Devonport seniors today joined Minister for Ageing, Justine Elliot and Member for Braddon Sid Sidebottom to discuss the Gillard Government’s health and aged care reforms which mean better support and better care for older Australians.
Minister Elliot said: “Older Australians are among the first and the biggest beneficiaries of the Government’s health reforms.
“We believe older Australians deserve better. Better health services and better aged care services and that is why we are getting on with the job of reforming our health, hospitals and aged care system.
“Local Hospital Networks, local aged care services and primary care services will work together to provide better care to older Australians.
“A strong economy and decisive action by the Government during the global financial crisis has enabled these important investments to be made, providing a fairer share and more support for older Australians and their families,” Minister Elliot said. Member for Braddon Sid Sidebottom said: “Almost 15 per cent of Tasmania’s population is aged 65 years and over and the Government’s reforms will build a health system that people can rely on, one that extends care beyond the hospital door.
“The Labor Government has already delivered the most significant reforms to the pension system in its 100 year history. For more than 20,000 pensioners in Braddon, these reforms have delivered increases of up to $100 a fortnight for single pensioners and $74 a fortnight for couples combined.
“Now we are working on reforms that will help older Australians have better health, hospitals and aged care services”, Mr Sidebottom said.
Minister Elliot explained how the Government’s investment of more than $900 million over the next four years will build a seamless national aged care system covering basic care at home through to high level residential care.
Minister Elliot said: “We are building a national aged care system with more aged care places, more highly skilled aged care workers, better access to GP and health services and stronger protections for those receiving care.
“The Government is also making it easier for older Australians and their carers to find the services that best suit their need by establishing one-stop shops for aged care information and assessment,” Minister Elliot said.
Delivering better health and aged care in Braddon
Last year more than 1,180 older people in Braddon received aged care services
This Government last year provided:
+ More than $35 million to aged and community care providers to provide care;
+ $5 million for a GP Super Clinic in Devonport;
+ $791,800 of elective surgery funding for the North Western Regional Hospital for surgical equipment; and
+ More than $684,000 was provided to support four respite services.
Souce: Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing
Showing posts with label ageing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ageing. Show all posts
20100706
New $1.57 million Cooma dementia day-care and HACC centre
Services for older residents and people with a disability of Cooma and surrounds have received a boost with the opening of a $1.57 million dementia day care.
The purpose built dementia day-care centre is the eighth centre to be opened as part of the joint Australian and New South Wales Government-funded Home and Community Care program.
The centre includes new office space for HACC services and a Meals on Wheels distribution centre.
The Gillard Government contributed $942,000 and the Keneally Government provided about $628,000 towards the construction of the centre.
Minister for Ageing Justine Elliot said, “Dementia day-care centres are one way we are responding to the challenges of an ageing population by providing outings, day trips and support to people with dementia and their carers.”
“This new dementia care centre is an example of all levels of government and the community working together to take concrete steps to deliver more services for older Australians to help people living in and around Cooma,” Minister Elliot said.
The Cooma-Monaro Shire Council arranged cash and in kind contributions totalling $60,000.
The NSW Minister for Ageing and Disability Services, Peter Primrose, said: “The Home and Community Care program delivers affordable and accessible care to help meet the individual needs of older people, or younger people with a disability, and their carers.
“The day-care centre would assist older residents who needed some assistance to continue living in their own homes and communities rather than moving into permanent residential care,” Minister Primrose said.
Member for Eden-Monaro Mike Kelly said: “I am delighted that the people of Cooma and surrounds will have access to this important centre.
“Our community like the rest of Australia is facing the challenges of an ageing population and this funding will make a real difference to people living in our area.”
“These services offer assistance to people in our region who really need them,” Mr Kelly said.
Souce: Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing
The purpose built dementia day-care centre is the eighth centre to be opened as part of the joint Australian and New South Wales Government-funded Home and Community Care program.
The centre includes new office space for HACC services and a Meals on Wheels distribution centre.
The Gillard Government contributed $942,000 and the Keneally Government provided about $628,000 towards the construction of the centre.
Minister for Ageing Justine Elliot said, “Dementia day-care centres are one way we are responding to the challenges of an ageing population by providing outings, day trips and support to people with dementia and their carers.”
“This new dementia care centre is an example of all levels of government and the community working together to take concrete steps to deliver more services for older Australians to help people living in and around Cooma,” Minister Elliot said.
The Cooma-Monaro Shire Council arranged cash and in kind contributions totalling $60,000.
The NSW Minister for Ageing and Disability Services, Peter Primrose, said: “The Home and Community Care program delivers affordable and accessible care to help meet the individual needs of older people, or younger people with a disability, and their carers.
“The day-care centre would assist older residents who needed some assistance to continue living in their own homes and communities rather than moving into permanent residential care,” Minister Primrose said.
Member for Eden-Monaro Mike Kelly said: “I am delighted that the people of Cooma and surrounds will have access to this important centre.
“Our community like the rest of Australia is facing the challenges of an ageing population and this funding will make a real difference to people living in our area.”
“These services offer assistance to people in our region who really need them,” Mr Kelly said.
Souce: Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing
Department of Health and Ageing Ministerial and departmental media releases
Better Clinical Training for Tasmanian Students - $4.5 Million
Up to an additional 250 medical, nursing and allied health students are expected to be trained in Tasmania each year by 2013 following a $4.5 million commitment for new clinical training infrastructure across the state.
