Burnt out leaders chase new horizons to rekindle lost passion

If you drive northeast of Denpasar, Bali, for roughly two hours, you’ll find a hidden gem nestled along the Bali Sea: the Aashaya Jasri Resort. It’s in the picturesque location that Community Home Australia has established an inclusive, accessible getaway for people living with dementia and disability seeking international respite.

However, as the brainchild of Community Home Australia’s (CHA) Rodney Jilek and Nicole Smith, the site is also set to host leadership retreats for aged care leaders of all levels. This will provide an opportunity for burnt-out individuals — who might be on the verge of leaving the sector — to rediscover their passion for aged care.

Rodney and Nicole, among many others, have worked hard to develop an international respite program in Bali. They wanted to push the boundaries of what’s possible.

Just this month, their first cohort of participants travelled to Bali. They enjoyed personalised activities and the complete tourist experience (without travelling to the often crowded tourist hotspots in Bali).

CHA provides clinical staff to support care recipients and their carers as an all-inclusive package with no out-of-pocket expenses. Australian and Indonesian team members also work together to ensure the environment is accessible and the experience highly engaging.

Aged care leaders are also likely to benefit from that engaging experience, although, in a very different way. Nicole told Hello Leaders the leadership retreat aims to physically and mentally reinvigorate aged care workers. 

“The sector is not getting any easier. So we want to take these managers and leaders to get them rejuvenated and restored,” she shared. 

“If people don’t know who they are intimately, how could they possibly change the world for anyone else? Sometimes it’s finding out your core values or if you’re committed enough to bring love, life, joy and human rights into this journey.”

Some aged care leaders have already experienced this quiet getaway, with a recent August event laying the foundation for an ongoing commitment to supporting the sector’s most innovative minds. The event featured Michael Verde, dementia expert and co-founder of Memory Bridge, who’s currently hosting a series of events in Australia.

The leadership retreat, slated for February 2025, will feature special guest Maurie Voisey-Barlin, a creative engagement specialist for residential aged care. 

“People were blown away the minute they stepped into the resort. The fact we combine some good personalities with that five-day retreat is a bonus,” Nicole added.

“There are opportunities to discuss models like Community Home Australia. But we also talk about how to step away from aged care and do a mixed model, or how to support people with younger onset dementia and dementia care outside of a residential care space.”

There’s also a different mindset attached to this leadership retreat. As a point of difference, the goal is to attract leaders of all levels, not just executives.

“I’d like to see this as something that lower-level leaders would be able to come to. It’s somewhere they can talk about frustrations and roadblocks in their day-to-day lives in aged care, and how we can help them navigate those,” Rodney added.

“It’s about showing people you can do aged care in different environments. It’s about giving people a break and recognising that aged care is a physically and intellectually demanding sector. You just need to walk away for a bit and recharge and refresh. Often that doesn’t happen at those lower levels.”

Nicole built on this goal, highlighting how a crowd response at the recent International Dementia Conference pinpointed where the sector wants to see change. 

“When I spoke at the International Dementia Conference and said ‘Why don’t we stop spending a hundred grand on marble foyers and start spending the same amount on culture change programs’ everyone went crazy. The world is ready for change but I feel like they need the tools to know they have a safe and secure network that will guide them,” she said.

“Whatever we’re doing right now, the same old stuff is not working and it’s not progressing sector in a way that is benefiting people with dementia or who are accessing aged care services.”

Even Nicole was comfortable admitting her creative flair can be blanketed by processes, details and challenging work. She said the opportunity to step away from all of those restraints can help unleash love and passion for aged care.

“The leadership retreat will send people away questioning what they think they know, which is the best. Hopefully, this will be a good set-up to send amazing brains back out there feeling like they’ve got this,” Rodney added.

Meanwhile, plans are underway for the next big project at Aashaya Jasri Resort: Aashaya Jasri Village. The village will offer retirement living or holiday house accommodation with a community activity centre, a medical centre, 24-hour care and all other holiday trimmings on offer. 

“This is the fun part. This is where we can do good for other people,” Rodney said.