feel welcome. And nothing ever seems to be too difficult,” he said.

“When my father passed away, we witnessed a very caring team of people who had cared for my dad, were caring for my aunties, and cared for us as a family as well.”

Capecare Dunsborough comprises a premium 82-bed residential care facility for people with high physical needs in a dementia-enabling environment, respite care, lifestyle and allied health services (occupational therapy, podiatry and physiotherapy), a cinema room, hairdresser, café and landscaped gardens with BBQ area.

The complex also features 21 independent living apartments and the new HQ for the Dunsborough Country Women’s Association (CWA).

To find out more about Capecare Dunsborough visit our Dunsborough residential page . To enquire about the rooms release and receive an information kit, contact the Capecare admissions team on 08 9750 2000 or email dunsadmissions@capecare.com.au.

 

Capecare welcomes new intake of Pacific Island carers thanks to success with PALM Scheme

Capecare welcomed four new Pacific Island carers to its team last month, thanks to its partnership with HealthX and the Federal Government’s Pacific Australia Labour Mobility (PALM) scheme.

Tabeta Itioa (Beta), Akineti Tiotaake (Aggie), Kaekotaake Natibu (Kaeko) and Tuane Neemia (Tuane) have joined Capecare from Kiribati (pronounced Kiribas), a group of 33 small coral islands in the central Pacific.

For the first 10 weeks at Capecare they will continue to complete their Certificate III in Individual Support (Ageing) and then join the team as fully fledged carers.

This is Capecare’s second intake of carers under the PALM scheme. An initial group of carers from Fiji arrived in 2022, and with the latest additions brings the total to 13 carers. The initial intake were the first Pacific Island healthcare workers HealthX helped move to WA post-COVID.

Capecare Acting CEO Philippa Ayre said the program had been extremely successful and made a significant difference to Capecare’s ability to source a sustainable workforce.

“We have been so fortunate to have Beta, Aggie, Kaeko and Tuane join Capecare, they have seamlessly become part of the team and our residents already love them.”

The Pacific Island carers are placed with Capecare for four years (with annual visits home) which means the program provides a reliable and consistent workforce to supplement local workers.

“Having the Pacific Island team with us for four years means our residents interact with familiar faces each day, which allows us to provide consistent and quality care,”Philippa continued.

“We recognise that our Pacific Island staff are a long way from home, and we have worked hard to ensure that as much as possible they feel they have found a second home with us here.”

For the Pacific Island workers, benefits lie in being able to further develop their skills and knowledge in aged care and will be able to utilise and transfer these skills when they return home, providing a benefit to their communities.

HealthX is an approved employer of the PALM scheme for aged care and sources, interviews, sponsors and employs suitable Pacific Island workers to support aged care facilities across Australia.

HealthX Director of People and Welfare Naomi Dunne said the organisation was excited to be part of this wonderful initiative.

“As a people, Pacific islanders exude warmth and compassion, making them the ideal candidates for roles in aged care,” Naomi said.

“HealthX recognises that this is a life changing move, and we spend significant time preparing our employees for the change of culture and life in Australia.

Capecare staff welcomed the new team members on the first day at their Busselton aged care facility with a traditional Aussie BBQ lunch.

Capecare is the largest regional based independent aged care provider in Western Australia, existing to serve the needs of our older people in the Capes Region.

For more than 60 years Capecare has served the needs of our older people in the Capes Region and is the largest regional based independent aged care provider in Western Australia.

For more information on Capecare’s independent living, community and home care, respite, and residential care services visit www.capecare.com.au

Blooming beds for Capecare Dunsborough residents

Capecare Dunsborough residents have blooming vegetable and flower beds to enjoy thanks to generous support from Dunsborough Lions Club and Bunnings Busselton.

Eight raised garden beds were designed, constructed, and delivered to the facility to enable residents to participate in the planting and growing of decorative and edible plants kindly donated by Bunnings.

Dunsborough Lions members donated $25,000 to Capecare for this project plus Dementia-enabling equipment in December 2021.

Capecare Dunsborough Facility Manager Tammy Goddard said the completed garden beds would provide enrichment to their residents ‘lives.

“The garden beds were designed so that residents of all mobility levels could get involved in the project and see the fruits of their work grow,” she said.

“The conversations and reminiscence, together with digging in the soil and tending the plants is very uplifting to hear around the facility.

“To date it has been received very well with our residents and visitors. We definitely have some keen gardeners in our plot.”

The next step in the project is to paint the beds and Capecare is grateful to Dulux for donating this product.

 

Smiling lady in hat watering a raised garden bed in a courtyard

Capecare Dunsborough resident Nola Teakle taking care of a new garden bed.

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