Interview with Debbie McCusker, Facility Manager, Aldwins House

We’d like to introduce Debbie McCusker, our Facility Manager at Aldwins House in Christchurch.

Debbie joined Aldwins House in late 2025 and has already made a huge impact. Get to know her below:

What specifically drew you to working in aged care?
Learning about and understanding each resident’s story is such an important part of my work. I fell in love with listening to stories of people’s lives – their childhoods, schooling, relationships, families and careers.

I want to create a home at Aldwins where we encourage connection and community for our people, and listen to their stories. The value of this goes both ways – the lives of our elders are so rich and we can learn so much from them.

What aspects of aged care are you particularly passionate about?
’m passionate about creating aged care and dementia care with more compassion and less chemicals, a topic I’ve spoken about at the 2025 Alzheimers NZ summit. In a previous role, I’ve reduced PRN antipsychotic use from 408 administrations to only 3 per month!

At Aldwins, I am implementing staff training focusing on compassionate communication and ensuring physical needs are met as first-line responses to distress. We can’t underestimate the impact of helping residents feel seen, heard and genuinely cared for.

What do you see as a point of difference for Aldwins?
Our people – we have amazing residents and a fantastic team, many of whom have been here since the beginning. It feels like a great network of cooks, cleaners, activities staff, caregivers, nurses and managers who really work well together as a team. They truly care about supporting our residents to live good lives.   

Additionally, we have great facilities here. Our lovely outdoor spaces and large activity room provide the ideal setting for social opportunities and physical wellbeing.

What’s coming up at Aldwins that you are excited about?
A shake-up of our activities programme - our new programme will have a stronger focus on resident-led activities and increased van outings to encourage residents to remain active and connected. We will also be bringing more members of the wider community into Aldwins to enhance social connection. We are looking forward to sharing more on this soon!

You are UK born but have lived much of your life in Ireland and now call New Zealand home. Who will you be supporting at next year’s Rugby World Cup?
Ireland, 100%, forever and always!

What is your drink of choice to get you through the day?
Barry’s Tea. I get it sent from Ireland and it costs a fortune, but it is worth it!

You’ve moved to Christchurch recently with your family - how are you settling in?
Christchurch has a really similar feeling to cities in Ireland, so there is something about it that is very familiar, even though we are on the other side of the world. The beaches in Christchurch are sensational – I love them! I don’t feel too homesick for Ireland, but we do really miss our friends and family, so keeping the connection alive through calls and video chat is very important to us.

Find out more about Aldwins House, Christchurch by visiting our website.

Alternatively, contact Debbie directly by emailing fm.aldwins@promisia.co.nz.