What’s happening in aged care

• Nominate someone outstanding that you know, now for the Bethanie Medallion
• Rural and remote aged care service provider, Frontier Services turns the big-100. Former Dep PM, Tim Fischer, donates his famous Akubra hat to help out with the organisation’s fundraising activities. The Aged Care Channel also offers the organisation $5000 to mark the event.
• CS&HISC wants your help in creating its 2013 EScan of how the industry works and its workplace operations
• The Alzheimer’s Australia film, It’s not a disgrace…it’s dementia, goes Spanish
• Conferences around the corner 

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Nominations are now open for the Bethanie Medallion awards.

Hosted by the Bethanie Foundation, the awards aim to recognise individuals or organisations with a history of consistently delivering an exceptional standard of service in aged care.

Anyone can nominate someone who ‘makes a difference’ in the aged care sector, including doctors, nurses, allied health professionals, care workers, part-time volunteers, paid carers, groups and organisations.

The awards program is designed to recognise the people who serve and support Western Australia’s ageing population.

Nominations will close on Sunday, 28 October.

To find out more about the awards, visit http://www.bethanie.com.au/index.php?page=medallion

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Service provider, Frontier Services, has just celebrated 100 years of supporting people in remote Australia.

To help celebrate the centenary and raise vital funds to ensure Frontier Services can continue to provide its network of care, the former deputy Prime Minister in the Howard government years – Tim Fischer – has donated his black Akubra hat to be sold to the highest bidder on eBay.

The Akubra was used to shade the sun in Rome during Mr Fischer’s time as Ambassador to the Holy See and has been tipped to many fellow farmers in the Australian bush.

“This black Akubra has been from the Vatican to Victor Harbor, from Juba, South Sudan, to Jindabyne – essentially from Rome to Roma,” Mr Fischer said.

Mr Fischer, the former leader of the Federal National Party, has spent as many years on the farm as he did in Parliament. He has been a long-term supporter of people in remote Australia with his genuine compassion and understanding of people in the bush. In 2005, he was made a Companion of the Order of Australia (AC).

He first became Frontier Services Patron in 2002 and resumed the role this year on his return from Rome.

View the auction on eBay

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Above: Standing in front of the desk of Rev John Flynn – the founder of what is today Frontier Services is Rosemary Young, national director of Frontier Services; Russell Bricknell, CEO of ACC; and  Karen Martin, ACC strategic development and partnerships manager

Aged Care Channel (ACC) CEO, Russel Bricknell, recently presented a cheque for $5,000 to Frontier Services which has funded training for staff who provide essential support and services to people living in remote Australia.

The money from ACC has funded staff workshops, rolled out at the organistion’s centenary conference, on implementing best practice in the workplace, mental health traiing and professional and person development training.

“As a leading provider of training programs to aged care staff Australia-wide and in the UK, we are excited to contrubite to the training for Frontier Services staff as they gather to celebrate 100 years of service to remote Australia,” Mr Bicknell said.

Frontier Services’ national director, Rosemary Young, said she was delighted to receive the support from ACC.

“We are very grateful to ACC for its support at the National Staff Conference which is a rare and wonderful opportunity to bring together our staff from across the country,” said Ms Young.

“The workshops undertaken by staff will be invauluable in their continued learning as we strive to provide the best possible care to people in remote Australia.”

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The Community Services and Health Industry Skills Council (CS& HISC) is seeking sector-wide input into its 2013 Environmental Scan in order to capture the latest sector-wide trends in workforce planning, development and industry changes.

The 2013 EScan aims to provide essential industry intelligence on emerging issues and trends in the community services and health workforces and influence outcomes that can significantly impact work and workplaces.

It will cover a number of emerging themes spanning current national reforms occurring within the health, mental health, disability, children’s services, aged care and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health sectors.

The EScan is a key tool used to direct industry workforce planning, workforce development priorities and updates to the competency standards and qualifications in the Health and Community Services Training Packages.

Submissions must be received by 15 October. For details visit www.cshisc.com.au

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A new short film for the Spanish-speaking community designed to encourage acceptance of dementia as a medical condition – and not a normal part of ageing – has been launched via YouTube. 

The film, the latest in a series of targeting several non-English speaking communities in Australia, aims to help de-stigmatise and promote awareness of the condition.

The short films feature carers of people living with dementia giving personal accounts, in their own language, of their experience, along with health professionals who talk about the condition.
                                                                                                  
CEO of Alzheimer’s Australia Vic, Maree McCabe, said the short films in the It’s not a disgrace…it’s dementia series addressed myths and stigma about dementia and the importance for families to seek support within their local service network.

“If people recognise dementia as a distinct medical condition, which it is, they may be more encouraged to seek out advice, assessment and support,” Ms McCabe said.

“Those in the series that are already on our YouTube channel have proven to be very popular, having collectively been viewed more than 3,500 times by internet users in Australia and also around the world, in countries as diverse as Iraq, Sweden, Costa Rica and Cambodia.

“This demonstrates the real need for information about dementia out there in the community.”

The language-specific films, which run about 15 minutes in length and have English subtitles, are also available in Spanish, Assyrian, Croatian, Khmer and Ukrainian.

The films can be found on Alzheimer’s Australia’s YouTube site

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Conferences around the corner

The Future of Work: Developing Australia’s Workforce in a Global Economy
Skills Australia and Industry Skills Councils’ joint conference
3-4 October
Sydney Convention & Exhibition Centre
W: www.awpa.gov.au/events-and-stakeholder-forums

Seminar on Ageing: ‘Knowledge Transforms’
Hosted by Joanna Briggs Foundation
4 October (evening)
Sydney Nursing School, Camperdown 
RSVP/E: kym.elson@adelaide.edu.au

Diabetes & Diabesity Update Day 2012
Run by the Australian Diabetes Council
6 October
Australian Technology Park, Sydney
T: 1300 DIABETES (1300 342 238)
E: hpday@australiandiabetescouncil.com

Optimum health & nutrition for our ageing population
Presented by the International Life Sciences Institute SEAR Australasia Inc and the Omega-3 Centre Inc
24 October
Melbourne
E: admin@ilsi.org.au

The Mental Health of Older People: Exploring the Issues and Service Responses
Mental Health Coordinating Council and ACS NSW &ACT
2 November
Wesley Conference Centre
E: info@mhcc.org.au