New grants to help prevent falls

The ACT government has recently announced grants totalling over $144k to help prevent falls, a major cause of serious injury in older people and people with a disability. I know because my Nanna was in robust good health until at the age of 96 she fell and broke her hip. Infection set in and unfortunately she never recovered.

The one that caught my eye was the Tai Chi program at the YMCA. Weight-bearing exercise can help prevent osteoporosis and Tai Chi helps maintain flexibility and balance. The ability to maintain core strength as people get older is really important and its great to see focused funding to help provide access to programs such as these.

According the ACT Health site, the grants are broken up as follows:

	Project	Amount Funded 09/10
Arthritis ACT	More Ways to help our members stay on their feet	$26,478
Morshead Home	Blood Pressure and Staff Work Practices in Falls Prevention	$30,000
National Brain Injury Foundation	Restoring and Maintaining Balance while living with a disability/brain injury	$21,980
Therapy ACT	Falls Prevention Program for Aging Adults with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities in ACT	$46,508
YMCA Of Canberra	Tai Chi for Falls Prevention Training and Programs- Extension	$19,600
	Total Funded 2009/10	$144,566

World Blood Donor Day

Tomorrow is World Blood Donor Day and I’d like to encourage everyone who can donate blood to book in and donate on a regular basis.

As I have O- blood type, my blood can be given to anyone (as seen below in the blood type chart from the Red Cross site), so I try to donate my half a litre as regularly as possible. Recently we implemented a program in our business to encourage staff to give blood regularly during work hours.

The World Blood Donor Day is held each year on the 14th of June, which is the birthday of Dr Karl Landsteiner (1868 – 1943), the Austrian Nobel Prize winner who discovered the ABO blood group system in 1901.

Update on Men’s Sheds

I recently received a comment from Chris Simpson, the secretary of the Independent Men’s Shed Alliance, about my post back in March about Mensheds Australia.

The Men’s Shed Alliance offers help to other sheds trying to get established but do not charge for their services.

The Australian Men’s Sheds Association is the recognised body for most Men’s Sheds in Australia. Further info can be found by contacting them at amsa@tpg.com.au or visiting their website at http://www.mensshed.org.

Support for Retirement Village Code of Conduct

Welcome news today from the Chief Minister Jon Stanhope that a re-elected ACT Labor Government will legislate a Code of Conduct for retirement villages in the ACT.

This announcement builds on the work done by ACT Labor MLA Mary Porter in consulting with the community on the needs of residents, owners and operators.

It’s crucial that with our ageing population, the financial and social interests of all those involved are well understood, clearly documented and observed.

The code of conduct will help build a legal platform for the future, and compliments the ACT Labor Government’s strategies for the provision of affordable housing options for older Canberrans.

Since ACT Labor came to Government in 2001, 900 aged care beds have either been delivered, or are under design or construction.

A Healthy and Active Canberra

Another excellent initiative from ACT Labor is the announcement of further grassroots support of a healthy and active Canberra.

On Saturday Chief Minister Jon Stanhope and Minister for Sport Andrew Barr announced a range of community based services and facilities that will help underpin a re-elected ACT Labor Government’s push for an active and healthy community.

Highlights of the $40 million investment in capital and recurrent expenditure include:

* Investing $20 million to fund the construction of a new aquatic and recreation centre
for Gungahlin;

* $8.5 million to deliver stage two of the Lyneham Sports Precinct;

* $3 million to develop a basketball centre for excellence including a stadium
and player amenities for the Canberra Capitals, Gunners and club basketball teams;

* $2.5 million to help establish Canberra’s A‐League football team once the bid
is successful;

* $800,000 to help ACT school kids get active and healthy through the SmartStart program;

* $670,000 to upgrade and expand the Woden Gymnastics club;

* $200,000 to begin the feasibility and design work for a pool in the new community of Molonglo and Weston Creek;

* An additional $300,000 to support the important work of the Children’s Physical Activity Foundation; and

* $225,000 over four years to give 15 young Canberrans each year the opportunity to complete an Australian School Based Apprenticeship in the sport and recreation industry.

GP Locum Service

The election announcement this morning that a re-elected ACT Labor Government will commit $1.94 million over 4 years into a GP locum service is excellent news for the city’s aged community.

Complementing the existing out-of-hours CALMS service for residents of aged care facilities, the new daytime service will mean aged people will have better access to health services where they live.

