Million Paws Walk 2012
Published April 1, 2012 | 
Get out and about with your four legged friends and help those animals who are much less fortunate than your own. The RSPCA will hold its annual Million Paws Walk on Sunday 20 May.
Whether you have a dog or not, you can walk on Sunday 20 May and fundraise to help make a real difference to the lives of the 18,000 dogs who end up in RSPCA shelters each year. Sign up to attend your local Million Paws Walk event and start fundraising by logging on to millionpawswalk.com.au. You can also register on the day.
Even if you can’t attend a walk, you can still fundraise! Simply create an online fundraising page at millionpawswalkfundraising.com.au and ask your family, friends, colleagues and neighbours to help you reach your target goal.
Enjoy a healthy walk, mingle with other pet owners, enter fantastic competitions and end the day by relaxing with great entertainment, a variety of food and drink, exhibitor stalls and animal demonstrations. Sunshine Coast walk events will be held at Happy Valley Park, Warne Terrace, Caloundra (walk starts 9.30am) and at Lions Park, Gympie Terrace, Noosaville (walk starts 10.00am.)
How many paws will you gather together to make this day a success?
EU approves new skin cancer drug
Published February 24, 2012 | Swiss drug giant Roche says it has been given European Union approval for its treatment to fight a highly aggressive form of skin cancer.
The European Commission gave the green light to Zelboraf, a drug used to treat adults with BRAF V600 mutation-positive unresectable or metastatic melanoma, the company said in a statement on Monday.
If diagnosed early, melanoma is generally curable. When it spreads to other parts of the body it is the deadliest form of skin cancer.
Currently only one in four people lives for more than a year following diagnosis.
US health authorities approved Zelboraf in August last year, with Roche describing initial sales as “very encouraging”.
The treatment, already approved by Switzerland, Brazil and Canada among others, has “revolutionised melanoma treatment,” said analysts at the Zurich Cantonal Bank (ZKB).
Roche said the drug allows people to live significantly longer, with trials showing the risk of death was reduced by 63 per cent for people who received Zelboraf compared with those who received standard first-line treatment.
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.
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?