\u201cIF there be any help I can offer, let me do it now for I will not pass this way again.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a saying Ruth Hosking heard in the first week of her general nursing studies over 70 years ago, but it has stuck with her ever since.<\/p>\n
At 89 years old, Ms Hosking was this week awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia for her services to the local community.<\/p>\n
Her decades of work to advocate for improvements to the aged care system began in 1982 when she returned to school to pursue geriatric nursing.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt that point in time, dementia was just becoming an entity of its own,\u201d Ms Hosking said.<\/p>\n
\u201cMum developed it at the same time, so I took a particular interest in dementia and spoke to any group that would ask me because everyone was finding that they had a family member with dementia and wanted to know more.\u201d<\/p>\n
Since then, Ms Hosking has dedicated her life to helping people understand and prepare for residential care through agencies like Council on the Ageing Victoria, the region\u2019s Positive Ageing Advisory Committee and even a submission to the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m at an \u2018aged care\u2019 age, but I\u2019m still able to be an advocate and I\u2019m just so delighted that as a result of the Royal Commission, it\u2019s been identified that there is value in asking older people their opinion,\u201d Ms Hosking said.<\/p>\n
This week\u2019s achievement adds to her Centenary of Federation Medal awarded in 2001 and the Rotary Club of Bendigo\u2019s Sapphire Pin, received just seven years ago.<\/p>\n
\u201cI really thank everyone for making this possible. It\u2019s because people have been willing to share their circumstances with me to allow me the opportunity to share with them advice,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt helps them help themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u201cIF there be any help I can offer, let me do it now for I will not pass this way again.\u201d It\u2019s a saying Ruth Hosking heard in the first week of her general nursing studies over 70 years ago, but it has stuck with her ever since. At 89 years old, Ms Hosking was […]<\/p>\n