6 July 2010
New $1.57 million Cooma dementia day-care and HACC centre
Services for older residents and people with a disability of Cooma and surrounds have rece.
6 July 2010
Reforms Means Better Health Services for Older Residents of Devonport
Devonport seniors today joined Minister for Ageing Justine Elliot and Member for Braddon S.
6 July 2010
More Aged Care Beds for North Western Tasmania
Support from the Australian Government’s Zero Real Interest Loans initiative has helped deliver more aged care services in Deloraine.
Up to an additional 250 medical, nursing and allied health students are expected to be trained in Tasmania each year by 2013 following a $4.5 million commitment for new clinical training infrastructure across the state.
6 July 2010
New $1.57 million Cooma dementia day-care and HACC centre
Services for older residents and people with a disability of Cooma and surrounds have rece.
6 July 2010
Reforms Means Better Health Services for Older Residents of Devonport
Devonport seniors today joined Minister for Ageing Justine Elliot and Member for Braddon S.
6 July 2010
More Aged Care Beds for North Western Tasmania
Support from the Australian Government’s Zero Real Interest Loans initiative has helped deliver more aged care services in Deloraine.
20100704
Fat and sugar: Worse than tobacco?
“I believe it is a worse health problem than tobacco,” says Professor Patrick Ball, from Charles Sturt University’s School of Biomedical Sciences, “for the first time in human history, Type 2 Diabetes is more common than Type 1.”
Professor Ball, a leading health researcher and pharmacy educator, says we are losing the battle “because there are so many different facets to the problem” including how modern town planning and technology are contributing to a lack of exercise.
“We have a remote for the telly, electric windows, power steering, dishwashers, and even an electric toothbrush. The cumulative effect can be 500 calories per day. When grandfather set out to do some fencing, he put a shovel and a pickaxe over his shoulder and walked to the site. Taking the quad bike and the petrol posthole borer can mean the difference of 2000 calories per day.”
Professor Ball says despite this, we are eating more than ever. “Our ancestors ate a lot more seafood and around 600 plant species a year where we typically eat less than 50. There is nothing fundamentally unhealthy about eating a McDonald’s hamburger. What is unhealthy is eating little else.” And he says it isn’t called fast food for nothing.
“Try and eat a burger with your hands, and then eat one with a knife and fork. You eat with your hands much more quickly. Then you can reach out for more before your body has even had time to realise it has been fed.
“Chips are advertised as being 85 per cent fat free. Well 15 per cent is actually a very high fat content. You see sweets advertised as 99 per cent fat free, like a solid block of sugar is some sort of health food. How is the general public supposed to makes sense of this? We are getting fatter, but according to government statistics most people see themselves as slim, not overweight.
“Another problem is the amount of readily available sugar. The problem is you feel hungry so you eat a snack bar. An hour and a half later you have a hypo, and you reach for more chocolate. We should be eating complex carbohydrates, which are more in line with how the human body evolved and is designed to work.”
Most worrying of all, say Professor Ball, is the perception of Type 2 Diabetes as just a symptom of ageing that can be managed with medication. “A pharmacist in a rural area told me his clients do not attribute losing limbs and eyesight to diabetes. They have seen it so often in their extended families that they think it is a normal part of the ageing process.
“We have believed for years that Type 2 Diabetes can be medically controlled. But large studies such as the UK Prevention of Diabetes Study show the underlying condition continues to get worse. This is a western lifestyle disease and the only way we are going to fix it is to fundamentally change.”
Professor Ball, a leading health researcher and pharmacy educator, says we are losing the battle “because there are so many different facets to the problem” including how modern town planning and technology are contributing to a lack of exercise.
“We have a remote for the telly, electric windows, power steering, dishwashers, and even an electric toothbrush. The cumulative effect can be 500 calories per day. When grandfather set out to do some fencing, he put a shovel and a pickaxe over his shoulder and walked to the site. Taking the quad bike and the petrol posthole borer can mean the difference of 2000 calories per day.”
Professor Ball says despite this, we are eating more than ever. “Our ancestors ate a lot more seafood and around 600 plant species a year where we typically eat less than 50. There is nothing fundamentally unhealthy about eating a McDonald’s hamburger. What is unhealthy is eating little else.” And he says it isn’t called fast food for nothing.
“Try and eat a burger with your hands, and then eat one with a knife and fork. You eat with your hands much more quickly. Then you can reach out for more before your body has even had time to realise it has been fed.
“Chips are advertised as being 85 per cent fat free. Well 15 per cent is actually a very high fat content. You see sweets advertised as 99 per cent fat free, like a solid block of sugar is some sort of health food. How is the general public supposed to makes sense of this? We are getting fatter, but according to government statistics most people see themselves as slim, not overweight.
“Another problem is the amount of readily available sugar. The problem is you feel hungry so you eat a snack bar. An hour and a half later you have a hypo, and you reach for more chocolate. We should be eating complex carbohydrates, which are more in line with how the human body evolved and is designed to work.”
Most worrying of all, say Professor Ball, is the perception of Type 2 Diabetes as just a symptom of ageing that can be managed with medication. “A pharmacist in a rural area told me his clients do not attribute losing limbs and eyesight to diabetes. They have seen it so often in their extended families that they think it is a normal part of the ageing process.
“We have believed for years that Type 2 Diabetes can be medically controlled. But large studies such as the UK Prevention of Diabetes Study show the underlying condition continues to get worse. This is a western lifestyle disease and the only way we are going to fix it is to fundamentally change.”
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