Worlds come together in expanding aged care sector

THERE is no one face of older Australia but 83-year-old William Watson comes close.

THERE is no one face of older Australia but 83-year-old William Watson comes close.

The 10 Pound Pom suffers from one of the fastest growing diseases — dementia — and is being cared for by a worker from one of the fastest rising sections of the aged care workforce.

Shami Shamon, 24, migrated to Australia from Iraq and has called Australia home for the past 11 years, completing school and eventually finding her way into the aged care sector.

Separated by two generations and half the world, these two migrants’ paths finally crossed.

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“I’ve been caring for Bill for more than a year now and I wake up every morning and leave the house with a smile on my face,” she said.

“I never think ‘oh, I cannot be bothered going to work’. I used to work with children but now, after doing this, I can never see myself ever changing jobs.”

The aged care workforce of 350,000 needs to at least double by 2050 and much of that increase will come from migrant workers.

Mr Watson lives in the home where he raised his family after emigrating in 1971 and now, at the age of 52, his son Robert has moved back to help with his care.

“You know, we’re living longer but that doesn’t mean our brains are keeping up,” Robert said.

“Dad was diagnosed with dementia six or seven years ago and when he had a fall they couldn’t release him until he had 24-hour care.

“We promised him them that we wouldn’t put him in a home and we won’t.”

It was at this time that Ms Shamon, who works for the Benevolent Society, entered their lives.

About half of those in residential aged care have dementia and there are more than 330,000 with the disease in the country.

“The government says we have to pay for more of our care costs as we get older but a lot of that care is already done by families, unpaid,” Robert Watson said.

Robert, who works as an electrical technician, also receives a carer pension but said carers were saving the government money on ballooning care costs.

“That’s not why I do it. He is still our dad, even though his brain is a bit scrambled. I can’t remember the last time we had a conversation about anything real.”