Dear Nathan

This is an update on news and events related to ageing in Queensland that might interest you. We hope you enjoy it!

AAG Queensland Division news – August 2020

Division news

Our next Queensland Division event will be a lunchtime virtual workshop with the 2020 Glenda Powell Traveling Fellow, Sue McGrath on Tues Sep 15. Further details will be circulated shortly, but in the meantime please note that date in your diary!

Policy, research, and industry news

Opportunities to contribute

• Statewide Digital Healthcare Improvement Network (DHIN) is seeking a consumer representative to help to improve patient care and clinical workflows using the digital platform, including integrating across primary, community and hospital settings. Applications close at 9.30am, Monday 31 August 2020. Read more and apply
• The Queensland Clinical Senate (QCS) represents clinicians from across the health system and provides strategic advice and leadership on system-wide issues affecting the quality, affordability and efficient delivery of patient care within Queensland. The QCS would like to recruit two consumer and/or carer representatives from rural or remote Queensland and who identifies as being Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander to be a part of the Senate. Applications close at 9am, Monday 10 August 2020. Read more and apply

Industry and policy news

• New legislation has been introduced to make Queenslanders with vision loss eligible for disability parking permits and increase fines for drivers who illegally use disability parking spaces. The reforms are scheduled to come into effect on August 31, 2020
• Legislation has been introduced in Queensland to establish a new NDIS worker screening system.
• Queensland Seniors Week Saturday 15 – Sunday 23 August 2020 is thinking outside the box and are looking to launch a full calendar of events virtually and physically, if allowed. If you are planning an event be sure to visit check out the Planning Your Event page, access and download the media kit items, and don't forget to register your events into the calendar here.  Find more information about Queensland Seniors Week by clicking here.
• I Speak Your Language offers a free state-wide telephone support program for multicultural community members. I Speak Your Language connects participants with friendly volunteers for a weekly phone call so they can have a social chat in their own language. Anyone in Queensland who needs a friendly chat in their original language can join.
  • If you would like to refer someone, click here to download our referral form. Participants can also call 1800 95 40 40 or email [email protected].
  • To volunteer, click here to complete an application form. All volunteers will need to complete training and a police check before they are matched with participants. 
• During COVID-19, Health Consumers Queensland has been running regular Consumer Conversations to hear directly from consumers. You can find the issues papers here.
• The Inquiries into the Queensland Government's economic and health responses to COVID-19 have been underway. You can find details via this link.
• Queensland Treasurer Cameron Dick has provided an update on Queensland’s fiscal position following the Fiscal and Economic Outlook provided by the Federal Treasurer. Read more here.
• QCOSS has released a Recovery for all Queenslanders plan which is calling on governments to partner with the community sector to put people at the centre of economic recovery plans.
• This year the theme for Homelessness Week (#HW2020) was Everybody Needs a Home.  Older women are a significant and growing group of people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness in Queensland.
  • The Lady Musgrave Trust has launched their updated Handy Guides for Homeless Women, and are asking for help to share the Handy Guide widely. The Guide provides information about vital services. The specialised Handy Guide for Older Women is also now available to order or to access online.
  • You may also be interested in the new report At Risk: understanding the population size and demographics of older women at risk of homelessness in Australia”, commissioned by Social Ventures Australia, written by Dr Debbie Faulkner and Laurence Lester. It includes figures relating to Queensland.
  • YWCA Housing released their Women’s housing needs in regional Queensland research report in May. The report includes findings relating to older women.
• Anthony Reilly has been appointed Queensland’s new Ombudsman. The Ombudsman investigates complaints about the actions and decisions of state government departments and agencies (including state schools and TAFE), local councils and public universities and has oversight of the Public Interest Disclosure Act 2010 and statutory authority to seek improvements to the quality of decision-making and administrative practice in government agencies.
• The Care at End of Life Project Team recently partnered with the Queensland Clinical Senate and Health Consumers Queensland to develop guides for clinicians who are required to hold important discussions virtually. Read more
• Palliative Care Queensland have recently released the ‘2020 Palliative Care in Queensland Priorities’ document. The priorities were informed by the Palliative Care in Queensland Annual Summit hosted in December 2019. Read more
• Queensland Health's Care at End of Life Project bereavement resources are now available on the Clinical Excellence Queensland Bereavement support website.
   

