Life Times Issue 10

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Issue 10, 4 February 2013

To the victims of flood and fire: we salute you People power at work FROM THE FAR NORTH to the far south, in your easy-going by Maida Lilley Australian way, you are quietly picking up the pieces, planning SINCE 1 JULY 2012 local hospital boards have your lives again. been set up to make local health decisions.This You are doing it the way Australians have always done it, is turning back the clock in what seems to be a since the days when they came from the other side of the world practical way. No doubt there have been there to the lonely little harbour town of Sydney – with precious little some teething problems, like the proposed to help them survive. But she’ll be jake mate. changes of function for Eventide at Brighton. This decision has come from Brisbane North, This year it has been fire burning the south, and water and state Health Minister Lawrence Springborg drowning the north. But every news item has a similar theme: a to say it was their decision when interviewed story of courage, determination and resilience. on the ABC. We must ensure that our governments do not let them Of course the big change in federal funds down. now being responsible for aged care is a – Val French AM complicating factor as Eventide is state-owned.

responsibility has caught a number of elderly A federal election: carpe diem! Theresidents, sad facts who are call that it home, the change to be ofcaught fiscal in this by Val French AM political quagmire. Many are unable to speak THE ANNOUNCEMENT of the election date puts a special emphasis on the promise made by Ita Buttrose on Australia good sense to prevail. Both positions need to Day when she became Australian of the Year. In her speech Ms forbe sensiblythemselves, resolved so their as vulnerablefamilies are elderly fighting and for Buttrose said she would use her new position to promote a patients-in-transition are both deserving. more positive approach to ageing. An election – especially over so many months – could be of Christmas vacation, Premier Newman has value in furthering her vision. We certainly need her now to movedDuring out his across first Queensland week back after to see his what help put together a campaign voice. people around the state have to say to his government. Groups representing nurses She is not alone: there are others who share her vision as have been very vocal at all his stops. In two there are older people all across Australia who have fought communities that were scheduled to lose their for years to break down these negative public – even family – local hospitals, the Premier has backtracked attitudes. from the local boards’ decisions and assured You meet the results of these attitudes in every walk of life: outspoken and persuasive locals at Moura and from those older workers deprived of work, to elder abuse, to Inglewood that he can step in to reverse those shortages of money for research into such medical conditions as decisions. dementia, arthritis, macular degeneration, diabetes and the like. Of course, the elected Health Minister and An election date set so early gives us a tremendous the Premier and Cabinet must have the right to opportunity: let us take advantage of the situation and get together and plan our priorities and policies. Liberal or Labor in an invidious position. The announcement or Green – let us give them our vision, our solutions. makefrom the final boards decisions, is that but a hugethis puts cutback local in boards federal funding has necessitated local area cuts across We can use Older People Speak Out’s Life Times to hear and gather your views to use throughout the following months. It is the state. time we were heard. This should not be a contest. Who wins?

Life Times is designed and produced by Commonwealth Bank Editorial Team Edit Plus Editor: Grant Dobinson is proud to be a Editorial Consultant: ph: (07) 3376 9246 sponsor of the Val French AM mob: 0403 376 921 Cadet: Amy Rickleman email: [email protected] OPSO Media Awards web: opso.com.au/life-times internet: editplus.com.au

