August 28, 2022eVoiceNews

The Australian Government has announced that it is returning to the timeframe put forward by the Royal Commission to deliver a reformed and improved in-home aged care program – Support at Home Program – by 1 July 2024.  This represents an extension from July 2023.

More information about the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety is available on the Commission’s website here.

The Department advises it will use the extra time now available to work with older Australians, their families and carers, workers, advocates and providers to ensure reforms achieve a better in-home aged care system.  Older Australians will be central to this consultation and the Department will release more information in the near future on how older Australians can participate.

A webinar is planned for Wednesday August 31 to provide an update on the planned reforms. More information and Register for the Webinar here.

The Government will also be making improvements to in-home aged care for older Australians while the design of a new program progresses. This includes capping administration and management charges under the Home Care Packages Program and improving access to Goods, Equipment and Assistive Technology.

For more information, please see the Department’s website 

How can you get involved?

Enquiries relating to the reforms or upcoming consultation can be sent to sah.implementation@health.gov.au

To receive the latest information and learn about the Department’s engagement opportunities:

• subscribe to the Department’s newsletter
• sign up to engage with them through the Ageing and Aged Care Engagement Hub.

Source: COTA Queensland website.

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August 25, 2022eVoiceNews

Dear Members,

Our e-Voice contains several key dates to note on your calendars and flags several issues.

First Date Claimer: ‘Seniors Festival 2022’

Please note 9am to 2pm Thursday October 13^th on your calendars, the date chosen for this year’s renamed I Age Well Expo, the “Seniors Festival 2022”.

This year’s chosen venue is the magnificent facility of the Sunshine Coast Turf Club, at Corbould Park, just east from the Bruce Highway en route to Caloundra, an easy trip down the coast thanks to the Sunshine Motorway and the M1.

There’s plenty of room for parking, the ‘buildings’ are huge outdoor pavilions – very high, covered, open to light and air, and the Turf Club will be selling both food and drink during the day.

Already we have several of our performing groups adding to the day’s entertainment, those noted are Pamela Woodrow’s Tap Dancers (pictured above), Lynne Charsley’s Line Dancers, Joanne Teazis’ Belly Dancers, Lorraine Quinn’s Serendipity Strummers, and Wendy Turton’s Hand Chimers (pictured right).

Everyone who goes along on the day will be given a voting token to choose their favourite performer – and the group favoured with the most votes, could win a prize of $2000!

I Age Well Director Tanya Dave has not only offered U3A a free stall on the day, but has also offered our Tutors and Honorary Tutors a table to promote their own courses – or to market their own book publications!

We will be looking for volunteers to help for a few hours on the day at our own U3A stall. All you will need to do, is smile, and tell people how wonderful our organisation is. If you’d like to come along, and enjoy a day out promoting U3A Sunshine Coast at a very different venue, please let Karen Martin know so she can pop your name down on the roster: U3aProjectOfficer@u3asunshinecoast.org.au

Second Date Claimer: Trivia returns!

Management Committee member Mike Loftus will be the Trivia Master at our first Trivia afternoon since Covid. The date has been set for two weeks after the Seniors Festival, on Sunday afternoon, October 30^th from 2 – 4 pm at the Millwell Road Community Centre.

Nominees for the Tutor Reference group, who had provided us with their resumes, were invited to put their thinking caps on to come up with some ideas to assist Mike in the organisation of this event.

What makes this proposal different from past Trivia events, is that Mike wants the afternoon to be just for members, with Tutors forming their own class teams of 6 – easy enough to accomplish with larger groups. Smaller classes might like to work together to have teams of 6 under a common banner: “Literature Lovers” or “Music Maestros”.

Yes, there’ll be a single charge, of $10 per person to ensure there’ll be some good prizes to win! However, you’ll be able to bring along your own drinks and your own nibbles, or you can support a coffee van available on site.

Parking is easily accessible in the carpark under the new west wing of Sunshine Plaza.

Tutors – you are invited to form a team and have your names and monies in to the office by October 21^st.  Of course, we’ll also be looking for volunteers to help with setting up the venue and clearing up afterwards…

Please see the post below that links to the Flyer and Entry Form for the ‘Trivia Arvo’.

Maintaining – and losing – our memories:

Playing Trivia games may be one way of aiming to keep our ‘little grey cells’ active and alert.

