Peak unions and providers have called for the Australian Defence Force to assist workers struggling with rampant COVID-19 outbreaks and staff shortages. In a joint statement, the Australian Aged Care Collaboration (AACC) urged the Prime Minister to deploy the ADF ...
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Exercise may help protect brains from dementia symptoms
Daily physical activity may help alter a person's brain chemistry to enhance cognitive function and help protect against dementia related symptoms, new research has found. The post-mortem study, published in Alzheimer's and Dementia: the Journal of the Alzheimer's Association, analysed ...
More »Elderly man charged after taking wife from aged care home
An elderly man is facing charges after he allegedly removed his 84-year-old wife from her Perth aged care home and drove 1500km across the state. Carol Lisle, 84, and Ralph “Terry” Gibbs, 80, were located with the help of truck drivers and local ...
More »Fixing Australia’s ‘broken’ rural aged care system
Aged care policy experts are calling on the federal and state government to introduce a stewardship based model to fix the nation's rural, regional and remote aged care sector. Recent figures from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare show ...
More »Industry battles ‘dire’ shortages as COVID-19 cases skyrocket
As the Omicron variant rips through the nation’s aged care sector, peaks are asking for swift action from federal cabinet to relieve critical shortages and residents under lockdown. The latest federal data has reported over 500 active COVID-19 outbreaks in ...
More »Billions of dollars unspent in home care, experts talk reform
Billions of dollars in unspent funds and workforce constraints are the largest gaps plaguing the government's new home care system, an expert panel has heard. Aged care advocates and researchers gathered at the third Macquarie Aged Care Policy Forum to ...
More »St. Basil’s inquest: senior Victorian health official Jackie Kearney describes moment she ‘broke down’
A Victorian Department of Health official has described how she broke down in tears in the midst of a horrifying Covid outbreak that proved fatal for Melbourne aged care facility St Basil’s. The virus claimed the lives of 45 residents at the Fawkner ...
More »First Australian hospital nurse dies from COVID-19
An Australian nurse described as “a real angel” has died from COVID-19. Gillian “Jill” Dempsey died at Box Hill Hospital’s intensive care unit on Sunday afternoon. She is believed to be the first hospital based nurse to die from the virus ...
More »Son and mother with dementia dead after ‘bad magic’ boat disappearance
A mother and son who went out to sea in a bid to banish “bad magic” from their lives were never seen again. Melbourne man Adrian Meneveau and his 83-year-old mother Felicity Loveday disappeared after setting off in their small ...
More »Demand for grief counselling surged during the pandemic and bereavement services expect the impacts are not yet over
When Angie Wraight’s husband of 38 years died in her arms during the pandemic last year, she felt lost. A “wonderful” palliative care team had helped keep her husband Brian comfortable through his cancer battle, but when the rush of nurses and ...
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