The Helier: 5-star services and exceptional private care.

It has a butler service, a personal laundry valet and a chauffeur service to a fleet of Jaguar cars – yet the new gold standard in aged care living, the Helier, says its biggest asset is the level of personalised, individualised care.

The transition to living in an aged-care residence is always a big step but, for people used to the finer things in life, moving into a care environment can be an extra high hurdle.

Oceania’s new Care Residences at The Helier, in Auckland’s eastern suburbs, are designed to provide a more luxurious and individualised care experience, meeting the needs of older people accustomed to living in comfort.

Shirley Ross, The Helier’s Director of Clinical and Care Services, says residents can enjoy the standard of living they have enjoyed in their own homes, while also being able to access hotel-like facilities and services and having all health and care needs met.

“Here we are able to offer a bespoke service, including our hospitality services, to attract a clientele who want a more individualised level of service,” she says. Experiences include things you might expect at a five-star hotel rather than a retirement complex: butler service, a personal laundry valet, and a chauffeur service (and not in just any car, either — a fleet of Jaguar hybrids).

For those no longer able to live independently, The Helier’s personalised, nurse-led model of care provides access to round-the-clock clinical care.

Ross says the Care Residences at The Helier offers a resident-focused approach that provides holistic, individualised and continuous care: “Every staff member who interacts with a resident has the same brief: to know the resident as an individual and cater to their personal preferences every step of the way.”

Each resident has a Registered Nurse assigned to them, supported by care associates and overseen by a Nurse Practitioner who is able to diagnose, treat, refer and prescribe treatment and medication. They can receive a level of support from day-to-day assistance right up to hospital-level palliative care, without needing to leave their residence.

“Someone might start off living here needing just a bit of care, such as help with washing and dressing or with meals, and eventually need a higher level of support, right up to end-of-life care, without ever having to move,” Ross says. “Handing over that responsibility can give family members peace of mind, and they can still be very involved in and informed.

“You might have parents who are living in Auckland and children who are living elsewhere – who can be kept fully updated about how their parents are doing. There is a very high level of communication between staff and families.”

Ross says all Oceania Healthcare’s retirement and care properties across New Zealand are designed to give an excellent standard of clinical care “but it’s the trifecta of premium care, the extra hospitality-led services and luxury surroundings that makes The Helier Care Residences unparalleled”.

Part of that is The Helier’s deep dive into the lives of their residents even before they move there as staff try to understand everything about the people involved – and to provide everything to give a first-class care experience.

A team from The Helier visits prospective residents in their own homes —in Auckland or further afield — before they move in, for a clinical assessment of their needs and to see the lifestyle to which they are accustomed.

“We want to visit these residents at home so we can see how they live and what they like,” Ross says. “Moving home is a big decision at any time, but it’s even harder to make that decision to come into care, into a new environment. We want to help make that transition as smooth and stress-free as possible.”

The 32 studio and one-bedroom Care Residences complement the 79 independent living, luxury retirement apartments at The Helier, which received their first residents last year, many of whom already lived in the surrounding area. The entire development, designed by architects Peddlethorp, is aimed at the upper end of the market, providing a luxury environment which includes a restaurant, lounges, an indoor swimming pool and gymnasium and its own cinema, with views out over Glover Park in St Heliers to the Waitematā Harbour.

The Helier also has an onsite specialist physiotherapist to work with residents requiring physical support or rehabilitation following operations or injuries; the gym is kitted out with a suite of high-tech HUR equipment from Finland, computerised training equipment specifically designed for senior exercise and rehabilitation, including maintaining strength and balance. There is also a heated indoor pool for not only assisted recreational swimming but hydrotherapy.

The Care Residences have a kitchenette but all meals are fully catered, to an individually designed diet. The Helier’s main dining room menus are designed by executive chef Charles Pihera, also with nutritional input from a dietician.

“And it’s not institutionalised, with lunch at a certain time, or we ring a bell and that’s dinner,” Ross says. “It’s absolutely when you want to get up and have breakfast, or if you want to meet friends for lunch — it’s very individualised in that way.”

Ross says the aim of the Care Residences is for people to live out their lives in comfort, surrounded by things which make them happy, with the highest level of health care and support.

“Once you purchase your Care Residence, that’s where you stay. You can bring whatever you want with you to furnish the residence, or it can be fully furnished, with everything provided. We want to think of it more as moving home rather than moving into care.”

For more information: oceaniahealthcare.co.nz/location/the-helier/care-residences