page 1 Pay bills online to avoid extra charges by Dick Bennett WHILST NEW TECHNOLOGY is great and has fantastic advantages and convenience for Internet users, some of this can be daunting to seniors. Many services, including telephone and utilities, now involve using the Internet and email. Bills previously sent by mail are starting to now have a fee for service added. Businesses are now encouraging account holders to receive their bills electronically and for bills to be automatically paid by direct transfer. Low-income seniors and pensioners who opt to deductions have been made, how much credit remains receive paper bills with some utility companies now and allow for the convenient and timely top-up of the incur an additional fee for this. In addition, account account. holders who opt to pay their bills in person need to The current roll out of the National Broadband Network (NBN) across Brisbane may also create some consuming and inconvenient. confusion and apprehension as seniors are unsure of the go toIn aaddition, post office many or cashierservices to require do so. Thiscommunication can be time implications for them and what they need to do. With to be done online through websites and there is an the NBN also becoming the replacement service for the increasing discouragement from making contact by landline copper network, seniors need to be informed of how this new technology will affect them. to complete and submit applications online with no BSOL volunteer computer mentors provide Internet phoneprovision or infor person. submission Some as firms a paper require document. job applicants training for learners in their own home on their own The use of the Internet, online banking and the computers on a one-on-one basis. There is an affordable potential associated risk of fraudulent activity if annual fee for learners. For those who do not have a precautions are not taken is of concern to all seniors. computer or a connection to the Internet, small classes are run in some areas of Brisbane or learners have the Brisbane Seniors Online (BSOL) can guide seniors on option of undertaking one-one-one tuition at a BCC the safe use of the Internet and eliminate ‘cyber stress’. library or community centre using a BSOL mentor. The Volunteer mentors can show computer and Internet BSOL Central Training Centre in the Brisbane CBD is users how to make their computer secure and minimise also available for tuition with training computers. the risk of fraud and scams. Protection of the computer * * * * * and personal data with up-to-date security software, Brisbane Seniors Online (BSOL) is a not-for-profit incorporated organisation that provides affordable are all offered by BSOL to members. computer training for seniors and over-50s in their own firewalls and demonstrations on safe online browsing In addition to hundreds of uses, other important uses home, at community centres and libraries, as well as small of the Internet are the monitoring of GoCards and toll classes in some areas using unpaid volunteer mentors. road transponders. These allow users to see if correct Contact BSOL on 3210 6983 or see www.bsol.asn.au

The Origins of GRANFRIENDS Expressions Granfriends say: “It’s time to become a Granfriend.” Spill the Beans – In ancient Greece, voting for membership into some of their organisations was done And the children say: “It’s good to learn something via beans. White beans were dropped that you don’t normally learn in school. We get to into a container who favoured the use our creative skills and meet up with the candidate and brown or black beans lovely people who teach us.” not clear and when you went to vote ifyou you kept didn’t. your Apparently hands folded the so jar no was one This could be your students talking about you, so knew if you dropped a white or black why not become a Granfriend and enter the wonderful world of teaching primary school? Children enjoy many actual vote results of black vs. white beans. However, on a few occasions a of the ‘forgotten’ crafts, and appreciate any help bean? Only the officials knew the with their reading. and revealed all the beans! This is how clumsythe phrase voter got would to refer knock to someone over the jar Phone Blanche O’Connor on 3324 2779 who reveals the truth or hidden secrets. ¨

