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Research shows that strength training can alleviate the effects of chronic conditions like arthritis, osteoporosis and heart disease, as well as improving body composition and enhancing mental wellbeing.
COTA NSW has developed a new exercise program to help older people improve their strength, balance, coordination and endurance. Classes are being held at Smeaton Grange and Bankstown.
To find out more about the Strength for Life program –
Live Well is a new project being delivered across South Western Sydney to improve the health, wellbeing and resilience of older people and carers.
South Western Sydney PHN and South Western Sydney Local Health District’s Older People’s Mental Health (OPMH) Service have partnered to deliver the Live Well project which seeks to empower clinicians to encourage positive lifestyle changes in older people and carers.
The project has an agreement to adapt an intervention from its Canadian developers for use in NSW. This intervention uses behavioural activation techniques to promote healthy lifestyles to improve health, wellbeing and resilience and has been piloted by the OPMH team with older people in Southwest Sydney.
This project is for people aged over 65 without dementia (or those who identify as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander over the age of 50) and their carers.
The intervention is easy to learn, brief, consumer and clinician-friendly, and effective. It can be easily included within routine clinical encounters.
At the first meeting, typically only taking 10 to 15 minutes, the patient is taught about six key wellbeing domains which underpin healthy ageing. The six domains are – physical activity, healthy eating, social activity, and three types of mental tasks (positive thinking, mental well-being, and mental activity).
In the next step, the patient answers questions about their willingness to change their behaviour. Finally, the patient is asked to choose which one out of the five wellbeing domains they would like to improve.
Once a domain is chosen, the clinician gives advice on how to achieve the goal. The patient is encouraged to make small, sustainable cumulative behaviour changes to help achieve better health, wellbeing and resilience over time.
At the next encounter, the encounter lasts about five minutes and the patient indicates if they have made any changes in the chosen domain and how much they think they have changed.
In later encounters patients are encouraged to continue improving that domain or to choose a different one in subsequent encounters.
Any clinician working in primary or secondary care can use it including staff working in older people’s mental health; geriatric medicine; primary healthcare; and Residential Aged Care Facilities.
Clinicians are given a toolkit which includes posters, goals sheets and behavioural scripts to encourage the hesitant and those who do not want to change.
A website will support the consumer, carer and clinician by linking to text and explanatory videos in six languages.
Training will be available to GPs and community clinicians across South Western Sydney to learn about the intervention.
For more information about the Live Well project or to arrange training by video-link or in-person, please contact SWSLHD-FOH@health.nsw.gov.au
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in need of palliative care and their carers can now access easy-to-read information specific to South Western Sydney following the launch of a new booklet in Liverpool on Friday, 11 June.
South Western Sydney Primary Health Network (SWSPHN) partnered with local Aboriginal Elders, the Gandangara Local Aboriginal Land Council and South Western Sydney Local Health District (SWSLHD) to develop the booklet.
A journey into Sorry Business supports Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to share their wishes and preferences for their end-of-life care through ‘sorry business’ – cultural practices and protocols associated with death.
SWSPHN Chief Executive Officer, Dr Keith McDonald PhD, thanked everyone who contributed to the development of the booklet.
“This is an important resource and the first of its kind in our region. We would like to thank our Local Elders, Aunties, Uncles, Brothers, Sisters, their families and the community who have shared their insights on the Aboriginal journey through Sorry Business.”
This resource has been developed to provide culturally appropriate, respectful, and mindful information to encourage Aboriginal people to yarn about their rights, wishes and how to plan ahead when circumstances change through their lives.
A Journey into Sorry Business is available at Aboriginal Medical Services and general practices in the South Western Sydney region as a free resource.
Download A Journey into Sorry Business (updated in 2024)
The Wicking Dementia Research and Education Centre is offering a free course that allows participants to learn from home, at their own pace, without exams or assignments. Engage over four weeks with a community of participants from across the globe. Each week a new module is opened.
Find out about:
Learn about key concepts in dementia prevention as well as how we study dementia risk in populations, and the major modifiable and non-modifiable risk factors.
Examine the evidence supporting links between dementia risk and key vascular and medical risk factors, such as diabetes and physical activity.
Learn about the links between key lifestyle factors and risk of dementia; the impact of education and depression on dementia risk; and how we can build ‘cognitive reserve’ to resist the effects of diseases that cause dementia.
Key strategies for prevention at the individual and population level are examined. New research initiatives that may impact on dementia risk are explored.
You will also have an opportunity to participate in new research in this area, and to undertake a personal risk assessment.
Vascular dementia (VaD) is the second major cause of dementia accounting for 15 to 20 per cent of all dementia cases. VaD is an acquired cognitive impairment due to multiple mini strokes, some of which may be undetectable to the patient.
The result is memory loss and a decline in cognitive ability.
Currently, viable pharmaceutical options are lacking.
If you’ve been diagnosed with either vascular dementia, or mixed Alzheimer’s and vascular dementia, NICM Health Research Institute researchers would like you to take part in their clinical trial.
Their study is investigating whether a standardised Chinese herbal medicine formula, Sailuotong (SLT), can help treat vascular dementia. Results of initial trials show promise in improving memory, learning and daily function.
Learn more about the study by visiting the NICM Health Research Institute website or downloading this flyer
Dementia Australia has begun to offer a new support program for people recently diagnosed with dementia. The program includes six sessions – held over six weeks or within a 12-month period, depending on what suits participants.
