New Year message

From our Chair, Glen von Malachowksi.

"As we enter 2026, it feels like an important moment to pause and reflect - not just on the year ahead, but on the wider changes reshaping how we think about ageing, care, and our role within it.

Over the past century, human lifespan has increased by almost 30 years. Medical advances have transformed outcomes for many of the diseases that once defined later life. Yet despite these gains, much of our care system still operates on assumptions shaped by a very different era - one in which decline, dependency, and crisis were seen as inevitable.

That mismatch is becoming increasingly clear.
 
I believe 2026 represents a perfect storm for change. Several powerful forces are now converging, creating both a challenge and an opportunity for providers like Vincentian Care Plus.
 
First, competition within the care sector is intensifying. Quality alone is no longer enough; providers are being asked to demonstrate outcomes, purpose, and impact in ways that go beyond hours delivered or tasks completed.
 
Second, consumer expectations are changing rapidly. Older people today are better informed, more vocal, and less willing to accept passive or paternalistic models of care. They want to remain independent, involved, and in control of their lives for as long as possible - and they expect services to support that ambition.
 
Third, we now have far greater medical and behavioural insight into what influences how people age. We understand the critical role of movement, strength, balance, hydration, nutrition, sleep, and everyday habits in maintaining function and confidence. Ageing is no longer something that simply “happens to us”; it is something that can be actively shaped.
 
Finally, there is a clear and growing government focus on prevention rather than cure. This shift is driven not only by policy thinking, but by necessity. Health and care systems cannot remain sustainable if support only begins once independence has already been lost.
 
Individually, each of these forces has been building for some time. Together, they act as a catalyst—prompting a fundamental rethink of what good care looks like.
 
For me, this moment calls for a shift in mindset:

• From episodic intervention to ongoing, preventative support
• From managing decline to preserving capability
• From doing things for people, to working with them
 
The defining question is no longer simply how we respond when needs escalate, but how we help people remain confident, capable, and connected for as long as possible.
 
At Vincentian Care Plus, we are well placed to engage with this challenge. Our values, our commitment to person-centred care, and our recognition of the vital role played by professional carers, all position us to contribute meaningfully to this next phase of care provision.
 
As Chair, my hope for 2026 is that we continue to question assumptions, embrace learning, and play our part in shaping services that reflect the reality of longer lives - and the dignity, purpose, and independence that people rightly expect to retain within them."