A SESSION for seniors, their carers and family was hosted last Thursday in Sebastopol, assisting people to better understand the national Royal Commission into Aged Care and how Ballarat can get involved.<\/p>\n
Run by Ballarat Community Health and the Council on the Ageing Victoria, the event covered what the Royal Commission is, its terms of reference, ways in which people can make their own valuable contributions, and encouraged them to be part of COTA Victoria\u2019s own broad submission.<\/p>\n
Specifically, information and stories of lived experiences in the areas of residential aged care, home care, dementia care, and young people living in residential care is currently sought.<\/p>\n
COTA Victoria CEO, Ronda Held said the body has been holding these events in areas of higher cultural diversity, and rurally, across the state.<\/p>\n
\u201cMainly in areas where we think people are least likely to put in submissions, or where they\u2019ve got particular needs,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Submissions can be made to the Royal Commission in a variety of ways.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re not particularly specific about it so you can actually ring up and have something recorded over the phone if you can\u2019t write something down,\u201d Ms Held said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve got a template that we suggest people could use just as a way of helping them record their stories and if they don\u2019t want to write a submission themselves, but they have issues, they can tell us and we\u2019ll put it in our submission as well.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt any time, if people want to make contact with COTA and raise an issue, they can certainly do that.\u201d<\/p>\n
BCH CEO, Sean Duffy said his team is keen to support people in sharing their lived experiences.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat we want to see is a strengthening of existing services so that people are receiving the best care possible. We are extremely pleased that this Royal Commission is underway,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Ms Held said it\u2019s a once in a lifetime opportunity.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe really want people to speak up and talk about the issues that concern them. Also, any good stories they\u2019ve got, good examples of where it\u2019s worked well, because we want to disseminate those and make sure other people can hear the good stories.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t want people to be scared of asking for care when they need it. We don\u2019t want people to suffer, there are a lot of good providers around and we need to reinforce that,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Not-for-profit, COTA Victoria has represented the rights and interests of Victorians over 50 for almost 70 years, promoting opportunities, championing the positive aspects of ageing and encouraging community, corporate and government thinking.<\/p>\n