Become an adult literacy tutor
Published February 7, 2012 | 
Sunshine Coast Council wants to hear from volunteers interested in becoming adult literacy tutors in 2012.
2012 is National Year of Reading and Sunshine Coast Libraries and the Department of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation are supporting the adult literacy tutor training program.
Nearly half of the Australian population can’t read newspapers, follow a recipe, make sense of timetables or understand the instructions on a medicine bottle.
Volunteers can complete an accredited training course and help increase literacy standards on the Coast.
Anyone can become a volunteer literacy tutor and complete the accredited training.
The training provides volunteers with the tools and information required to help community members improve their literacy.
The first training course starts at Kawana on 13 February 2012 and the second training course starts after Easter.
To become a volunteer literacy tutor, collect an information pack from council and complete the application form. There are limited spaces on the course and applicants will be interviewed prior to commencing the training.
For more information email council mail@sunshinecoast.qld.gov.au or call 5499 5414.
Fight Dementia – make 2012 a year to remember
Published February 7, 2012 | Alzheimer’s ‘Fight Dementia’ campaign was launched late last year, when the federal government announced it would cease specific dementia funding from 2013. Since then, the Department of Health and Ageing has collapsed all existing health funding streams into a new funding system – a health and aged care flexible funding pool – which means the organisation will need to compete with others for money.
There are currently 267,000 Australians living with dementia and the number of people with dementia is set to increase by almost 50% over the next 10 years. By 2050 there will be almost one million Australians with dementia.
Alzheimer’s Australia wants the Commonwealth to restore dementia as a National Health Priority, guarantee continual funding, and provide $500 million over five years to address key concerns and fight the disease.
If you would like to support the fight you can sign up as a Dementia Champion, write to your Federal Member of Parliament and Senators for your state and share your story. Go to http://campaign.fightdementia.org.au/ to sign up as a Champion.
Alzheimer’s Australia offers support, information, education and counselling. Contact the National Dementia Helpline on 1800 100 500.
Volunteer while you travel
Published December 28, 2011 | Green Nomads is a casual environmental volunteering program targeting Australia’s large transient population, in particular the Grey Nomads.
By joining the program travellers are able to access numerous volunteering opportunities with local community natural resource management (NRM) groups throughout Queensland to undertake activities, including community education and manual labour based activities such as tree planting, while they travel around our beautiful state.
Joining the program involves paying an annual subscription, which gives volunteers access to a ‘member only’ section of the website (www.greennomads.com.au), where they can browse and register to attend volunteering events that fit in with their travel itineraries.
To sign up and become a Green Nomad you can fill in the online application form. In the members only section of the website you can keep in touch with fellow Green Nomads via private messaging, share conversations and pictures on the community’s forum and photo gallery and keep track of your friends’ latest location via a map.
Green Nomads is an initiative of Queensland Water and Land Carers (QWaLC), a non profit peak body, representing community National Resource Management volunteers in Queensland. Go to www.greennomads.com.au for more details.
Queenslanders alerted to summer home fire risk
Published November 27, 2011 | With temperatures soaring across Queensland, RACQ Insurance is cautioning householders to ensure their fans, air conditioners and cooling appliances are safe to use.
RACQ Insurance Executive Manager Communications, Mike Sopinski, said that with rising temperatures and people opting to stay indoors to avoid the heat, fans and air conditioners are being put into rapid use after many months of storage.
“Queenslanders need to be especially aware of the potential fire risks posed by cooling devices, particularly those that have been stored for some time and may be overdue for a safety check,” Mr Sopinski said.
RACQ Insurance research showed faulty electrical appliances and fittings including fans and air conditioners were a major cause of home fires. RACQ Insurance home claims data from last year showed the highest-risk period for home electrical fires were the months of November and January and over the summer period.
“Residents should maintain home cooling equipment in a safe operating condition even when the appliance is not in use. Improperly installed, damaged or misused equipment are frequent sources of preventable incidents,” Mr Sopinski said.
“Before switching on these types of appliances, Queenslanders should check for damaged cords and blocked filters, particularly in older equipment. Householders should also be careful when buying second-hand electrical appliances by thoroughly checking the unit for safety.”
