Staff Appreciation Post: Kiesha Waller

At LFBIT, we aim to be the best for our residents, enable them to participate in the community, feel included, and maximise their independence. An essential aspect to achieving this mission is providing a consistent and new variety of activities to participate in. This brings us to the wonderful Kiesha Waller, our Diversional Therapist and Recreation Coordinator for both our Ilam Road and Te Orewai homes.

Kiesha worked in aged care since she was 15 years old, finding an early passion for running activities for and with residents. Eventually she was hired part-time for activities at her aged care facility, and after achieving her Diversional Therapy qualification in 2016, she was hired full time. Kiesha always wanted to work for a charity, and a year ago found her opportunity with LFBIT.

“It was quite a daunting prospect,” says Kiesha. “To build the courage to even go for a job interview, I hadn’t been in an interview since I was 15. I was quite content in my work, I loved the residents. But, I just got to that point where I knew that I wanted to go further.”

Diversional Therapists do what it says on the tin, they divert people! This means creating or finding meaningful activities that a client can divert into, in order to avoid certain behaviours, or feelings of loneliness or isolation. This could be through things like music, heading out for coffee, going to see a show, going on holiday, doing crafts, and so much more. Through engaging in activities on a consistent basis, you can divert away from the things that negatively impact life.

For Kiesha, work doesn’t simply involve finding a new activity for the day - it involves getting out and about, and finding and meeting people who can help in activities; heading to expos and learning; seeking out discounts for clients; spreading the word and looking for volunteers; working to get everyone their Hāpai cards and Total Mobility cards. It took some time to build relationships with our clients and team, and develop a plan for consistent activities, but Kiesha is well on her way to making Ilam Road and Te Orewai places that bustle with activity. And there is still plenty that Kiesha wants to achieve.

“My vision is to get the clients out and about as much as possible, which isn’t always easy with COVID and money constraints. But, to be out in the mainstream community, interacting with the public, is so important.”

Kiesha says that the main thing she loves about her work is enabling opportunities for clients to follow their inspirations and watching them achieve it. Plans are put in place for clients’ goals, no matter how big or small, and the steps are taken to go and make them come true.

“I love seeing the expressions on the clients faces. Recently I woke up at three in the morning to build this snowman for our Midwinter Christmas. It was a fairly meaningless activity that took a good amount of time. But during that, residents and staff came along to help, bringing clothes for the snowman and giving advice. It created lots of joy and laughter. Sometimes getting out and just laughing, it is the best medicine.”

There has been a clear and positive change amongst the clients since Kiesha began her work, and she has gained a lot of great feedback from friends and whānau of clients who love to also come along and get involved.

“This is probably one of the most rewarding jobs. To see someone else, smile or just look and laugh in a different way or a positive way is so great. I love everything about my job. And every moment is a treasure.”

One difficulty in her role is finding new volunteers to come in and help out with activities. We are always on the lookout for volunteers to come along and help in any way. This could be something as small as coming in to paint nails, or even coming along with instruments to play. If you’re interested in coming in to volunteer, please reach out!

Thanks again to Kiesha for the wonderful energy you bring to LFBIT. It is always a joy to see and hear about the latest outings, and we can’t wait to see what the team do next!