Ryman wins four Eldercare Innovation Awards

Ryman Healthcare has cemented its place as a retirement living and aged care leader after winning four categories at the Asia-Pacific Eldercare Innovation Awards in Singapore.

Ryman’s swag of 2024 awards builds on the company’s success at the 2023 event, where it also won four awards.

The awards, held in Singapore, celebrate organisations in the Asia-Pacific who foster innovative approaches to ageing which enhance the quality of life for older people. Held during the World Ageing Festival 2024, the prestigious international awards attracted more than 300 entries.

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For the second year in a row, Ryman was named ‘Operator of the Year-Ageing in Place’ for its continuum of care model, which is unique in Australia.

Ryman is the designer, owner, and operator of the model, which incorporates independent retirement living integrated with serviced apartments, home care, and aged care comprising low care, high care and specialist dementia care. The award recognises the invaluable benefits residents gain from being able to age within a community they know as their care needs change.

Ryman’s assisted living model, which includes home care and extra support, including a daily chef prepared meal and housekeeping, won ‘Operator of the Year – Assisted Living’.

The company’s Deborah Cheetham Retirement Village in Ocean Grove, Victoria, won ‘Design of the Year-Interior Design’.

Ryman Healthcare's Deborah Cheetham Retirement Village in Ocean Gove. 

The interior of the village, which officially opened last year, reflects the vision of village namesake and Yorta Yorta woman Deborah Cheetham Fraillon AO to represent the community’s connection to First Nations people.

Cheetham Fraillon collaborated with proud Gurindji Waanyi artist Sarrita King to design the ‘Movement of the Earth-Songlines’ series, featuring a hand-tufted rug and paintings reflecting country, culture, and connection.

The village’s communal centre also features artworks by proud Taungwurrung Kulin artist Mick Harding and signage in the Yorta Yorta and Wadawurrung languages.

The award recognises Ryman’s commitment to recognising and honouring the Traditional Owners of the land and how the contemporary design facilitates meaningful conversations.
It also celebrates how the residential interior helps serviced apartment and care centre residents to have positive health outcomes.

Gurindji Waanyi artist Sarrita King's ‘Movement of the Earth - Songlines’ paintings.

The company’s award-winning myRyman Resident App was named ‘Innovation of the Year-Technology Social Engagement’.

The app, designed in conjunction with New Zealand-based digital transformation partner Journey Digital, has revolutionised the way residents access information and engage in events and activities.

Designed specifically for older adults, the app was launched at Ryman’s Australian villages last year following more than 270 hours of interviews and user testing with about 150 Ryman residents.

The Eldercare Innovation award is the latest accolade for the myRyman Resident App, after it won a Digital Design Apps and Software Green Tick Award at the 2023 Australian Good Design Awards.

Ryman resident Elaine Cook with the award-winning myRyman Resident App.

Ryman Healthcare Australia CEO Cameron Holland said Ryman’s success at the awards was a fantastic recognition of the expertise and passion of teams right across the business.

“As a business we’re constantly looking for innovative solutions to enhance freedom, connection, and wellbing for people as we grow older," Cameron said.

“And innovation comes in many different forms. Sometimes it’s technological, as with our myRyman resident app, but it can also be the way in which we connect a community to the Traditional Owners of the land on which it operators, as we did with out Deborah Cheetham village.  

“The best innovations, though, are always simple, intuitive, and have people at their heart, which why it’s so satisfying to see our continuum of care model once again recognised as a world-leading approach.  

“Ryman villages work so well because they’re built and operated to cater for the unique lifestyle and health needs of each resident so they can live their best life wherever they are on their ageing journey.”

Ryman Australia's GM of Operations Rami Kamel (pictured, top) and Communications and External Relations Manager Michael Cummings presented to panels of judges in Singapore before the awards were announced at a gala dinner last Thursday night.