However, losing our memories is a serious issue for some of our members, especially those who are having to adjust to daily life with a partner who is facing increasing memory loss. In the last few months, I’ve now met 4 of our members who are facing this issue on a daily basis, some just starting out on their journey.

With hers and Mark’s permission, I am sharing Lesya’s story (post below) as it is both heartfelt and moving, and she has listed the sources she has found helpful. Lesya is available to provide a good listening ear if you’d like to contact her, first at her email address: lesyar@bigpond.com

Also, the IAgeWell annual magazine, Lifestyle 55+ has an excellent list of resources for those looking for support. Top of the list are Lorrae and Vince O’Rourke who run the Sunshine Coast Dementia Network, and they can be contacted on scdementia.com.au. There are also several Facebook support groups.

Assistance needed with Equipment:

Our Equipment Officer, John Saint Smith, does the most amazing job, being virtually ‘on call’ to tutors or class captains who need assistance with setting up their equipment for their own classes or visiting lecturers. John is also responsible for following up tutors’ requests for additional equipment such as computers, or cameras, or assisted listening devices.  However, John is interested in having someone to assist him with his job. If you have any capabilities in handling audio-visual equipment and would like to volunteer your time or expertise to help John, he’d love to hear from you: johnsaintsmith@bigpond.com.

Oh, and it is important to note that you can always claim your mileage costs if you are ‘called out’ to rescue a tutor or class captain.

Farewell to Jan Johnston:

In July your Management Committee were sad to hear about the sudden passing of Jan Johnston, a former U3A Sunshine Coast President and tutor of the discussion group “Learning Unlimited” – which has now been renamed in her honour.

We would like to honour Jan’s passing, and had held off advising our members out of respect for her grieving family. Thank you to Jim Hales and Brian Holliday for their acknowledgement of her contribution to our organisation and the lovely photo (post below).

Calling for Life Membership Nominations: 

Every now and then a member’s or tutor’s name is mentioned as a candidate for life membership. Please, can you follow this up with a formal request? Nomination forms with supporting details required are available on our webpage. Let’s do the right thing by those members who have made an excellent contribution to our organisation while they are still actively involved in running our classes and tutorials…

And another reminder, if you’d like to celebrate the achievements of those tutors whom I call our “Golden Treasures” please advise me or our Communication Officer John Armstrong so we can interview them.

Seen out and about:

Our U3A Choir mistress Kath Jeffers was the pianist for St. John’s Nambour “Christmas in July” dinner and show, here seen with entertainer Reg Egglomesse – a wonderful light-hearted singer and guitarist, who shared some of his South Sea Islander heritage with the audience, then had them all singing along to his favourite Harry Belafonte songs as well some of the best traditional Christmas carols. Perhaps we’d enjoy singing along to his songs at our annual Tutors and Volunteers Luncheon?

Photo above shows Kath Jeffers with Reg Egglomesse and his wife Vicki.

Sincerely,

Glyni Cumming

President U3A Sunshine Coast

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August 25, 2022eVoiceNews

The ‘Your Digital Legacy’ webinar hosted by nbn®, COTA Queensland and U3A Network Queensland on 23 August was highly successful with more than 300 people attending.

Every day, without realising it, we are leaving digital footprints as our digital legacy. These can be a valuable treasure for those we leave behind, but they can also leave you open to identity theft and fraud if you don’t plan for your digital legacy. We often put a lot of thought into what happens to physical assets after we have passed on, but what about the digital assets and digital presence that remains?

Unfortunately, many people were not able to attend, judging by the number of you who asked if the webinar had been recorded for playback later. Because of nbn® corporate regulations the recording of the webinar cannot be distributed to the general public but there will probably be the opportunity in the coming months for nbn® to conduct the webinar again. All U3A Network members will be advised if this is the case, well in advance.

In the meantime, an extended report on the webinar has been prepared and is available to view and download here:

Download Report on ‘Your Digital Legacy’ Webinar

Please note : the date and time of the next ‘Your Digital Legacy’ webinar will be advised soon.

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August 25, 2022eVoiceNews

President Glyni Cumming has met four of our members who are dealing with Dementia, and she shares one of those stories.

Lesya Roden writes about their own personal experience of dealing with Dementia:

“We were extremely lucky, Mark realised that his memory was declining. Our first step was to get a referral from GP to a geriatrician – but this was a disaster as we encountered an arrogant woman who showed no manners to her staff or patients, empathy was not apparent.  After two visits Mark and I agreed to find someone else.

