Department of Health and Ageing www.health.gov.au/
A RANGE OF INFORMATION AND SERVICES IS AVAILABLE TO ASSIST OLDER PEOPLE
Many services are provided by government agencies, private operators and community groups, however Council provides a subsidised Cab Service for people over 60, supports an Active and Healthy program for Seniors, publishes a directory of community information, including services of interest, for over 50’s and runs library programs targeted at older people.
Council has established a Senior Affairs Advisory Board, with appointed members who meet regularly to provide advice to the Council.
The following information may also be of use to seniors requiring health and other services.
A comprehensive and valuable online listing of information and links for senior citizens, retirees, those about to retire and looking for retirement planning, veterans, pensioners and carers. Visit www.aboutseniors.com.au
Provides support services to people with dementia and their families, and works to raise community understanding about Alzheimer's disease and other dementias. Phone: (07) 5535 5401. Visit www.alzgc.asn.au
Blue Care Gold Coast/Tweed Region. Provides care to all members of the community including frail aged, people with a disability, people requiring nursing or allied health support, and individuals and carers who are in need of support and education.
Phone: (07) 5534 6111. Visit www.bluecare.org.au/
Provides free and confidential information on community aged care, disability and other support services available locally, interstate or anywhere within Australia.
Phone: 1800 052 222. Visit www.commcarelink.healt.gov.au
The Elder Abuse Prevention Unit provides confidential support, information and referral.
Phone: 1300 651 192. Visit www.eapu.com.au
A joint commonwealth, state and territory government initiative, HACC funds maintenance and support services to help frail older people and younger people with disabilities continue to live in the community.
Visit the website to find a HACC services directory for the south coast region, with contacts for service providers in the Gold Coast area, including respite services, nursing services, meals on wheels, home care services, other services, allied health, and community health centres.
Visit www.health.qld.gov.au/hacc
OZCare
Provides community and health services, including aged care facilities, community nursing, community programs, community support services, personal support, respite, transport.
Phone: (07) 5583 7860. Visit www.ozcare.org.au
Provides Telecross service - a daily reassurance telephone call to the frail, aged, people with a disability or medically at risk, to check on their health and well-being.
Phone: 1300 885 698. Visit www.redcross.org.au
Provides home support, community nursing, domestic assistance, allied health, volunteer visiting, respite, shopping and transport, meal assistance, and accommodation.
Phone: (07) 5572 9334 or 1300 796 111. Visit www.rslcare.com.au
Queensland-wide information and referral service for seniors.
Phone: 1300 135 500 or for the TTY Hearing Impaired Service, phone: (07) 3250 1928.
Visit www.seniorsenquiryline.com.au
Provides personal care, nursing care, in-home respite for carers, domestic assistance and palliative care.
Phone: (07) 5527 2728. Visit www.stlukesnursing.org.au
Responsible for paying pensions to people suffering disabilities arising from serving in the armed forces.
Their families and dependents should also enquire on phone: (07) 5630 0203.
Visit www.dva.gov.au
SERENITY PRAYER
(This prayer is from the new International version of the Recovery Devotional Bible and Reinhold Niebuhr wrote the prayer)
GOD GRANT me the SERENITY to accept the things I cannot change,
COURAGE to change the things I CAN
And the WISDOM to know the difference
Living one day at a time;
Enjoying one moment at a time;
Accepting hardship as the pathway to peace.
That I may be reasonably happy in this life and supremely happy with you in the next
Amen
Before you diagnose yourself with Alzheimer's disease, take heart: Experts say some memory lapses are normal. By Cherie Berkley Reviewed by Louise Chang, MD Experts say that mild memory loss is perfectly normal -- especially as we age. That's right, if you sometimes forget simple things, you're not necessarily developing Alzheimer's disease. There is a gang of people walking around just like you who occasionally misplace their keys, "If we have forgotten an appointment, we begin thinking, is this the first sign of Alzheimer's disease?' and we become much more conscious, and it gets kind of a disproportionate amount of attention when it really may be something quite benign Memory is the ability to normally recall the facts and events of our lives, and this takes place in three stages But differentiating between normal memory loss and Alzheimer's disease can be puzzling for a layman; the kind of memory that is affected in day-to-day situations is also the kind affected in the early stages of Alzheimer's disease Time: Memory's Worst Enemy Fear not, memory loss and brain aging are a natural part of getting older. "It is often the case that people will start to report in their 50s that they think their memories are slipping "They seem to be consciously aware of that because they have to use more kinds of reminders or more kinds of strategies to remember things." But memory loss can happen even before we hit our 50s. Many people even in their 20s and 30s have forgotten a name or an appointment date or some fact that was on the "tip of their tongue." Memory is tricky, and time is its worst enemy, "Some things begin to fade right away, other things fade less quickly, and they're a bunch of different forgetting curves with different rates of forgetting depending the nature of the material, depending on how important it is for you, depending on your stress level, depending on ... all of the things that can affect memory. Memory distortion -- also a side effect of father time -- explains this. This is the phenomenon where as time passes our ability to accurately recall events becomes diminished -- and the longer the period of time that passes between the event and trying to recall it, the greater the chance we're going to have some memory distortions and forgetting. Sometimes time distortion causes us to forget the event totally
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