Meaningful Mates enables connection
4th September 2025 | 4 min read
Life is so much better when it’s shared. Humans are a social bunch, and having somebody to share our stories, dreams, and challenges with helps us to feel included, understood and valued for who we are.
Meaningful Mates is a ‘buddy’ program which aims to nurture socialisation and reduce isolation for residents. Team members build personal, genuine relationships with residents to develop an understanding of what matters to them, and how they prefer to participate in life.
For Joan, who lives at Treeby Parklands Care Community in Perth’s southern suburbs, a shared culture and love of art has helped to forge a strong friendship with Michelle, from our wellbeing team.
“We had a great rapport from the start,” says Michelle. “I’m from Birmingham and Joan is from South Wales, where I used to holiday, so we had plenty to chat about immediately.”
Those early conversations led to the pair discovering a shared interest in art. Joan mentioned she had enjoyed some success as an artist, including having pieces displayed on the television show, Gavin and Stacey. And while she still had a sparkle in her eye when talking about art and artists (especially Monet), she said declining health had dulled her inspiration for creating.
“That got me thinking how I could bring back that joy for Joan, in a way that was meaningful for her,” said Michelle. “So we identified a section of our Care Community that was unused and created a small art studio for Joan, complete with canvases, paints, brushes, an easel, oil paints and cleaning items.”
“I couldn’t believe Michelle did that for me,” said Joan. “I was touched by her consideration.”
Happily, Joan’s inspiration has been renewed. She has completed one landscape and there are more on the way.
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