page 2 The language of tennis with Maida Lilley PLAYING ANY SPORT during the current heat-wave been proud of that one,” and “That was vintage Leyton conditions is challenging. The state-of-the-art new We enjoy remarks like: “Lew Hoad would have defeated last year’s Kooyong winner, we agreed: Perth Arena hosted the Hopman Cup while our own right“Leyton there. is turning He will back fight the to the clock.” bitter And end.”. then After he did he – Pat Rafter Arena held the Brisbane International he won the title for the second time. on. Even with closeable roofs, surprising comments Times, venues, racquets and players have certainly earlierlike ‘wind this is year. swirling These around facilities on theshould court’ be area joy made. to play changed. Photo reviews of challenged shots are Watching a late-afternoon match in Brisbane, I became expected. Physios, and even coaches, are called on disturbed by the amount of heavy shadow across court for treatment and advice. We even see women much of the court. It obviously affected Leyton Hewitt, players allowed off court to change part-way through who was heard to gasp: “I can’t see,” as he attempted a match held in extreme weather conditions. Is this to serve. Even modern technology can’t make playing really elite sport? conditions perfect. During the coming fortnight we viewers can sit When some players moved on to the Invitation Kooyong Classic in Melbourne, they played on a top players, like Roger Federer, will tackle the players different modern surface – a blue court but in a backwho haveto watch been the drawn finesse to play and againstexpertise them with in which the venue that was open to all weathers. Leyton Hewitt had won this tournament before. Others moved on to the Sydney International. All the players talk of TomicAustralian wore Open, a cap the as thefirst shadows grand slam on theof the court season. were ‘continuing their preparation’ for the Australian Open. a problem.In the final Todd matches Woodbridge of the Sydneytalked of International, players who Sam Stosur, current US champion, has had to work “left no stone unturned” ... “Lendl wore a cap with the playing in front of home crowds. Leyton has overcome to keep the sun off the back of his neck.” Of Tomic throughhis health ankle problems surgery of andlast year,seems is tofeeling have good,difficulty and backhe said: flap “Everyone turned down. in Australia He only is wore pleased it in toAustralia see him it shows. Bernard Tomic has obviously taken stock settle down and reach his potential.” He also said: Sam of his position in Australian tennis after last year’s Stosur is trying to get her summer started.” problems and is now “dedicated to the game”. He talks The ABC News the day before the Australian Open term. His defeat of the world No. 1 at the Hopman Cup of working on both his fitness and his “head”, to use his reportedwin in front Tomic’s of Ken reaction Rosewall to onhis thewin Ken in his Rosewall first ATP into the top 10. When Roger Federer was asked about final.Arena. He He had went graciously on to say: said “ It’s how been pleased a long he road was and to didTomic, wonders he said: for “To his go confidence. from, what He is speakshe – 60 of to getting the top now I’ve got one of these trophies.” However, the next 10 in one year is a big ask.” John Newcombe followed morning’s ABC News had him saying: “If no one in the that with: “That’s the voice of experience. Don’t get ahead of yourself,” – classic Newcombe. is one thing , but even though he is the same age as Much of the pleasure of tennis followers comes world can beat you, not even the No, 1. ...” Confidence from commentators like Darren Cahill, Todd can live up to his own hype. Woodbridge, Geoff Masters, John Fitzgerald and other FedererTennis was is now when big he business won his where first title, top players we hope earn he former well-renowned champions. not only trophies, but millions in prize money and sponsorships. Even lower-ranked players, who qualify to play in big tournaments, are paid appearance money. Let’s hope a few Aussies continue to exhibit winning form. After all, it is the AUSTRALIAN One of the excellent courts at Kooyong Open.

page 3 Coping with Dad’s dementia

Life Times reporter Amy Rickleman spoke to Jane (not her real name) who related how she and her sister have dealt with their father’s dementia, and the various trials and tribulations during this, at times, heart-wrenching journey

WHEN APPROACHING JANE about writing an article more affectionate that he’d ever been before, telling us about her beloved father Graham, who suffers from dementia ,she asked me: “Do you want the warts- and-all truth?” I replied that I did, but only if she was change,he loved but us forkept the in first mind time that in dementia our lives,” is she very says. different comfortable with telling me. Luckily enough, Jane shared fromJane one and day her to sisterthe next, were describing baffled by it theas a personality “mixed bag”. her heart-breaking, yet touching, story with me, so that others wouldn’t feel alone in their struggle. What makes Unfortunately, her father’s condition has inevitably Jane’s story unique is that she is brave enough to share deteriorated over the past three years, making it harder with me the honest truth about dementia and how it has for her each time she visits him: “To be totally honest, impacted her and her family. it becomes less rewarding to visit him each time”. She describes a man who doesn’t resemble Jane and her sister suspected their the father she used to know. He Father had issues with dementia about doesn’t remember her visits, can be age of 64. Unfortunately, three years fiveago heyears had ago, an episodeat the relatively which resulted young in verythe entire difficult visit. to converse with, and a hospitalisation, and thereafter needed majority of the time sleeps throughout a high level of care within a permanent Of course, with the impact on the nursing home. family comes the direct impact on her father. With dementia also affecting This news did not come as a surprise his mobility, her father is now in a to Jane and her family; it was more of a sad realisation of her father’s battling the system for things as simple worsening condition. wheelchair.as a patient Shetransport finds herselfambulance. constantly She “Dealing with Dad on a personal laughs and says “Casual pub lunches or level through this time was a real rollercoaster. Some beachside picnics are now a thing of the past.” days he would be thankful for the way we were trying to Jane and her sister have been great support for each get the best care for him that we could, and other days other throughout their father’s illness. She emphasises he could be scared and angry about it,” Jane says. that not everyone was on board and understands that As she and her family dealt with all the ‘nitty-gritty’ the process can be made much worse with family and bureaucracy of moving someone into permanent hospitalisation, it is the emotional side of things that she “Having a family member with dementia can be a remembers all too clearly. hardconflict. road. I guess the main thing with dementia is how “My Dad, who’d never been one to express his progressive it is. Whatever you and your loved one emotions, seemed quite depressed and would cry almost are going through it will only be temporary, as the next continually. The bright side to this was that he was also phase kicks in,” Jane says.

