Pinevale Villas hosts Seniors Expo
August 18, 2010
Pinevale Villas, at 1 Star Avenue, Goonellabah, will host its second Seniors Expo on Thursday 16th September, from 10am to 2pm.
The Expo theme this year is’Ageing Well’ and will feature a monster book sale organised by Pinevale residents and staff, with the proceeds from the sale of all pre-loved books going to the Westpac Rescue Helicopter Service.
‘Ageing Well’ is all about showcasing some of the opportunities that now exist for older people and their families, who want access to information and services that help in continuing to enjoy a good quality of life.
More than 40 community organisations, private businesses and health promotion practitioners have booked in for the event, together with entertainers.
New incentives to attract and keep doctors in Page
July 1, 2010
Page MP Janelle Saffin has welcomed the new Australian Government initiatives being rolled out from today (July 1) that will attract and keep doctors in the local area.
Ms Saffin said the Government has changed the classification of rural and remote areas and now Lismore, Alstonville, Ballina, Wardell and Wollongbar have been included in the list of areas that can offer incentives to attract and keep GPs.
“I lobbied for these local centres to be included, and worked with local doctor Andrew Binns to push for these changes which have now been delivered,” she said.
“This means that the all of the Page electorate is now eligible to offer incentives to attract and keep GPs.
Tweed Valley Services gets $50,000 in dementia funding
April 21, 2010
Richmond MP and Minister for Ageing Justine Elliot has announced that Tweed Valley Services Inc will receive $50,000 as part of $3.5 million in grants to fund community projects to provide support and raise awareness for people with dementia and their families.
It is estimated that more than 245,000 Australians have dementia, and nearly one million family members and friends help care for them.
“The $50,000 funding for the North Coast will support people with dementia, their families and carers,” Mrs Elliot said.
Tweed Valley Services Inc will receive $50,000 for the Living Life Well pilot project.
Lismore Base Hospital gets $9.1m cancer-care boost
April 13, 2010
The Rudd Government will invest $9.1 million to enhance cancer services at Lismore Base Hospital as part of a North Coast Cancer Institute Regional Cancer Service.
With some cancers, patients from rural areas are up to three times more likely to die within five years of diagnosis than their counterparts in urban areas.
The $9.1 million investment in Lismore will work towards improving the services and care for the more than 32,000 NSW residents diagnosed with cancer each year.
The Government will provide $6.5 million to commission a second linear accelerator and a Positron Emissions Tomography/Computed Tomography (PET/CT) scanner at Lismore Base Hospital.
Ballina schoolgirl lobbies Canberra for diabetes research funding
March 20, 2010
Ballina girl Sarah Moore was one of 110 Youth Ambassadors for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) in Canberra this week, lobbying for funding for type 1 diabetes research.
Page MP Janelle Saffin met Sarah and her mother, Denise, in her Parliamentary office on Thursday morning and then joined them at the Kids in the House lunch with the other youth ambassadors, their supporters and many Members of Parliament.
Ms Saffin said in the electorate of Page there are more than 950 young people with type 1 diabetes,
“Australia has one of the highest rates of type 1 diabetes in the world, and the rate of new cases in children is increasing by 3 per cent a year,” she said.
Saffin lobbies hard for enhanced cancer care and accommodation
March 18, 2010
Page MP Janelle Saffin is lobbying hard in Canberra on two submissions which would vastly improve care for cancer patients across the North Coast and provide low-cost accommodation for them and their carers while in Lismore.
Ms Saffin this week met with Federal Minister for Health and Ageing Nicola Roxon to discuss a $57.8 million Regional Cancer Centres Initiative-North Coast Cancer Institute and a $2.6 million ‘Our House’-Lismore Cancer Patient and Carer Accommodation project.
Project aims to keep older people independent
March 18, 2010
An innovative program to assist older people to live independently in their homes is about to get under way in the Clarence Valley, building on work recently undertaken by Southern Cross University’s Aged Services and Learning Research Centre (ASLaRC).
Starting in April, the project will involve up to 50 people who have been referred for support at home.
Funded by the NSW Department of Human Services, Ageing, Disability and Home Care (ADHC), the project follows a study by Professor Colleen Cartwright (pictured), director of ASLaRC, into the use of a re-ablement approach in community care services.
“Instead of just providing support services, this approach is person-centred, building on the hopes and needs of each individual and setting goals along the way,” Professor Cartwright said.
The aim is to ensure that individuals who have been identified as needing home care services are provided with the best opportunity to rebuild and maintain their independence and ability to live in their own homes.
‘Memory Van’ visits Ballina, Mullumbimby, Byron Bay and Ocean Shores
March 7, 2010
Are you worried about your memory?
The Alzheimer’s Australia NSW Memory Van is a mobile education resource that travels statewide to help raise awareness on the importance of brain health and dementia risk reduction.
The Memory Van provides communities with information designed to help educate and assist people living with dementia, their carers and health professionals.
Staff can also assist with enquiries about memory loss.
The Memory Van is fully equipped with Help Sheets, Fact Sheets, DVD and video resources and a Nintendo Brain Game.
MP takes breast-screen petition to parliament
February 24, 2010
Ballina MP Don Page has submitted a petition to the NSW Parliament containing over 1300 signatures of local people opposed to the removal of mobile breast screening on the Far North Coast.
The terms of the petition brought to the NSW Labor Government’s attention: Read more
Closing the Gap: Outreach workers for Lismore and Grafton
February 19, 2010
Page MP Janelle Saffin says the Federal Government’s efforts to close the gap in life expectancy between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians within a generation will be helped by two outreach worker placements in her electorate.
Ms Saffin said two of 83 new Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander outreach workers nationally will join the Lismore-based Northern Rivers General Practice Network and Grafton’s Bulgarr Ngaru Medical Aboriginal Corporation by the end of June.
“These organisations are dedicated to improving the health and well-being of Indigenous people in the region, and these outreach workers will help increase community engagement with primary health care services,” Ms Saffin said.
“The Federal Government’s $805.5 million Indigenous Chronic Disease Package includes $42 million to fund a total of 160 such positions to build the capacity of the Indigenous health workforce over four years.
