Chinchilla is at the centre of an Australian-first development to improve their aged residents’ health through better social connection.

ABC TV’s smash hit ‘Old People’s Home for 4 Year Olds’ proved to Australian audiences the powerful and positive impact social interaction has on the lives of people as they age.

Now, the community 300 kilometres north-west of Brisbane on the western Down is taking some of the lessons from the ground breaking reality TV show and transferring the concept to a new development on a bigger scale with a multi-million-dollar budget attached.

Southern Cross Care Queensland (SCCQ), which has operated in the community as an aged care provider for more than 40 years, is leading the scheme, with a host of local businesses, local government representatives and allied health organisations getting behind the concept.

Local Federal MP and Nationals Leader David Littleproud told InQueensland the project was a “game-changer”.

“I really have to give credit to Southern Cross because this is a project that won’t just help Chinchilla, but is already helping the smaller satellite towns like Tara, Miles and Jandowae,” he said.

“This is a model the federal government should seriously look at as it has the potential to be overlaid across other regional parts of Australia that are facing similar challenges with aged care.”

Littleproud’s comments come as SCCQ seeks $3.22 million from the federal government to fund a new community centre as part of the complex, the last piece of building infrastructure required to fulfil the master plan.

If successful in securing the funding, the new Age Well Community Centre will complete the redevelopment and expansion of the existing aged care site, which includes a new aged care home replacing an existing home with additional beds and a new education and training facility at a cost of nearly $30 million.

It is hoped the training facility, to be used in partnership with Southern Queensland Rural Health, will help grow and up-skill qualified allied health and nurses undertaking clinical placements in the district.

An Indigenous health service, in partnership with Goondir Health Services will make allied health available onsite for the local Indigenous community.

The aged care provider’s CEO, Jason Eldering, said he would judge the program a success by the number of older people he could keep out of aged care and living independently in their homes with support and connection to their community.

He said studies had shown the district had one of the highest proportions of older people living alone in their homes than almost anywhere else in Queensland and it was his vision to break the barriers of isolation and have more people engaging and connecting around a health and wellness hub that would provide a diverse range of services.

“We want them out in the gardens, cooking meals and doing gentle exercise and interacting with the community,” Eldering said.

“The worst thing we can do for our older people and the health system is have people locked up in their homes, inactive and isolated.”

Last year, SCCQ commissioned an economic impact assessment by aged care research firm Evaluate, which found that a multidisciplinary hub would ease healthcare demands, predicted to increase in most Australian communities as the population ages.

“What we want is less unnecessary hospitalisation and less mental health issues and the studies show that if you have more connected communities where more meaningful relationships are cultivated, you’ll go a long way towards keeping more people out of aged care,” Eldering said.

“It sounds kind of counterintuitive coming from an aged care provider, but we can play a vital role in connecting people to a range of health and wellness services and by growing collectively and collaboratively.

“I’m not interested in providing a silo aged care service; they don’t work and they’re not sustainable for staff or the people they serve.

“I think we have a real opportunity in Chinchilla to build something that celebrates community and celebrates life.”