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Prime Minister Albanese reduces the COVID-19 mandatory isolation period from 7 to 5 days for individuals who no longer show symptoms after 5 days which will come into effect September 9. However, workers in high-risk settings such as aged care and disability will continue to be permitted to isolate for 7 days. The Paid pandemic leave will be reduced to $530 for isolating for 5 days and will end all together on September 30.

Daniel Andrews has announced that the Victorian Government will invest $270 million to fund University studies for all new domestic students enrolling in a professional-entry nursing and midwifery course in 2023 and 2024 as a scholarship of up to $16,500 to cover the full amount of course costs to make it easier to fill rosters and allow more nurses to take up flexible work arrangements.

Students will receive $9000 over their three years of study and the remaining $7500 would be paid off if they work in Victorian public health services for two years.

The package also includes:

• Scholarships for postgraduate nurses to complete studies in specialty areas such as intensive care, emergency, paediatrics and cancer care – worth an average of $10,000
• $11,000 scholarships for enrolled nurses to become registered nurses, covering course costs and boosting the number of registered nurses
• $12,000 scholarships to support training and employment of 100 new Nurse Practitioners in both acute and community settings
• More than $20 million to provide more support to the growing numbers of graduates and postgraduates as they transition to working in our hospitals – ensuring they have access to the clincial educators, preceptors and study time they need.
You can view all the details of Daniel Andrew’s Media release from August 28 

The aim of World Alzheimer’s month is to raise awareness and challenge the stigma surrounding Alzheimer’s and dementia. Many people still wrongly believe that dementia is a normal ageing. We want to spread awareness to the warning signs of Alzheimer’s and dementia. By recognising these signs early, people can benefit from information, support, and treatments.

Some common symptoms of Alzheimer’s and dementia includes:
• Memory loss
• Difficulty with activities requiring coordination
• Problems with language
• Disorientation to time and place
• Misinterpretation of information
• Problems keeping track of things
• Lack of interest or ability to begin activities

In October 2022, a new funding model (AN-ACC) will be replacing the current funding model for residential aged care (ACFI). The AN-ACC assessment tool has been purpose-designed to capture those resident characteristics that best predict the costs of care to meet resident needs more accurately that the current ACFI model.

The department of Health and Aged Care has released the AN-ACC funding and care minutes estimator to give providers an estimate on potential funding and care minutes targets for residential aged care facilities. The estimator can be accessed here: https://www.health.gov.au/resources/apps-and-tools/an-acc-funding-and-care-minutes-estimator/estimator

The Government funded trial that involved setting up CCTV cameras in residential aged care facilities to detect when patients have accidents such as falling over or other incidents between workers and residents. However, the artificial intelligence that was used in these cameras to detect these incidents was not able to distinguish the difference between a resident kneeling down and having fallen, therefore causing thousands of false alarms, ultimately leading to the failure of the trial.

Advocates say that despite this failure, this idea should not be ruled out and it’s worth exploring more options to tackle these issues.

The Victorian Government opposition pledges to offer free public transport for healthcare workers for the next four years, if elected in the November.

This will help those health care workers that rely on public transport to get to work, however many need a car to get to work because of their work locations and hours of employment.

Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation Victorian secretary Lisa Fitzpatrick said that it would be more helpful if Victorians could be encouraged to wear masks in the community to reduce the rate of covid infections relieve pressure on the health care sector.

The 7 A’s of dementia can help us understand how dementia affects the brain.

Not everyone with dementia experiences all the A’s and symptoms may be different for every person.

Anosognosia: Inability to recognise that something is wrong

Amnesia: Memory loss, beginning with short-term memory

Aphasia: Loss of ability to use language

Agnosia: Inability to recognise objects by using the senses

Apraxia: Difficulty with activities requiring coordination

Altered Perceptions: Misinterpretation of information from senses

Apathy: Lack of interest or ability to begin activities

You are in flow state when you are so absorbed in something that you forget everything else around you. As a result, you do not experience many thoughts about yourself or your performance. This is sometimes referred to as “in the zone”.

There are many ways people can achieve a state of flow such as art, puzzles, gardening, games., reading, which differs from person to person.

A study was done during covid 19 lockdowns, finding that all the participants engaging in activities that required skill and engagement, reduced feelings of loneliness despite their isolation.

Finding activities to achieve a flow state can be very useful for seniors to combat loneliness and keep their brain active to prevent dementia.

The study can be found here: https://www.goodnet.org/articles/how-to-reduce-loneliness-through-flow

Diagram by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

#flow #flowstate #flowstateofmind # agedcare #respitecare #palliativecare #agedplus #brain #memory #homecare #dementiacare #healthcare #support #carersaustralia #caregiver #incontinence #elderlycare #mentalhealth #nurse #caregivers #homecareservices #dementia

My Aged Care can be contacted through a free Auslan video interpreting service.

Upon making a booking, My aged care will set you up a three-way video with an Auslan interpreter and a My Aged Care agent to answer any queries.

Bookings can be made by calling 1300 773 803 or emailing interpreting@deafconnect.org.au. Be sure to get in contact well in advance to ensure an interpreter is available.

For information about our services visit our website at gihc.com.au, Call us on (03) 9863 6149 or 1300 912 155 after hours, email us at info@gihc.com.au

A new law has been passed by the Albanese government requiring registered nurses to be on site 24 hours a day at all aged care facilities.

The Albanese government suggests that for issues a nurse can solve on the spot, thousands of trips to hospital emergency departments will be avoided, saving both stress and money.

Aged & Community Care Providers Association interim chief executive Paul Sadler said one in five providers, totalling 500 aged care homes, would simply not be able to put a nurse on every day and would also struggle on weekends during this staffing crisis. Many providers are likely to seek exemptions as they struggle to fill shifts.

For information about our services visit our website at gihc.com.au, Call us on (03) 9863 6149 or 1300 912 155 after hours, email us at info@gihc.com.au