Moving into an aged care facility can be a difficult and emotional time for elderly people. Compared to retirement living, seniors in nursing homes have less independence and need to rely on other people for day-to-day tasks and health care.

At Higgins, we feel that an aged care home should feel like a ‘home’, and not like an institution. One of the ways to achieve this is through regular maintenance and care of your property. Here are some aged care maintenance ideas to help you ensure a safe and comfortable environment for your residents.

1. Lawn maintenance

Weed control, irrigation, mowing, pest management and pruning all form part of lawn maintenance. There are many benefits to having a healthy lawn - it significantly reduces noise pollution, it’s a natural filter for dust and pollutants, and it’s known to have a positive impact on your mood.

If you have a small garden, you can do a lot of the work yourself as the facilities manager, including installing sprinklers or drip systems to save yourself time and money on watering. However, pruning, drought-tolerant landscaping and soil aeration should be left to the professionals. With the harsh Australian environment being prone to both droughts and flooding, it’s helpful to implement landscaping solutions that are more tolerant, weather-withstanding and designed by professional contractors.

2. Health and safety maintenance

Facilities managers should stay on top of repairs and monitor all systems to ensure absolute safety across your property at all times. This includes regularly updating lighting systems to improve visibility, checking and monitoring alarm and security systems, installing grab rails and securing rugs and cords. General building safety and aged care maintenance requires ongoing awareness and diligence from owners and property managers, including regular physical inspections, staff training and sustainable, structured health and safety systems.

3. Building maintenance

As with all properties, deferring building maintenance can lead to expensive problems later. As a building manager, you want to know that all possible problems are taken care of, ideally, before they become a problem. Facilities managers need to respond to a range of issues, including plumbing, air conditioning, cleaning and roofing. These are important areas to maintain as they play a vital role in the operation of your aged care facility. If having an onsite maintenance person is too costly, hire a professional to conduct an annual or half-yearly maintenance checkup to prevent expensive repairs - it will benefit you in the long run!

4. Painting maintenance

Regular painting and sectional repaints – whether for interior or exterior surfaces – are a critical aspect of aged care maintenance. Not only are they necessary to prevent wear and tear of building materials, but aesthetically pleasing environments can improve the mood of your people and attract new residents. In fact, the right colours can even increase staff productivity. The right company and team of experienced contractors can provide colour advice, as well as a cost-effective way of preventing deterioration and minimising the need for expensive repainting in the future.

When planning a painting project for your aged care or retirement facility, it’s paramount that you and your contractors minimise disruptions and look out for the health and safety of your residents and staff. Download our Guide to Painting Aged Care & Retirement Facilities to learn how to safely and successfully manage your next project.

Higgins Coatings is a premier contractor for painting and refurbishment services throughout Australia. We understand the specific needs of retirement living and aged care facilities and can help you turnover rooms and units within your facility quickly and safely. Higgins has an ISO tri-certification accreditation in safety, quality and the environment. Contact us today for a quote

Originally published 26 November 2015. Updated 12 April 2022.