Welcome to Our 365 Care March Newsletter

Each month we bring you the latest updates on the trends, issues and stories of the month that matter to you.

So, sit back, enjoy a nice cuppa and our latest newsletter!

Hearing Awareness Week

Hear ye, hear ye! From 1-7 March, it’s Hearing Awareness Week and 3rd March is also World Hearing Day. This week aims to raise awareness about hearing loss and the struggles people who have hearing impairments face on a daily basis.

Health Focus: Hearing Loss

In light of World Hearing Day, we reckon it’s a good time to take a dive down the ear canal and look at hearing health. Did you know that hearing loss affects one in six Australians? Many older Australians suffer from at least partial hearing loss. If your kids or grandkids complain about how loud your TV is, chances are you may need to get your ears checked.

Some other signs of hearing loss:

  • You have to ask others to repeat themselves often.
  • You can’t hear well in stereo – if two people are talking at once or there is background noise.
  • You struggle to hear what women and young children say.
  • You notice a ringing or buzzing sound in your ears.

If hearing loss is a natural part of ageing, though, is there anything you can do to prevent it or slow it down? The answer is yes.

Here are a few things you can do to look after your hearing:

  • Avoid being around loud sounds for extended periods and, if you can’t avoid them, use ear protection like earplugs or earmuffs.
  • Go for a hearing test regularly, so you can catch any hearing loss early and have more options for treatment.
  • Keep the rest of your body in good health. Diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease can damage your inner ear, so keeping your weight in check and your body functioning well can help to preserve your hearing.
  • Stop smoking and drink only in moderation as these can both negatively affect your hearing.
  • Eat well to get essential vitamins like B12 and minerals like potassium, magnesium and iron, which support good hearing health. You can also take a vitamin supplement.
  • Try to avoid ototoxic drugs, which include some antibiotics, Viagra, some chemotherapy drugs, some medicine for serious infections and heart disease, antimalarial drugs, loop diuretics and high doses of Aspirin.

If you’d like to learn more about keeping your ears healthy, the signs and causes of hearing loss, and how you can cope if you’ve already lost some hearing, check out our latest blog on the 365 Care website.

COVID 19 Update

Doggos set to sniff out COVID

Dogs have a fantastic sense of smell. That’s common knowledge. But did you know just how fantastic? Dogs have around 300 million smell receptors (humans have 6 million) and they can detect a substance at a concentration of 1 per 1 trillion. That equates to 1 drop of liquid of a particular substance in 20 Olympic-sized swimming pools!

Dogs have been used to sniff out diseases like cancer, Parkinson’s and tumours in the past. Now researchers at the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Veterinary Medicine are putting dogs’ sniffers to the test by trialling whether they can detect COVID-19. They’ll do this by presenting the dogs with saliva and urine samples and seeing if they can tell the difference between samples that are from people who are positive for COVID-19 and those that aren’t.

What is it that they’re actually smelling?

They’re called volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and they’re the chemicals that get produced by our cells when we have a disease. They get excreted by the body through saliva and urine and it’s the smell of this compound the researchers hope dogs will be able to pick up for COVID sufferers too.

The aim is to start trialling the dogs with humans around July. In addition to all the other things dogs do for us – give us company and unconditional love, protect us, sniff out bombs, sense our emotions ­– now they can potentially help with COVID too. How good are dogs!

Aged Care Industry Update

Support Home Care Program consultation and design has begun

In response to the recommendations from the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety, the Government has begun working with senior Australians and stakeholders in the community to reform the current home care programs, so they can enable older Australians to live in their homes for longer.

The Support Home Care Program will replace all of the following programs:

  • Commonwealth Home Support Program (CHSP)
  • Home Care Packages Program (HCP)
  • Short-Term Restorative Care Program
  • Residential respite referrals

What’s wrong with the current programs?

According to the report by the Royal Commission, the current programs have different assessment and eligibility criteria, as well as different providers, fees and funding.