It is vital to install and maintain smoke alarms in the house. Mr Sopinski said that Queensland fire protection laws required domestic dwellings to have smoke alarms installed. The laws also required householders to carry out regular maintenance and checks on installed smoke alarms.
“The Queensland summer is long and hot and we expect home cooling appliances to work overtime day and night,” Mr Sopinski said.
Superannuation age limit scrapped
Published November 3, 2011 | Older Australians have welcomed Assistant Treasurer Bill Shorten’s move to completely scrap the superannuation guarantee age limit.
On 2 November Mr Shorten announced that, rather than raising it, the age limit on the superannuation guarantee will be abolished from 1 July 2013.
National Seniors chief executive, Michael O’Neill, said Mr Shorten had earned a big tick from older Australians.
“On the right for older Australians to have equal access to superannuation, this Government has put their money where their mouth is,” he said.
“Currently, employers are not required to pay superannuation towards workers aged over 69.
“Basically, this means the clock ticks over and you lose your super,” said O’Neill.
“It sanctions, at the highest level, the notion that seniors are worth less than their younger colleagues, and contradicts the bi-partisan view that we will all work longer as the population ages”.
“National Seniors would like to thank parliamentarians from all sides who’ve supported the campaign to end one of the many disparities that exist for older workers,” said O’Neill.
Press release: National Seniors
Important numbers you may need to call
Published October 8, 2011 | Seniors Enquiry Line - 1300 135 500
Seniors Card - 131 304 or 1800 175 500 (free call outside Brisbane)
Department of Veterans Affairs - 133 254
Veteran Affairs Network - 1300 551 918
Centrelink: Retirement - 132 300
Veteran Affairs Network - 1300 551 918
Commonwealth Carelink Centres - 1800 052 222
Disability, Sickness and Carers - 132 717
Elder Abuse Prevention Unit Helpline - 1300-651-192
Employment Services - 132-850
National Information Centre on Retirement Investments (NICRI) - 1800-020-110
Older Australians and the internet
Published October 8, 2011 | Older Australians aren’t getting the help they need to take advantage of the Federal Government’s $43 billion national broadband network, said a Queensland University of Technology researcher.
Dr Sandra Haukka, a Senior Research Fellow, based at QUT, said despite the nation’s broadband investment and $15 million Broadband for Seniors initiative, many older Australians who wanted to use the internet couldn’t.
The study, released in May 2010, found while 98 per cent of people aged 18 to 24 used the internet only 40 per cent of people aged 64 and over did too.
Dr Haukka’s new Older Australians and the Internet study, supported by the auDA Foundation and National Seniors
Australia, surveyed older Australians to find out why they weren’t using the internet.
“Over 50 per cent of older Australians who participated in the survey were interested in using the internet, but faced a range of
barriers preventing them from doing so,” she said.
“Barriers include lack of skills and knowledge about what computer to buy, concerns about security and viruses, lack of support,
high costs, not wanting to burden their friends or family by asking for help and fear of ‘breaking the computer’ .
“This is surprising given that many participants are high achievers in other aspects of their lives, have the transferable skills
needed to use the internet, and are living independently.”
Dr Haukka also found that, despite the Government’s efforts to address these issues, many older Australians were unaware of the available support and services provided to help them get online.
“The $15 million Broadband for Seniors project is setting up 2,000 free internet kiosks in community centres, retirement villages
and clubs for seniors across Australia,” says Dr Haukka.
“However, our study found 70 per cent of survey participants have not heard of the kiosks and 64 per cent have not heard of
computer clubs for seniors.
“Many of those survey participants who had undertaken internet training claimed that these classes were not effective. They said the pace was too fast, courses were too advanced and differences in computer knowledge among classmates made it impossible to have effective group instruction.”
“We should focus on promoting services better with a different approach,” Dr Haukka said.
“My initial recommendations include expanding the availability of one-on-one training, focusing on the needs of individual users,
addressing the barriers and supporting older Australians to buy, install and maintain the technology that best suits their needs and select the right internet plan.”
