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President's Report

DECEMBER 2010

Greetings from the Committee of Management of CFA VIC VCRC.

2010 has come and gone in a flash. We thank you for your support during the year and look forward to maintaining a steady focus in 2011.

The new committee comprises myself, Barry Thomson (Vice President), Michael Hum (Treasurer), Bob Thornton (Secretary), Janetta Webb, Shirley Whittaker, Alan Frampton and Sue Blinman. In addition to our role overseeing the functioning of the VCRC we value a supporting role for the CFA VIC membership and would very much like to encourage communication from you all in 2011. Please don’t hesitate to consult with us and/or offer your thoughts on how we can best support you.

The good news is that RDNS have decided to renew their lease at Royal Talbot and we are no longer looking at ‘moving house’. We now have the option of renewing our sublease agreement there for a further three years. This is a significant relief and we are negotiating the use of additional meeting room space. We are also looking at updating our phone system in 2011 and reviewing IT facilities.

Importantly, the committee are very pleased to announce that Christine Murray has been granted the Michael Murray award for 2010. Christine has volunteered to accompany a surgical team led by Judith Goh to the Kaganda Mission in Uganda to further their work with women requiring fistula repair. This is an important initiative and we are delighted to be able to assist Christine in this role and look forward to hearing of her experiences. Thank you also to Michael Murray for his generosity.

On behalf of the committee and the staff of the VCRC I would like to extend our very best wishes to you all for Christmas and the New Year and again encourage you to keep telling us how we can support you.

Regards

Judy Sincock
President

Project update: One step at a time: a parent's guide to toilet skill development for children with special needs

We successfully applied for funding to develop an easy English version of this resource. Previously the guide was translated into selected languages, Turkish, Vietnamese and Arabic. We again looked at this possibility but with Victoria’s growing diverse population and many emerging CALD groups it was not possible to translate the material to meet all the language groups. Certainly from our work with CALD groups and exploring best practice in translations the conclusion was that an easy English text was the best way to meet everyone’s needs.

We are currently talking to various stake holders and seeking advice from literacy professionals because our target group is people who have low literacy skills regardless of the reason. For some it will be because English is their second language for others it will be because of their education.

This project presents with many challenges but everyone we have contacted so far has been very enthusiastic and keen to be involved.

Professional Development

HACC Training – Water for Wellbeing

VCRC conducted a professional development training workshop with staff from HACC programs in the western metropolitan region in October. The workshop was part of the annual HACC training calendar which is supported by the Department of Health.

The session focused on providing HACC program staff involved in the delivery of programs and assessment of clients with information and tips to:

• understand the importance of adequate fluid intake among frail elderly
• identify strategies to promote adequate fluid intake among the frail elderly

Participants learnt about the health benefits of adequate fluid intake, why the older person is at risk of dehydration, evidence and recommendations for adequate fluid intake and tools for promoting fluid intake in the care setting. Participants also received a copy of the ‘Water for Wellbeing’ toolkit.

Check out the kit on our website www.continencevictoria.org.au/resources.

Feedback from participants was very positive. They reported the session was “extremely informative” and the “best practical session I have attended this year”. Participants also reported being more informed to “pay more attention to water intake of clients” and “be more aware of signs of dehydration” and would “encourage clients to drink more”.
Following the success of this session, VCRC has approached the HACC training coordinators in other regions across Victoria, both regional and metropolitan, in order to run similar sessions in 2011.

If you think your organisation would be interested in a professional development session related to Water for Wellbeing contact us to discuss how we can tailor this to your needs.

Don’t forget that elderly people are more vulnerable in extreme weather. So its important to encourage them to drink enough fluids throughout the summer. Aged and community care settings and programs are encouraged to use the ‘Water for Wellbeing’ kit, available to download from our website. Click here. 

One step at a time: A program for developing toileting skills for school children with special needs.

We have three professional development programs organised for SDSs (Special Development Schools) in 2011. The requests came directly from the schools. Each school had at least one member of staff attend the very successful seminar series earlier this year.

Staff at SDSs spend significant amounts of time toileting children. The aim of the seminars is to assist staff in their work supporting and encouraging families to teach their child with special needs the various skills of toileting.

We are looking forward to working with the staff as we share knowledge and skills with each other around this important life skill.

Seminar dates:
2 February 2011: Broadmeadows SDS
3 February 2011: Frankston SDS
11 February 2011: Devonport/Bernie School of Special Education

Community Education

Healthy Bladder & Bowel Habits - Italian Senior Citizens Reservoir

VCRC in collaboration with CO.AS.IT (as part of the Community Partners Program) and the Italian Senior Citizens Club of North West Reservoir, held an education session for club members in October about healthy bladder and bowel habits. The session was very popular with around 150 people in attendance. Participants were informed about symptoms of common bladder and bowel problems and important tips for better bladder and bowel control. An accredited interpreter was present to interpret in Italian. Several continence product companies were also present with displays of products and provided free samples to members.

