CONTACT

Committee of Management Report

The new Committee of Management (COM) CFA VIC is settling in having met in November 2009 and February 2010. We are now a committee of 9 and welcome Janetta Webb who has recently joined us. Janetta has been a past member of the CFA VIC Physiotherapy Group Committee and her clear thinking and depth of experience in Continence and Women’s Health Physiotherapy are skills that will be greatly valued.

In addition to overseeing the management of the Victorian Continence Resource Centre the COM is seeking feedback from the membership as to how we can best meet your needs. With that in mind we will be circulating a survey shortly and I urge you to respond. We are fortunate to have amongst our membership in Victoria individuals of great compassion and depth whose professional and personal attributes can offer us much. We want to hear from you all.

We have successfully negotiated an extension on our lease at Royal Talbot and will remain there until the end of the year. We are currently investigating other options for office space for the VCRC in the future. We need to be within a 15km radius of east of the CBD and require approximately 90-120 m2 but are prepared to share staff amenities and meeting space if necessary. If you know of any suitable potential space we would like to hear from you. Space within an organisation with a similar profile and mission could be an advantage.

We hope you enjoy this edition of Contact.

Best wishes

Judy Sincock
President

Continence Aids Payment Scheme (CAPS)

CAPS Information Sessions

Information sessions on CAPS (Continence Aids Payment Scheme) are being held in Victoria during April. But be quick as registrations close on 19 March
To register click here

There are 5 sessions being held throughout Victoria:

Melbourne 19 April
Ballarat 21 April
Warrnambool 23 April
Shepparton 27 April
Bendigo 29 April

The Government’s website www.bladderbowel.gov.au has detailed information about the changes from CAAS to CAPS. There is a useful brochure that provides the main points about the changes you can download from the website.
 

VCRC Out and About

January was the quiet before the storm. The phone has not stopped ringing with requests for education sessions and bookings for expos. Here are some of the education activities we have been or about to be involved in:

The first big event this year was Every Woman’s Business in Albury Wodonga that CFA National organised with the assistance of CFA Victoria and NSW. It was highly successful. The community session on the Thursday night attracted 93 women from around the region. Susan McCarthy and Pauline Chiarelli presented on healthy bladder and bowel habits and pelvic floor exercises. The feedback from the women on the night was overwhelmingly positive. On Friday 116 health professionals attended the full day seminar. Thanks to Catriona Bastion for organising a very successful event.

We regularly provide education to residential aged care staff. Attendance to the sessions varies from 3 to over 25! It can be a challenge to know how many handouts to take as the guestimate given is often way out. Popular topics for these sessions are: Dementia and Incontinence, Promoting Normal Bowel Function, UTIs and the Frail Older Person, Toileting Programs and Continence management.

Carex Expo 2010

Each year we attend this health expo. It is a great opportunity to make contact with a range of health workers the expo attracts. As well as having a stand we also provide a continence seminar. This year's topic will be on toileting programs as a management strategy in residential and community settings. These sessions are well attended and the feedback has been very positive.

CAREX will be held at Caulfield Race Course 18 & 19 March - Free Admission

For more infomation visit www.totalagedservices.com.au

RIDE Disability Respite Expo 2010

Respite Information and Development in the East (RIDE) is holding an expo where we will have a stall. The event is for carers of people with a disability. This is another good opportunity to meet with carers who often have poor information about continence and the resources around to assist with the management of bladder and bowel control problems.

Click here for the event flyer

Chinese Seniors Healthy Ageing Expo

This expo aims to provid updated and accurate information on aged care services and issues to Chinese seniors and their carers.

Our work with CALD groups is steadily increasing because of the contacts we have developed through our involvement with the North West CALD partnership and our CALD projects – translation of Healthy Bladder and Bowel Habits in to 9 other languages and the Continence in Ethic Communities project. You can find more information about the project in the project report below.