Research and teaching news

• Professor Deborah Terry has returned to UQ to take up the role of Vice Chancellor. Many of you may remember Professor Terry from her time at UQ’s School of Psychology.
• QUT’s Distinguished Professor Patsy Yates has been honoured with a Member (AM) in the General Division of the Order of Australia.
• Congratulations to Prof Julie Henry, Dr Sarah Grainger, Prof Bill von Hippel, A/Prof Eric Vanman (Psychology) et al on their ARC Linkage grant ‘Reducing social frailty in late adulthood’.
• A new research collaboration involving Queensland colleagues is seeking to improve access and exchange of information to measure the levels, quality and results of residential aged care services. More in Australian Ageing Agenda here.
• Griffith University researcher Professor Wendy Moyle has been named as one of the World’s 50 Most Renowned Women in Robotics in Analytics Insight magazine.
• UQ's Centre for Health Research has released interim guidance for the care of adult patients with cognitive impairment requiring hospital care during the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia.
• Dr Natalie Peng, from the UQ Business School, shared her thoughts on allowing Australians to access their savings early and how the superannuation industry has coped amid the COVID-19 crisis. Read the story.
• Health Consumers Queensland is partnering with Griffith University in national consumer-led research  looking at people’s attitudes and resulting behaviours to the government’s containment measures from the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia.
• QUT is conducting research on High tech vs high touch support to prevent homelessness among older women https://research.qut.edu.au/best/projects/preventing-homelessness-for-mature-women-high-tech-vs-high-touch-support/
• A roundup of recent publications involving Queensland colleagues includes:
  • Factors affecting Australian aged care facility workers in administering oral medication to residents with swallowing difficulties – A Sefidani Forough, ETL Lau, KJ Steadman, GJ Kyle, JAY Cichero, JM Serrano Santos, LM Nissen
  • The benefits of ethnic activity group participation on older immigrant well-being and host country adjustment – Sharon Dane, Catherine Haslam, Jolanda Jetten, Shuang Liu, Cindy Gallois, Tran Le Nghi Tran
  • Older People's Needs and Opportunities for Assistive Technologies J Soar, L Yu, L Al-Hakim 
  • Constructing a sense of home: Older Chinese migrants ageing in a foreign land S Liu, Y Liu, S Wang 
  • The Changes in Medication Prescribing Among the Older People with Cognitive Impairment in the Acute Care Setting S Ruangritchankul, NM Peel, LS Hanjani, LC Gray 
  • Device-measured sedentary behavior and physical activity in older adults differ by demographic and health-related factors M Dohrn, PA Gardiner, E Winkler, AK Welmer 
  • Reducing Sitting Time in Obese Older Adults: The I-STAND Randomized Controlled Trial - Dori E. Rosenberg, Melissa L. Anderson, Anne Renz, Theresa E. Matson, Amy K. Lee, Mikael Anne Greenwood-Hickman, David E. Arterburn, Paul A. Gardiner, Jacqueline Kerr and Jennifer B. McClure
  • Assessment of health-care professionals' knowledge and attitudes on sexuality and aging: an integrative review YH Chen, C Jones, A Bannatyne 
  • Muscle Strength to Mental Strength: Exercise and Age-Related Cognitive Decline RA Lovegrove, M Bahr 
  • ‘Ageing in neighbourhood’: what seniors want instead of retirement villages and how to achieve it Caroline Osborne, Claudia Baldwin..
  • Consumer engagement questions to ask during COVID – A Petriwskyj and C Hayter
  • The effectiveness of spiritual reminiscence therapy for older people with loneliness, anxiety and depression in Malaysia SM Syed Elias, C Neville, T Scott, A Petriwskyj 
  • Physician attitudes to voluntary assisted dying: a scoping review J Rutherford, L Willmott, BP White 
  • A single, early aged care experience improves speech-language pathology students’ attitudes towards older people, communication confidence, and career aspirations in aged care Sarah J. Wallace, Akhila Mathew, Allison Mandrusiak & Anna Hatton
  • Planning for Older People in a Rapidly Warming and Ageing World: The Role of Urban Greening C Baldwin, T Matthews, J Byrne 
  • Validation of Brief Screening Tools to Identify Impaired Driving Among Older Adults in Australia - Kaarin J. Anstey; Ranmalee Eramudugolla; Md Hamidul Huque; Mark Horswill; Kim Kiely; Alex Black; Joanne Wood
  • Co-design of an mHealth application for family caregivers of people with dementia to address functional disability care needs S Rathnayake, W Moyle, C Jones, P Calleja 
  • Reduced motion perception is associated with a history of motor vehicle collision involvement in older drivers TA Swain, G McGwin, JM Wood, C Owsley. 
  • Redesigning aged care with a biophilic lens: a call to action E Miller, LO Burton - Cities & Health, 2020

Do you have a paper coming out, a new project starting, some interesting conference learnings, or some research outcomes you’d like to share?

Events

• PxCEL Bytes session: Care at End of Life Project - 18th August 2020, 11:00am – 11:30am, Online via Microsoft Teams. The Care at End of Life Project will be presenting an online information session regarding the recently developed Queensland Health Bereavement Resources. The presentation will be focusing on the Project’s approach to partnering with consumers to ensure the resources are useful, relevant and safe for culturally and linguistically diverse communities. If you would like to participate, please contact [email protected].  
• Palliative Care Queensland and the Centre for Palliative Care Research and Excellence are collaborating to hold four statewide palliative care education webinars. Each event will include a panel of speakers and a Q&A session.  Read more

Funding opportunities

• Community Sector Banking is giving $300,000 to not for profits to use for capacity building.  In addition to monetary grants, this year’s program will also include five in-kind strategic impact grants to help not-for-profits build capacity in their organisations. More

Do you know about an event, project, or piece of news other AAG Qld members should know about? Send an email to Andrea Petriwskyj [email protected].

Kind Regards,
Dr Katrina Radford