Fronditha Care has completed the first phase of community consultations which will inform how the aged care provider can improve its services in the future.
The consultations coincide with Fronditha celebrating 35 years of caring for Victorians of Greek background.

ver recent weeks, open meetings were held at five Melbourne suburbs, giving the public and community an opportunity to discuss Fronditha’s future plans, and for the aged care provider to hear first hand, the community’s voice on the needs of our elderly population.

resident of Fronditha Care, Mr Mike Zafiropoulos AM, told Neos Kosmos that the reason for the community consultation was “to ensure the community was informed about our plans, aspects of regulations which affect them, and to seek comments and suggestions about our planning.”
Mr Zafiropoulos said that the public meetings, attended by over 200 people, showed how supportive the community is, of Fronditha and its work.

The most important thing for me was to see how passionate were those people who came along, it is a clear indication that the old virtue of Greeks proudly looking after their elderly is still here with the second generation. That’s very important.

“We care for the first generation who sacrificed themselves for instance by having two jobs – parents going out of their way to deprive themselves of even basic things to ensure their kids got the best education.”

Fronditha’s president said that the meetings identified a number of new approaches that the organisation would be taking on board, which include developing a regular newsletter to provide information to families on aged care issues that would set out to demystify the complexities of aged care procedures.
He added that the community consultation will now proceed to include meetings with specialist groups, and that all the feedback would be used to inform Fronditha’s strategic planning from April onwards.

From humble beginnings, Fronditha has developed over the last 35 years to become a leading aged care provider with unparalleled skills and expertise in the provision of quality aged care services to people of Greek background. Reaching 35 years of dedicated service is a significant milestone and a cause for celebration, but it is also a time to reflect and plan for the future,” said Mr Zafiropoulos, who expressed his gratitude to all who had attended the public meetings.
“I want to thank the community for their very enthusiastic response and their wise suggestions to us.”
Fronditha Care began in 1977 as ‘the Australian Greek Society for Care of the Elderly’, when a group of volunteers became concerned by stories of elderly Greeks being isolated in rooming houses and Greek widows languishing in English-speaking nursing homes.

The pioneering volunteers decided that these men and women deserved to live in dignity for the remaining years of their lives.
In 1983, the first 30 bed Greek-speaking nursing home was established by Fronditha. Today the organisation has expanded to five aged care facilities, consisting of 319 beds and a range of in-home community support services. A further 120 beds will be added by 2014.