Sisters enjoy Brownesholme neighbourhood

When sisters Edith Neale and Joan Bell both lived at the Carinity Brownesholme retirement village in Highfields they were neighbours.

Now, Edith has moved into aged care – but she still lives less than 100 metres away from her sibling.

She is one of the first residents of the new The Residences at Brownesholme aged care community, located right next to the Brownesholme retirement village.

Carinity’s co-located retirement villages and residential aged care communities are ideal for seniors who want to stay connected to family and friends. It means that Joan can easily visit her sister Edith every day.

“It’s great that we can still live close to each other,” Edith said.

Edith is the first of several former Brownesholme retirement village residents who now call the adjacent aged care community home.

“I get well looked after here, we can do a bit in the garden if we want to, I’ve got nice neighbours and most of us have common interests,” she said.

Joan has lived at the Brownesholme retirement village for 18 years. When Edith and her husband visited her sister’s independent living unit there, they were so impressed that they moved into Brownesholme a few months later.

“We liked the place, it was very convenient to everything, it has a nice Christian atmosphere and lovely gardens,” Edith said.

Carinity Aged Care Regional Manager, Kathy Nicholls, said Carinity has strategically co-located retirement villages and aged care communities in Highfields, Bundaberg, Rockhampton and Brisbane.

“When it is time for the additional support of aged care living, residents don’t have to move away from established relationships and can maintain their close networks. Having our retirement villages and residential aged care communities co-located also enables couples to remain connected if one partner requires a higher level of care,” Kathy said.

Joan believes the Highfields community has been blessed by the late Molly Browne donating her family’s 120-acre dairy farm to be developed into the Brownesholme retirement village and aged care community.

“We had talked about Molly leaving land especially for the retirement village and after a couple of years some of the local people were getting old. Gloria Phillips, who was the first person to move in here, she was a friend of mine,” Joan said.