Providers mark Anzac centenary with residents

Aged care providers across Australia will hold special services this Saturday to mark the 100th anniversary of the Anzac landing at Gallipoli.

Feros Care will be using a robot to take residents at Feros Care Village Wommin Bay on a virtual journey to a Tweed Regional Museum where they get to see, hear and be part of an Anzac exhibition.

Feros Care will use a “telepresence robot”, known as the Wheel-I-Am, which is an iPad mounted on a miniature Segway base. It can be remotely controlled from anywhere in the world over the internet using a secure connection. By using a front facing camera and receiving real-time video and audio, the residents at the village can participate in conversations.

Wheel-I-Am will tour the Anzac exhibition entitled Fragments: Words of War, which features diaries, letters, postcards and service records of World War I soldiers who have connections to the Tweed. Residents at Feros Village Wommin Bay will operate Wheel-I-Am using an iPad, putting them in charge of their virtual tour of the museum.

Similarly, major provider Blue Care said it would be acknowledging the sacrifice and bravery of war veterans on this significant Anzac Day.

“Most Blue Care residents and community care clients have been touched by war in some way,” executive director Robyn Batten said. “We are honoured to be able to provide care for and play a part in the lives of those who once served our country.”

Ms Batten said to mark the 100^th anniversary of the Anzac landing at Gallipoli, a number of facilities were holding special commemorative services this year. “Many of Blue Care’s residents, staff and volunteers will be spending time on Anzac Day to acknowledge the bravery and sacrifice of war veterans and their loved ones,” she said.