Growing Diversity in Retirement Villages
Traditionally, retirement village residents have tended to be mostly pakeha and come from a fairly standard background. We’re often asked what we’re doing to encourage older people from other ethnic backgrounds to move in, and for a long time, the answer was “not very much”. However, more recently that’s started to change, so we asked our writer Janet Brown to investigate.
Written for the RVA by Janet Brown, Head and Heart Ltd
I’m talking with a group of Chinese residents at Summerset at Heritage Park when it becomes clear that it all started with Heidi’s housewarming party. Heidi Ng and her husband moved to Heritage Park in Ellerslie, Auckland, in February 2020, in order to have more support with the effects of his Parkinson’s Disease. Heidi invited about forty of their friends to come and celebrate their new home, and that party sparked a chain reaction that’s still continuing.
Village managers often say that it’s quite common for each new resident to trigger one or two inquiries from their friends and family. In this case, Heidi and her husband are Chinese, as are many of their friends. And that party has led, in just over a year, to fifteen apartments (and counting!) in Heritage Park’s new Heritage Apartment Building being occupied by other Chinese residents. Heritage Park Village Manager Leticia Chuck believes this trend is likely to continue, “The village is really a reflection of the wider Auckland community.”
Bruce Cullington, Village Manager at Acacia Cove, has also been thinking about diversity in retirement villages, and raised this issue at the 2021 conference sales and marketing masterclass. Bruce believes that village populations need to reflect the underlying community population or sales will drop. He stresses this requires an in-depth analysis of demographics – ethnicity, age groups, and home ownership rates. There are also practical considerations – for example, the Retirement Villages Code of Practice requires the use of interpreters for residents not able to easily communicate in English. Heritage Park has partnered with a local Chinese social services organisation, the CNSST Foundation, to ensure that key communications are translated.
Back at Heritage Park, Heidi picks up the story and explains how it started. “We looked at several villages, then the first time I walked in here I felt the warmth, the welcome. But when I told people we were moving to a retirement village, they often said “Poor you!”, so I had a party to show them how lovely it was.” Heidi’s professional career was as a real estate agent, so she knows the ins and outs of property, and did thorough research. She volunteers that, from the outset, she didn’t mind not getting capital gains because of the support and activities retirement village living offered. That view has been strengthened by the marked improvement in her husband’s wellbeing and enjoyment of life since they moved in. Everyone in the group nods and agrees.
About the same time, Graham and Janet moved in. Graham is New Zealand born, an accountant who’s still working, and doesn’t speak either Cantonese or Mandarin, and Janet came to New Zealand from Hong Kong aged nine. She speaks Cantonese, and before they moved in mostly did so with her mother in her nineties; now she has a group of neighbours to talk with in Cantonese. Janet had looked at a number of retirement villages and brought Graham to look at Heritage Park; he knew the area and liked the lake views, so they put a deposit down on their three-bedroom apartment just in time to secure it before an Open Homes weekend when the remainder sold.
Raymond Sun was the first party-goer to act: “After the party I picked up some fliers on the way out, and started looking at villages.” He settled quickly on Heritage Park, and next thing his friend Sylvia was keen as well. Others were interested too: Kitty, Jenny and May from Raymond’s tai chi class, and Heidi’s friends from Eastern Howick Baptist Church. All have now moved in, as well as others. Most of the group already knew each other, which has made settling into their new community easier. They all appreciate the amenities, each enjoying different aspects. For Selina and her husband, it’s the spa – Selina says, laughing, “We have a spa every night before bed”. Raymond enjoys getting to know non-Chinese residents at happy hour, and encourages others to come: “Everyone should go to happy hour, it helps you know what’s going on and it's great for getting to know people.” Chinese New Year became a village-wide celebration, enthusiastically supported by residents, who watched Raymond demonstrate the art of the traditional tea ceremony, while Heidi introduced them to Chinese calligraphy.
Another aspect of retirement village living they enjoy is the ready contact with each other. Most days at least some will get together to drink tea and chat. Living on two floors of the same apartment block, it’s easy to pop in to catch up – Heidi laughs about how they walk barefoot from apartment to apartment: “We don’t even need to put our shoes on to go and see each other!” Raymond adds, “Every day, people are ringing my doorbell. In Howick, that didn’t happen.”
Yes, there are some things they miss about living in the community – their vegetable gardens, and, like all down-sizers, the greater space in their old homes. And as their numbers grow at Heritage Park, there are a few tweaks they’d like: some Chinese food on the menu, and an occasional Chinese movie night together in the theatre: “Even the Europeans would like to see Jackie Chan!” Heidi says they can watch Chinese movies in their own apartments, but it’s the social event aspects of a movie night in the theatre that would be appreciated. And having a staff member or two who speak Cantonese would reduce the demand on Raymond for interpreting; several of the group speak limited English.
But the group is at pains to tell me that these are heavily outweighed by what they’ve gained. Graham’s final comment, as he leaves to go to work, is “Everyone is very friendly here.” None of them have needed it yet, but having care available is important to them. Heidi sums it up: “I know, if anything goes wrong, I’m already in a safe place with my friends around me.”
But for now, they’re all enjoying life in their new apartments and community. Heidi has the last word on this too: “Every day it’s like having a holiday together on a cruise!”