The Origins of Expressions Hoodlum – There are two versions of where this fact that many rookies who try to square dance end up word began in US culture: (1) One of the most notorious swinging their foot wildly, often digging into the shins of criminals of the Barbary Coast was Muldoon, who had their partners or other dancers. So naturally any dancing so much muscle he was hard to arrest. A San Francisco event that marks on its participants became known as a newspaper led a campaign to clean up the town. But shindig. rather than printing his name they put it in backwards: Wrong Side of the Bed – We live in a right-handed ‘Noodlum’. A bit obvious, the reported then changed the world, let’s face it. In the ancient world, the left-side N to H = Hoodlum. So every time this criminal’s activities of the body or anything ‘left’ was considered sinister, were written up, it was as Hoodlum. Soon the name mysterious, dangerous or evil. So, innkeepers pushed the was synonymous with crime and illegal activities. (2) left sides of the bed against the walls so that a guest HAD Another theory is it is a derivative of the German word to get up on the right side. Today, with queen and king ‘huddellump’ which means miserable fellow, wretch, and side beds, most people get up on either side and don’t scoundrel.” bother to think about it. But the term today of ‘getting up Shindig – Maggie Valley, North Carolina is the Square on the wrong side of the bed’ refers to when someone is Dance capital of the world. And the term comes from the irritable or clumsy.

page 4 Is it worth my time? mini A personal measure of the value of ... movie just about everything for the older person review by Anne Ring I KILLED TWO BOOKS the other day. One after the other. First of all Alexander Quartet McCall Smith’s 44 Scotland Street. It had come highly recommended, had a plot by Maida Lilley lady detective series. I liked the sound of, and had great antecedents – I’d completely enjoyed his first HOW OFTEN CAN three generations of the family didn’t care what happened to them. I was bored by the petty anecdotes that really enjoy a just-released wereBut being this bookstrung just together wasn’t inworking lieu of afor story me. line.I didn’t So, likeI killed the it,characters, by skipping and movie? A retirement home for musicians in a gracious home in the picturesque to the ending, backflipping through some of the last quarter of the book, and English countryside is The other book that I killed, in the same way and with the same outcome, finding nothing in either that made me want to go back to where I’d left off. worth a visit. was one I’d been reading concurrently: The Elephant Keepers’ Children, by Peter Hoeg. It had an intriguing plot, and also good credentials in the author’s earlier Music varies from book, Miss Smilla’s Feeling for Snow burlesque to classical instrumental to high opera. clever and silly, simultaneously. And. And,I stopped for a while,caring Iwhat was quitehappened enjoying to the his The best surprise is left to children.new book and its quirky insights. But, gradually, it just got a bit too tediously the credits Those players were mostly actually noted So, consciously, I decided that I didn’t want any more of my time eaten up musicians – all of them well and truly retired, even something more interesting. Book lover and respecter of authors though I am, down to an overbearing by those books when I could be reading something more enjoyable, or doing ‘director’ of the annual that I’ve been doing more of in recent years. Similarly, by now I can pretty well benefit evening. predictthis is by early no means on, in manythe first worthy time thatTV programs, I’ve murdered whether a book. they’re But worthit’s something my time, I came away wondering or not. And a quick scan of newspapers is getting to be all that I need to see whether this ‘home’ whether there are any articles that are worth my taking my time to read. was taking bookings for Essentially, then, what I am increasingly doing is entirely in keeping with my future residents. It was age and stage, according to a theory of time horizons and ageing that has been a delight to appreciate suggested by Stanford University neuroscientists. According to their theory: performances by such a “When the time horizon is long, you focus on knowledge acquisition As the time quartet of noted older horizons shorten, things become much clearer, because people are letting their performers as Maggie Smith, Pauline Collins, feelings navigate what they do, who they spend time with, what are the choices Michael Gambon and Tom they are making in life, and it’s about right now.” Courtney. They certainly The Oldie still have ‘it’ and share it in magazine about a big difference that she discovered between herself and her spades. parents.More Increasingly,anecdotally, butshe in discovered, the same vein,they Lizziewalk out Enfield of theatre wrote performances in or the movies before they’ve ended “if it’s no good and you save about two hours of your life”. She, however, has hardly ever walked out of anything, and she suspects that the difference is due to the fact that “the chances are I have more of my life to squander than my parents”. Hilary Boyd, the 60-something author who has caused a stir with her recent novel of sex in the 60s (year-olds, that is, in Thursdays in the Park*) has been thinking more broadly along similar lines, and believes that it can be viewed