Visiting GPs will also be able to focus on prevention and early intervention, taking a load off our hospitals and providing a more personalised service.

It is a practical measure that will be welcomed in aged facilities across the city.

Focus on Carers

Carers ACT is a surprisingly large organisation. It provides an extensive range of services, support, information and education across the ACT community and has close to 100 full and part time staff. It is also a strong advocate of the needs of carers in Canberra and has campaigned long and hard for an integrated approach to supporting the needs of carers in our community.

And the needs of carers cannot be underestimated. With over 40,000 people in the ACT providing some form of informal, unpaid care, there is growing demand for a range of support services that not only help those who need care, but address the needs of those people providing care.

Carers provide physical, emotional and spiritual support for people in need, but often their own needs are overlooked.

It can be tough being a carer, impacting on a person’s quality of life. My Mum looked after my Nan for nearly 20 years, only to pass away less than 7 years after her.

My wife cared for her Mum from when she was 18 after her Mum had a stroke at 42. My wife and I now provide ongoing care and support for her as she grows older.

And it is the needs of the carers themselves that Carers ACT supports. They provide a range of programs including:

* Carer support services

* Information on financial benefits carers may be entitled to

* Information on legal issues, carers’ health and wellbeing, grief and loss

* Respite programs to give carers a much needed break from the day to day care of others

The respite programs include the “Home from Home” program at “The Cottage” which provides respite for carers of people with dementia. This offers a supportive, homely environment with day, overnight or host family options.

There is also a program for young carers, something I strongly support, where young people up to 25 who help care for someone in the family who has an illness, disability or mental health issue, can seek assistance and support. This can be as simple as someone to talk to in a similar situation to themselves, through to getting time out from their day to day caring activities.

The ACT Government is supporting Carers ACT, securing 1200m2 of space at the new community hub in Holt. This will be tremendous boost for Carers ACT – they can move from more highly priced space in Belconnen and have the room to grow their services, co-located with organisations such as St Vinnies.

The people at Carers ACT are a passionate and compassionate bunch. And they add a great deal to the outcomes of thousands of people in our community.

Keeping the flu at bay in the workplace

Our company recently organised to provide flu shots for staff and their partners.

There are a number of mobile medical teams available who will come to your workplace and vaccinate staff. Each person signs a consent form and the vaccinations are performed over a lunchtime.

We figure that for a small outlay, we can help keep people healthy and happy while reducing the incidence of sick leave during winter. For a services-based business, it makes sense and is a classic win-win for everyone.

ACT Health also runs an intensive flu vaccination program for staff to help prevent and lessen the impact of outbreaks.

Influenza vaccine is also provided free under the National Immunisation Program to adults aged 65 years or over, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders aged 50 or older, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders aged between 15 and 49 who have risk factors.

Free Bus Travel for over 75’s

The Stanhope Government has committed $500,000 over 4 years to provide free travel on ACTION buses for people over 75.

Minister for Territory and Municipal Services John Hargreaves says the objective of the scheme is to encourage existing drivers over 75 to surrender their driver’s licence, where they may no longer be capable of driving safely, by providing free transport on ACTION buses.

This is a sensible initiative, which will provide economic assistance to the elderly, help with road safety, and improved environmental outcomes.

I had a chat yesterday with Paul Flint, Executive Director of Council on the Aging (COTA) in the ACT. It’s clear that the needs of the aged are highly complex and the policy initiatives required to address the changing demographics in the ACT will be a constant challenge in the future. It’s something the Stanhope Government recognises and providing free bus travel is one element of the overall strategy.

Community Health Centre for Gungahlin

The announcement in this week’s ACT Budget of the construction of a Community Health Centre in Gungahlin is welcome news for Canberra’s largest growth area.

$18m has been allocated for construction of the Centre, which will form part of the Stanhope Government’s investment in health worth $889m in the 2008/2009 Budget.

As Health Minister Katy Gallagher puts it:

“Located in our town centres, the ACT’s network of community health centres provides a comprehensive range of community based child and family services, mental health, continuing/post acute care services, general preventative and direct care services.

Growth in Canberra’s north requires a new community health centre at Gungahlin as part of this community network.”

The Community Health Centre will provide a range of nursing and clinical services that will help ease pressure on Canberra’s hospital system.