An article write up about the event and the key messages related to bladder and bowel control made the front page of the Italian newspaper IL Globo. See article below.

VCRC and Co.As.It have been working together on the Continence in Ethnic Communities Project. A recent presentation about the progress of the project was also made to the statewide forum of the Community Partners Program, which includes workers from a number of ethnic community organizations.

VCRC hopes to build on the success of the this model by working with ethnic organizations and targeting education to CALD communities, particularly senior citizens clubs.

Simply Busting – Frankston

VCRC was in sunny Frankston in early November delivering another ‘Simply Busting’ community education program. The event was attended by 25 people from the local area and feedback from participants was very positive.

VCRC would like to thank Frankston City Council Community Grants for the grant funding and support received in promotion of the event.
We would also like to thank the representatives from Kimberly Clarke, Tena, Cottons and Victorian Healthcare Products for attending on the day and providing product displays for participants.

We will be organising more Simply Busting sessions in the New Year so stay tuned for further details about dates and venues.

CAW is now WCW

CFA has decided to move to WCW (World Continence Week) after several years of debate. WCW is an initiative of ICS so CFA is now in line with other major continence organisation. The issue was discussed at the AGM in Alice Springs and the consensus was to move to WCW. So please note the change of date. There will be more information sent to you very soon from CFA national office.

We have begun to plan events for the week. A focus will be CALD communities drawing on the work from the Continence in Ethic Communities.

Plans to date:Simply Busting forum in Brimbank

We successfully applied for a community grant to conduct this community education program. Brimbank has one of the most culturally diverse communities in Victoria.

Raising Continence Awareness in CALD communities

This program will present the findings from the Continence in Ethic Communities and how organisations can better work with CALD communities both in raising awareness and in the treatment of continence issues.

New Resources: Updated Aboriginal Brochures

At the National Conference on Incontinence at Alice Springs the completely revised brochures for Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islanders were launched. The brochures are written in easy English for Aboriginal Health Workers to use with their clients.

Titles include:

• Leaking pee
• Hard poo (constipation)
• The prostate and pee problems
• Training the bladder (pee bag)
• Leaking pee after having a baby

The complete set can be found on the Bladder Bowel web site click here

Well done to Alisa Sutherland and her team who were responsible for the development of these brochures.

SWEP (State Wide Equipment Program)

SWEP is the new identity of the Aids and Equipment Program. It is a new state side service being operated by Ballarat Health Service. Whilst the name has changed there is no change to:

• Target groups
• Guidelines
• Equipment categories
• Maximum subsidy levels
• Clients

New to the program will be:
• Introduction of Clinical Advisor roles
• Introduction of Credentialing for Prescribers

Clearly stated on the web site is the following:

The SWEP will NOT fund disposable continence pants or pads, drip collectors, colostomy appliances or urinals.

Continence products may be provided by the SWEP to eligible clients at the same time as funding from other Department of Human Services continence programs and the Commonwealth Government’s Continence Aids Payment Scheme (CAPS).

For more information:
Tel: 1800 995 009
Web: www.swep.bhs.org.au

Parents and Babies Expo Report

The Expo was held at Jeff's Shed/Exhibition Centre on Friday 22nd, Saturday 23rd and Sunday 24th of October 2010.

CFA organised  and paid for the stand and the CFA Physio Group organised the volunteer roster.

Thanks to CFA Vic Branch for the great spot we had again. We were situated opposite the food and drinks area, at the back of the hall.This was ideal as most people needed to either sit down and rest their legs or rehydrate. This gave us a perfect opportunity to catch them on the way past and give out some FREE informaiotn and encourage a healthy interest in the pelvic floor.

Again this year we recorded postcodes and suburbs just to get an idea of our demographics.

We had approximately 200 people visit the stand, probably more as it was hard to write it all down when the stand was busy. The spread was scattered all over Melbourne and mostly from outer lyging areas.There were even a few interstate visitors.

All the volunteers gave positive feedback and enjoyed the experience. The opportunity to drift around the expo to see what others are selling is always an eye opening experience. If you have never done this then you have missed out on something very interesting. Of course if you are a new MUM or at the opposite end, a new grandmother, then it is even better!

We had only one nurse this year. It would be nice to see some more volunteers from all members of CFA.

We all feel that being at the Expo is very worthwhile and that is should continue. Thank you to all who helped in one way or another, especially Lesley at VCRC, who kept the enthusiasm bouyant and helped me get organised.

Hope to see as many as possible at next year's event.

Ingrid Mitton