I now feel I’m free to make choices based on my own desires, not necessarily as one of the benefits of age. Essentially, as she sees it, it’s “... all about freedom. perhaps it is. But although I don’t shirk my important responsibilities, I also on what I ought to do. My friend calls it ‘the f--- factor’. This sounds selfish, and from a sense of duty or politeness. And if I want to dye my hair, I will. If I want to gono greylonger and do wear things a baggy I suspect cardie, I won’t I’ll do enjoy, that which too. I’ve in thegot nothingpast I might to lose.” have done * And yes, I did read this book. All the way through. © Anne Ring 2012

page 5 Fun for the Frail & Frisky

Musical Oranges Players: Any number. Equipment: Large table, oranges, music. On a large table lay out the same number of oranges (or any object), as you have players, less one. The music plays, players move around the table. The music stops, players each grab an orange – the one who misses out is out. The game proceeds until only one player is left. Winner: The last player left. * * * * * Movement Games Wheelbarrow or Trolley Race Hunting Players: Any number. Players: Two or more players. Equipment: Empty grocery cartons, grocery lists, Equipment: Pictures of animals pasted to boxes, suction wheelbarrow or trolley. cap gun, dart or soft indoor ball. Place grocery cartons around a set course. Each player The game can be modified or expanded according to need is given a grocery list. In turn each is given the trolley or and equipment. Arrange ‘animals’ around the hunter’s wheelbarrow and has a set number of minutes (according chair – some near, some further away. The hunter uses a to the length of the course) to collect all items on the list suction cap gun or dart or soft (indoor) ball. Each animal and return ‘home’. is divided by lines into sections. Each section has a score Winner: The person who collects the largest number written on it – 6 for the head, 6 for the chest,w and 2 of items in the time allowed. everywhere else. Score whatever the dart or ball has hit. * * * * * Winner: The highest scorer. Pass the Bag Players: Any number. Equipment: Small gifts, paper bags, music. Put a selection of gifts in a paper bag. Place the bag inside another bag, and that inside another bag and so on until there is one bag for each player to remove. Prepare a list of instructions, e.g. rub your nose, say a poem, sing a song, touch your toes, etc. Hand this list to the person controlling the music. Players sit in a circle and hand the bag around while the music plays. When the music stops, the person holding the bag at that stage is asked by the person in charge to do one of the activities on the instruction sheet. After each player has completed the task and peeled off the outer bag, the music starts again, and the bag is handed on. Winner: The person who peels off the last bag.

Want more? Treasure Hunt This is an excerpt from Fun for the Frail & Frisky (48 pages) Players: Any number. – available for $12 (incl. P&P) – Equipment: Envelopes, clues, treasure. send your address and cheque or money order to: Have a list of 10 different articles to be found, e.g. golden leaf, white shoe etc. OPSO (Fun & Frisky) PO Box 1037 Winner: The first to find and bring back all 10 items. MT GRAVATT * * * * * QLD 4122

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