How to identify and assist someone who’s having a stroke
Published October 8, 2011 | www.bribieseniors.info
Blood Clots/Stroke – They Now Have a Fourth Indicator, the Tongue
STROKE: Remember the 1st Three Letters…. S. T. R.
It only takes a minute to read this…
STROKE IDENTIFICATION:
RECOGNIZING A STROKE
Thank God for the sense to remember the ’3? steps, STR . Read and Learn!
Sometimes symptoms of a stroke are difficult to identify. Unfortunately, the lack of awareness spells disaster. The stroke victim may suffer severe brain damage when people nearby fail to recognize the symptoms of a stroke.
Now doctors say a bystander can recognize a stroke by asking three simple questions:
S *Ask the individual to SMILE.
T *Ask the person to TALK and SPEAK A SIMPLE SENTENCE (Coherently)
(i.e. It is sunny out today.)
R *Ask him or her to RAISE BOTH ARMS.
If he or she has trouble with ANY ONE of these tasks, call emergency number immediately and describe the symptoms to the dispatcher.
New Sign of a Stroke ——– Stick out Your Tongue
Ask the person to ‘stick’ out his tongue.. If the tongue is ‘crooked’, if it goes to one side or the other, that is also an indication of a stroke.
During a BBQ, a woman stumbled and took a little fall – she assured everyone that she was fine (they offered to call paramedics) .she said she had just tripped over a brick because of her new shoes.
They got her cleaned up and got her a new plate of food. While she appeared a bit shaken up, Jane went about enjoying herself the rest of the evening
Jane’s husband called later telling everyone that his wife had been taken to the hospital –
(at 6:00 pm Jane passed away.) She had suffered a stroke at the BBQ. Had they known how to identify the signs of a stroke, perhaps Jane would be with us today. Some don’t die. They end up in a helpless, hopeless condition instead.
A neurologist says that if he can get to a stroke victim within 3 hours he can totally reverse the effects of a stroke…totally. He said the trick was getting a stroke recognized, diagnosed, and then getting the patient medically cared for within 3 hours, which is tough…
A cardiologist says if everyone who gets this e-mail sends it to 10 people; you can bet that at least one life will be saved.
I have done my part. Will you?
Holding your licence after you’ve turned 75
Published October 8, 2011 | One of the recent polls on our website (www.seniorsnewspaper.com.au) asked our readers whether they thought that drivers over the age of 75 years should be required to have a road test in order to keep their licence. The response was split fairly evenly between the yes/no answers, although realistically it was probably readers over the age of 75 who voted ‘no’ to the question.
While age and ill health may restrain some aspects of lifestyle, careful management and common sense still allow older people the mobility that comes with holding a driver licence.
Older drivers and young drivers are more often involved in road crashes than people of other ages. Older drivers have the benefit of years of experience but age brings changes to the body that can affect driving ability.
Driving safely in later years is simply a matter of knowing your limits. It is important to remember you have a responsibility to your passengers and other road users.
As we get older our bodies gradually change. This can affect how safely we drive. Although older drivers have years of experience to help compensate for many of these changes, it is not possible to overcome all of them.
Despite the growing number of research studies in the area, it is difficult to find evidence to suggest that there are safety benefits associated with age-based mandatory assessment of older drivers.
In a 2006 research study, when the crash rates of drivers of different ages were compared after being matched for yearly driving distance, most drivers aged 75 years and above were generally safer than all other drivers. Only older drivers travelling less than 3,000 kilometres per year (just over 10 % of all older drivers in the survey) gave any indication of elevated crash rates.
If you are 75 years of age or older, you must hold a Medical Certificate for Motor Vehicle Driver stating you are medically fit to continue to drive and carry this certificate at all times while driving. If your doctor has recommended limitations or conditions that are to apply to you when driving, your medical certificate must state those conditions and you must abide by these conditions when driving.
If you are 75 years of age on your next birthday and hold a current licence, you should receive a letter from the department about six weeks before your birthday advising you of your need to hold, and carry, a current medical certificate if you wish to continue driving.
If your licence already has a condition code ‘M’ on it, you may receive a reminder notice each year about the need for you to hold and carry a current medical certificate.