What this means is that senior Australians are not receiving equal levels of home care. The current system can also be difficult to navigate, have long wait times, inconsistent pricing, high amounts of unspent funds, and a lack of availability in some areas.

The Support Home Care Program aims to reform this system. Some of the improvements being proposed are:

  • Individualised service approvals for older Australians based on their unique circumstances.
  • Access to an improved program for goods, equipment, assistive technologies and home modifications.
  • A new funding model that will have greater transparency and lower fees and admin costs.
  • Regulation of the market and clarity of service inclusions.
  • A greater choice of providers for care.

The new program is expected to start in July 2023.

Human Interest Stories

Life’s better if you can laugh about it.

 After all that serious talk, let’s look at something a bit lighter.

Many studies have shown that laughter is good medicine and that the benefits of laughter include lowered blood pressure, the release of endorphins, improved immunity, lowered stress levels, improved memory and decreased pain levels.

Now, Laughter Yoga Australia is putting these theories to the test with their Laughie Challenge. What is Laughter Yoga, you might ask? It’s where you actively laugh for an extended period until it actually has a positive psychological effect. In short, fake it until you make it.

The Laughie Challenge is asking people to take a video of themselves laughing for a full minute. It’s similar to taking a selfie, but now it’s a laughie. You can then watch your laughie when you’re feeling blue or share it with others to bring them joy as well. The aim is to promote mental health and well-being for yourself and others, so why not have a chuckle for the greater good?

Travel Spotlight: Philippines

Do you dream of sitting under a palm tree sipping on a coconut and watching the turquoise water wash the shore? Sounds idyllic, doesn’t it? Well, perhaps the Philippines should be your next holiday destination. The Philippines has around 7000+ islands and some of the best beaches in the world, including Palawan, Boracay and Siargao. They also are the 2nd largest exporter of coconuts after Indonesia, so you’re covered on that front too.

 

 

 

The Philippines is an archipelago country in the Pacific Ocean. Its capital is Manila and it is known for its friendly and hospitable people. If you’re visiting friends in the Philippines, you’re sure to be welcomed with open arms and treated like family.

 

 

Here are some other interesting facts about the Philippines:

  • The Philippines was named after Philip II of Spain and was under Spanish rule for 333 years.
  • It is the second-biggest (by population) Asian country to have English as an official language and with over 52 million English speakers, it is the 5th biggest English-speaking nation after the US, India, Pakistan and the UK.
  • Its Puerto Princesa Subterranean River is the second-longest navigable underground river system in the world and takes you through magical caves dripping in stalactites.
  • When the US troops left after WWII, they left many jeeps behind. The Filipinos adapted these so they could fit up to 20 people, decorated them in bright colours and called them Jeepneys. They’re now the most popular mode of public transport.
  • Another American legacy in the Philippines is basketball. It was brought over in 1910 as a women’s sport but quickly got taken up by the men. The Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) is now the second oldest professional basketball league in the world, after the NBA.

Recipes

Enjoy these healthy, flavour-packed treats from www.bestrecipes.com.au/ to satisfy your cravings!

Easy yoghurt curry chicken

A fresh and vibrant lunch or dinner you can pull together in minutes.

Ingredients

  • 2 chicken breast fillets, diced large
  • 1 1/2 cup Greek yoghurt
  • 1/4 tsp Chinese five-spice powder
  • 1/4 tsp garlic powder
  • 1/4 tsp allspice
  • 1 tsp all-purpose seasoning
  • 1 tsp curry powder
  • 400 g coconut milk
  • 2 cup rice, to serve

Instructions    Prep time: 15 minutes           Cook time: 15 minutes

  1. Mix yoghurt with all of the spices and add the chicken.
  2. Mix to coat all the chicken and marinate for about 10 minutes.
  3. Place a large pan on medium heat, add the chicken mixture including all extra yoghurt.
  4. Brown in the pan and then add the coconut milk and simmer for 10-15 minutes.
  5. Mix with rice.