The translated brochures can be downloaded from our website

Up and Comming Events: One Step At A Time

Professional Development Seminar: One Step At A Time 14th April 2010 in Parkville and 20th May 2010 in Bendigo

This seminar is aimed at professionals working with younger children with special needs. The program covers a number of issues around toilet skill development in children with special needs such as use: of pant alarms, learning bottom wiping, and refusing to use the toilet to poo. The seminar is proving very popular with places just about filled.

For more information see our website www.continencevictoria.org.au

Up and comming Events: Simply Busting

Simply Busting 5th May in Blackburn North.

The session is a free event for the public commencing at 10am and concluding at 12 noon. Light refreshments will also be provided.

The Simply Busting program provides a free seminar that is fun and informal for the general community to find out about continence problems and their prevention. Participants also have the opportunity to check out continence products provided through trade product displays.

The model for the program has been run successfully in W.A. More seminars will be organised throughout the year with funding support from other local governments.

Please promote the event amongst your clients and networks, particularly if they live in the City of Whitehorse or surrounding areas or are interested in attending. If you are able to distribute some event flyers please contact us to place an order.

For more information see our website www.continencevictoria.org.au

VCRC Project: Continence in Ethnic Communities

The new project ‘Continence in Ethnic Communities’ has commenced and is well underway. The project aims to raise awareness of incontinence issues among culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) communities. In particualr it, will explore how cultural perceptions, practices and attitudes influence the prevention and treatment of incontinence. Limited information about perceptions of incontinence among CALD communities is known. The project will present a review of available evidence concerning incontinence in CALD communities and barriers to prevention and treatment, including a summary of findings from consultation with CALD communites about these issues.

The findings will assist service providers to better understand these cultural and social influences and their affect upon the continence care needs of CALD groups. They will also assist in providing more culturally appropriate and targeted care.

The ethnic communities chosen for participation in the project include:

* Arabic speaking
* Chinese
* Italian
* Greek
* Polish
* Vietnamese

An advisory group has been setup and the first meeting was held in early February 2010. Organisations involved include Ethnic Communities Council of Victoria, Centre for Cultural Diversity and Ageing, Royal District Nursing Service, Baptcare, Western Continence Service, Department of Health and CFA. Ethno specific organisations representing the ethnic communities involved in the project include: Australian Polish Community Services, Chinese Community Social Services, CoAsIT, Australian Greek Welfare Society, Victorian Arabic Social Services and Australian Vietnamese Womens Association.

Currently focus group discussions are being setup within the different ethnic communities to explore people’s understanding of incontinence and the cultural beliefs and practices that may influence this.

For more information about the project contact Deborah Manning, Health Promotion Officer on 9816 8266 (available Tue/Wed/Thur).

VCRC Project: One Step At A Time

One step at a time has been completely revised as previously reported.

The resource now consists of:
• a booklet that gives five sequential steps for toilet training
• 12 tip sheets that provide information about some of the common issues around toilet skill development and training.
• a series of toileting pictures

The resource has been reviewed by parents and health professionals and their feedback helped shape the end product.

Grants from Disability Services and the Lord Mayor’s Fund funded the re-development of this resource.

Special thanks to the advisory group for their hard work, tireless efforts, enthusiasm and support for the project. They have been very generous with their time and giving or their expertise

The booklet 'One step at a time: a parent guide to toilet skills for children with special needs' will be available from mid April.

You will also be able to download a copy from our website www.continencevictoria.org.au

Water For Wellbeing

We are receiving very good feedback about Water for Wellbeing (W4W). A report is in the current edition of QPS Benchmark’s Newsletter from a facility that used the resource.

They implemented a program to increase fluid intake with their residents and have significantly reduced the number of UTIs and falls. We are anticipating a new round of interest in the resource.

W4W is also moving around the world. We have had several enquiries for copies of this resource from outside of Australia.

The resource kit is available in printed version for $20 or CD ROM for $10 or download the kit from our website www.continencevictoria.org.au