“A driving test with an Occupational therapist and specialist driving instructor was successful, as Mark passed the test.

“A new geriatrician was recommended and made a great difference. Mark was diagnosed with MCI: Mild Cognitive Impairment and he was recently advised that he has Vascular Dementia, possibly caused by previous strokes.

“One of the things that we had to realise was that this referral was going to be for the duration and that dementia is incurable.  Each person can have a totally different treatment and progression but it is frightening and overwhelming. It is essential that the patient and family are comfortable with their choice of a medical advisor.

“Some of my friends have been referred to neurologists, psychologists and other advisors, as there is no ‘one fits all’. A geriatrician deals with all conditions affecting ageing.

“My initial reaction was a gut wrenching fear and a need to organise everything and everyone immediately.  I researched deep into the nights on how I could solve this problem, so it took a while to admit control was out of my hands.

“The family realised that practicalities were important. Wills, Bank Accounts, Financial investments, Contracts, Agreements, Bills, Passwords, Contacts, and procedures needed to be clarified and simplified.  Enduring power of attorney, Advanced Medical Certificate, discussion with, as to how and where to receive treatment, how to tell the grandchildren without making them afraid…..all those things we take for granted.

“Each day something else. Many friends and acquaintances have shared their different experiences and how they managed, laughed, cried, shouted from frustration, anger, resentment and finally how they came to terms with this cruel and unfair end of their lives with the loved ones as they knew them; and vowed to make the most of every minute of every day with who they will become.

“Where to go for help was particularly difficult…there is lots of helpful information out there on the different facets of dementia.  Finding help for carers and sufferers in the early stages is confusing as I have found support groups are mainly for advanced stages.  The message there is sometimes just too hard to handle.”

Lesya concludes by offering her own researched suggestions below:

• 100+ Published Research Papers – BrainHQ from Posit Science
• Action week Day 5: Remind me – Keep The World Open
• Brisbane Central Administration & Dementia Support Centre | Dementia Australia
• Buderim Dementia Alliance (recognised) | Dementia Australia
• Cultural and religious needs of people with dementia | SCIE
• co.uk Free Downloads – CBT worksheets & leaflets
• Reducing Dementia Risk Factors – Dementia Australia Library – OverDrive
• sunshine coast dementia network – Google Search
• The Dementia Guide | Dementia Australia

And also:

• UNDERSTANDING DEMENTIA …MOOC University of Tasmania
• Dementia Australia videos on You Tube – extremely helpful
• Dementia Australia Facebook – real life situations

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August 25, 2022eVoiceNews

So many U3A friends of Jan Johnston have been saddened by her sudden demise recently.

Jan and husband Keith joined U3ASC over 20 years ago after moving from Melbourne where they had their first experience of U3A.  It was not long before Jan stepped up to volunteer in our organisation.

Jan led a Monday discussion group for 6 years, became Membership Secretary in 2007 and Secretary of the Management Committee in the following year. In 2010 she was elected President- a position she held until she retired for health reasons in late 2012. However, she continued to volunteer as a leader of a discussion group for many years.

Jan left an indelible legacy of enthusiastic volunteering for U3A members to follow. Her quiet yet efficient leadership  skills were an inspiration to us all.   We will miss her friendly smile and genuine concern for all who met her. Vale Jan.

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August 24, 2022eVoiceNews

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August 16, 2022eVoiceNews

Every day, without realising it, we are leaving digital footprints as our digital legacy. These can be a valuable treasure for those we leave behind, but they can also leave you open to identity theft and fraud if you don’t plan for your digital legacy.

nbn®, COTA Queensland and U3A Network Queensland would like to invite you to join us on this FREE Webinar taking place during WILLS WEEK, that will cover how you can manage and plan for your Digital Legacy.

Join us via Zoom on Tuesday 23^rd August 2022 at 11am until 11.45pm

Your Digital Legacy is shaped by the digital information you created online before your eventual passing. We often put a lot of thought into what happens to physical assets after we have passed on, but what about the digital assets and digital presence that remains?

Here are some examples of digital information that you may want to protect, and make known to others after you are gone:

The 45-minute webinar will take you through the process of safeguarding your Digital Legacy step-by-step, showing you how to:

• Spring clean your digital presence
• Create a digital register
• Leave clear instructions to your digital executor
• Nominate a manager of your accounts
• Making a start on your Digital Legacy

Register for the Free Webinar here

Please note, this webinar will not be recorded.

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