A skilled Dementia Australia staff member will be the single point of contact over the six sessions. They will work with participants to understand what is most important to each individual. The program can assist people with dementia to:
Sessions are available throughout Australia, via phone or video conference. Dementia Australia continues to offer the Living with Dementia Program for those who prefer a group. Find out more by contacting the National Dementia Helpline on free call 1800 100 500 or complete the online service enquiry/referral request form.
South Western Sydney Local Health District has issued the following advice about denosumab.
Denosumab 60 mg subcutaneously six-monthly (Prolia) is a monoclonal antibody which is PBS indicated in Australia for the treatment of osteoporosis.
The mechanism of action of denosumab is through inhibition of RANKL which results in the inhibition of the development and function of bone osteoclasts and thereby inhibiting the release of calcium from bone.
Denosumab (Prolia), when used for the treatment of osteoporosis can be associated with the development of hypocalcaemia which can sometimes be severe, prolonged and life-threatening. Hypocalcaemia usually occurs within the first weeks after therapy but can occur months after a dose of denosumab. If hypocalcaemia develops, the patient requires treatment with oral calcium, 25-OH vitamin D and 1,25-OH vitamin D (calcitriol) therapy and may also require immediate hospitalisation for intravenous calcium therapy.
Patient conditions that are risk factors for the development of hypocalcaemia after denosumab therapy are:
It is recommended that relevant specialist advice be obtained before therapy if a patient has a condition above that is risk factor for the development of hypocalcaemia.
25-OH vitamin D and/or certain electrolyte deficiencies are also risk factors for the development of hypocalcaemia and must be corrected prior to denosumab therapy. Check renal function, calcium, magnesium and 25-OH vitamin D levels
Calcium: dietary calcium intake is to be optimised. Hypocalcaemia, if present must be corrected achieving corrected calcium in the normal range using oral calcium therapy as required. Calcitriol may be required in some circumstances.
25-OH vitamin D: 25-OH vitamin D levels must be adequate (level 60 nmol/l or above achieved) using oral 25-OH vitamin D therapy as required.
Magnesium: Magnesium levels must be in the normal range using oral magnesium therapy as required.
Obtain specialist advice if there is difficulty achieving normalisation of the above parameters.
Patients should be educated regarding symptoms of hypocalcaemia and advised to immediately seek medical attention if symptoms of hypocalcaemia occur after denosumab therapy.
If an individual patient has a condition as a risk factor for the development of hypocalcaemia, serum corrected calcium and magnesium should be checked eight to 14 days post denosumab therapy or at any time if symptoms of hypocalcaemia occur.
GPs are invited to take part in an Osteosarcopenia Scholars Program offered by the University of Melbourne. The course was developed by the Australian Institute for Musculoskeletal Science (AIMSS) with other partners.
As the population is rapidly ageing, we are seeing an increased prevalence in chronic diseases. This includes osteopenia/osteoporosis and sarcopenia, two conditions increasingly diagnosed in older patients, which place a significant burden on individuals and the community. Both conditions share common risk factors and are associated with significant physical disability, which represent a huge threat to loss of independence in later life. All clinicians need up to date knowledge on osteosarcopenia.
All participants completing the scholars program will receive a certificate of completion from the University of Melbourne, 40 RACGP points as this is an RACGP CPD accredited activity (formerly Category 1) and will also have lifetime access to the course content.
The online course takes 15 hours to complete.
Course fees ($550) will be waived for the first 100 GPs who register and are willing to complete two short surveys. The pre-and-post-course surveys are anonymous and confidential and explore GPs’ approach to osteosarcopenic patients. GPs having their fees waived will also receive a Quick Reference Summary Card, an AIMSS handbook summarising what they’ve learnt and a free dynamometer (worth $30) to measure grip strength.
GPs who regularly attend aged care facilities, geriatricians, rehabilitation specialists, physicians, physiotherapists and pharmacists working in aged care are invited to attend the 3rd Australian Consensus Conference on the Prevention of Osteoporotic Fractures in Residential Aged Care Facilities (RACFs).
The aim of this important meeting is to update current guidelines on the Prevention of Osteoporotic Fractures in Residential Aged Care Facilities. The conclusions of the meeting will be published in a high impact journal. As an example, conclusions from the previous consensus meeting were published in JAMDA in 2016: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27349626/ .
The Australian Institute for Musculoskeletal Science (AIMSS) is inviting GPs, geriatricians, rehabilitation specialists, physicians, physiotherapists and pharmacists working in aged care to attend the conference. AIMSS would like to particularly encourage GPs who regularly attend RACFs to register and would value their contribution to the guidelines.
The meeting will be on Friday, 30 October, from 9am to 1pm, via Zoom.
RACGP CPD points apply for GPs attending this meeting. Attendance at this meeting qualifies as a self-recorded RACGP CPD activity for the 2020-2022 Triennium under the category ‘Development and review of Guidelines’. A certificate of Attendance will also be provided for GP participants.
Carer Gateway service providers are now delivering a range of support services to Australia’s 2.65 million unpaid carers.
The Australia-wide network of Carer Gateway service providers are providing carers with access to:
Carer Gateway service providers can also help with navigating local services available to carers through government and non-government providers, including the National Disability Insurance Scheme, My Aged Care and palliative care.
These services are free for anyone looking after a family member or friend with disability, a medical condition, a mental health condition or who is frail due to age.
Carers can access services, including in-person services, by calling Carer Gateway on 1800 422 737 or visiting the Carer Gateway website.