Gluten-free sponge cake

Ingredients

  • 5 eggs
  • 165g caster sugar
  • 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
  • 50g unsalted butter, melted
  • 165g gluten-free plain flour
  • 2 tsp gluten-free baking powder
  • 125ml pure cream
  • 1 tbs pure icing sugar, sifted, plus extra to dust
  • Raspberry jam, to serve

Instructions    Prep time: 30 minutes        Cook time: 25 minutes

  1. Preheat oven to 180°C/160°C fan-forced. Grease and line the base of two 20cm (base measurement) round cake tins with baking paper.
  2. Using electric beaters, beat the eggs and sugar in a large bowl until the mixture is pale, thick and at least doubled in volume (this will take 10-12 minutes). Sift the flour and baking powder together. Gently fold the sifted flour into the melted butter until just combined. Be careful not to deflate the mixture.
  3. Divide the mixture between the prepared tins and bake for 20-25 minutes or until cakes are golden and just firm to touch. Set aside to cool for 10 minutes before transferring cakes to a wire rack to cool completely.
  4. When ready to serve, using electric beaters beat the cream and icing sugar in a medium bowl until soft peaks form. Spread the jam over the top of one cake, and then the cream. Dust top of the cake with icing sugar and serve.

Mind Games

Word Search

Word Scramble:

ENIMJAS___________________________

RELOSWFNU ___________________________

ISADY ___________________________

ULIPT___________________________

ENREDALV ___________________________

ONLIAAGM ___________________________

NILKEWERPI ___________________________

OMLEIMAHC ___________________________

RIMOSERP ___________________________

CHROID ___________________________

Book Reviews

A Calm Chaos

by Jenna Bush Hager

Born and raised in Harlem by an emotionally distant, depressive mother, Dr Imani Walker struggled with depression and anxiety from childhood. Concerned for the plight of those less fortunate than her middle-class family, the sensitive, compassionate child noticed various homeless, destitute people whom she encountered on the streets, noting that but for a few lucky breaks, they could be her own family members. This awareness and proximity to those living on the edge aroused in her a lifelong empathy for the mentally impaired.

Imani was close to her father, an addict who was rarely emotionally present, and even closer to her immigrant grandmother, whose own mental health caused many family tensions. It was years later that Dr Walker looked back and realized her beloved grandmother was, in fact, bipolar.

A Calm Chaos is an emotionally raw and beautiful story of being raised in a family touched by mental illness. Dr Walker uses her experience as a psychiatrist as a prism to see the painful truths of her childhood and how she learned to navigate this chaotic world the best way she knew how: using her wits and humour to diffuse tense situations. Her desire to better understand mental illness – to identify her mother’s issues, her father’s addiction, and her own confused feelings – led her to pursue a medical degree and to work in inner cities with the severely mentally ill. While helping others, Dr Walker found the courage to address her own mental health issues, ultimately finding emotional balance.

A Calm Chaos is an intimate portrait of an African American psychiatrist who has dedicated her career to helping those in need – while trying to solve her greatest medical mystery: herself.

Answers to Mind Games

Word Search

Word Scramble

  1. Jasmine
  2. Sunflower
  3. Daisy
  4. Tulip
  5. Lavender
  6. Magnolia
  7. Periwinkle
  8. Chamomile
  9. Primrose
  10. Orchid

Please HELP US to IMPROVE OUR SERVICES

At 365 Care we are committed to providing you with the highest quality of care to meet your needs. Your feedback is important to us, whether good or bad.

If you have something you would like to share, you can:

  1. Request a feedback form from the office.
  2. Contact your Coordinator in the first instance

or if it is more confidential in nature, please contact our General Manager on 02 8294 4126

We aim to address your concerns as quickly as possible and where appropriate, will investigate and keep you informed along the way.

If you do not feel comfortable speaking with us, you can contact the following organisations for assistance.

  • Aged Care Advocacy: a free and confidential service promoting the rights of aged care recipients.
    Phone 1800 700 600
  • Aged Care Complaints Commissioner: a free and confidential service for anyone to raise issues about Australian Government-funded aged care.
    Phone 1800 550 552
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