“You can’t deny laughter; when it comes, it plops down in your favourite chair and stays as long as it wants.” – Stephen King
As the saying goes, laughter is the best medicine. But did you know that there is real scientific evidence to back up this claim?
While we’ve all experienced the lift in mood that can come from an unbridled bout of laughter (even when it feels like we can’t breathe and tears are streaming down our face!), there are other physical and emotional responses that make indulging in a good old belly laugh a must for our health and wellbeing.
Back in the 1930s, Dr William F Fry put a name to the health benefits of laughter – he called it ‘gelotology’ and claimed that laughing improved breathing and circulation. Several studies later have confirmed that laughter:
Reduces stress
Alleviates pain
Reduces blood pressure
Improves immunity
Improves overall wellbeing
Improves our sense of connectedness to others.
As babies and children, smiling and laughter are some of our earliest and most important forms of communication, but as we get older and the demands of life take over, we smile and laugh less often.
This has led to the rise of ‘organised’ laughter groups to help us get back in touch with our funny bone!
Search for ‘laugher clubs’ online to find one near you and see the tips below on how to get more laughter in your life.
Need a bit more laughter in your life?
Spend time with funny people
Take in some local comedy
Post a picture of yourself laughing where you can see it every day
Keep a joke file and share jokes with others to brighten their day and yours
Find the humour in something serious
Did you know?
The Humour Foundation is a charity dedicated to promoting and delivering the health benefits of humour.
They offer a range of programs designed to engage sick children and their families, and older people living in residential aged care homes.
Cloud or drive? Apple or android? Phone or tablet? If these questions leave you scratching your head, it might be time to sign up to an Exchange Tech Savvy workshop.
These workshops are all about getting people started on the internet and tips for those keen to know more.
While ‘digital natives’ – generations Y and Z – often find the digital world easy to navigate, it can be a different story for others.
Exchange member Jim, 63, says learning to use a computer has been a steep learning curve, but well worth the effort. As well as signing up for an email address to keep in touch with family and friends, Jim is excited about the ‘DIY’ videos he’s found on YouTube that fit with his passion, car mechanics. “I’d been a bit resistant to computers, but I’ve discovered all sorts of fascinating things online,” he says.
During the workshops, a range of experts bust internet myths, answer questions on how to choose the right computer, tablet or mobile phone, and investigate how technology can help when it comes to hearing or vision impairments or other medical issues. Other topics include how to be safe and savvy when you’re looking for health information online, and a look at the ethics and green credentials of mobile technology.
Taking on new challenges, learning new skills, and finding opportunities to have your say, are a focus for members of the Exchange – a network for people aged 50+, founded by ACH Group two years ago.
Exchange members receive a fortnightly e-bulletin (newsletter) via email that includes noticeboard alerts on a variety of workshops, seminars and opportunities available to older South Australians to get involved in research, share their opinions, and keep challenging how getting older looks and feels.
“I might be 86 but I’m not slowing down, there’s a whole world of interesting
things right here on my phone.”
– Hazel, Exchange member
SIGN UP!
The Tech Savvy workshops are one of many activities and workshops on offer for members of the Exchange, a network that offers opportunities to reinvent, rediscover and find your voice. The Exchange is open to anyone aged 50+ and is free to join. Sign up at achgroup.org.au/discover-and-explore/the-exchange/
ACH Group’s Good Lives Magazine is proud to announce a new partnership with iconic South Australian independent publisher, Wakefield Press.
Founded in 1942, Wakefield Press undertakes all stages of the publishing process (except printing) under the one roof at Mile End – a hop, skip and a jump from ACH Group’s corporate office on Henley Beach Road.
We’ve teamed up with Wakefield Press to keep you in the know about quality books coming out of South Australia and beyond, such as ‘Mallee Boys’ by London-born Adelaide resident Charlie Archibold, and early model Holden enthusiast Don Loffler, whose new book ‘Holden Treasures’ hits the shelve s soon.
Readers of this issue receive a 20% discount on purchases at the Wakefield Press store located at 16 Rose Street, Mile End, or online at wakefieldpress.com.au when you use the code ‘goodlives20’.
20% discount code expires 31 March 2019.
Win a prize pack of Wakefield Press books!
To enter, tell us about your favourite childhood holiday and what made it so special. Email your entry to [email protected] with ‘Wakefield’ in the subject line. Entries close 31 December 2018. For full terms and conditions, click here.
Keith Netting spent many years as the sole carer of his wife Joy. But when her dementia progressed, he reached a point when he felt he had to ask for help.
“She started waking up in the night and I realised I could no longer manage on my own,” Keith said. “I spoke to my daughter Ros, and she contacted ACH Group.”
With help from ACH Group’s Aged Care Navigator Service, the family were visited at home by an advisor, who helped them understand what options were available and facilitated Joy’s transition to respite care at Perry Park Residential home, Port Noarlunga.
Keith’s daughter Ros said the help from ACH Group was invaluable at a difficult time for the family.
“We were all scared of different things – Dad was scared that he would not be able to afford residential care, I was scared that Mum, who is a social person, would be isolated. We didn’t know where to start,” Ros said. “Katrina (Reschke) came to us, we had a cup of coffee, she had all the forms we needed, and she took care of everything.”
Katrina helped them ask “the right questions”, navigate the My Aged Care website and secure a permanent home for Joy at ACH Group Residential Care facility Kapara at Glenelg South, a short distance from the family home.
At Kapara, Keith saw a flyer for ACH Group’s Sing for Joy choirs, based at Wynn Vale, Campbelltown, Glenelg South and Seaford.
Keith, 88, had always sung in choirs but had given it up six months ago to care for Joy full time.
“I have found it very interesting and I’m enjoying it,” Keith said. “Most of the choirs I have been part of were liturgical and now I’m trying modern songs and a lot of different rhythms.”
Keith said he appreciated the help he received from ACH Group.
“I was quite lost at the start, but Katrina helped no end, sorting out the papers we needed and dealing with Centrelink and all the red tape you have to go through,” he said. “There are so many things that you simply don’t think of. They’ve been very good and we’re pleased with the way things have turned out.”
Keith and his family also accessed ACH Group’s Dementia Specialist Advisory Service, launched last year to support people who were concerned about themselves, or a family member, who had dementia or memory loss.
ACH Group’s Teresa Moran says the service aims to help people who are faced with a diagnosis of dementia to plan for the future and cope with changes to independence and relationships.
“We also help people get a diagnosis, access services, stay healthy and live well with the challenges that dementia can bring.”
Founded in 2010, ACH Group’s Sing for Joy choirs provide a vehicle for people of all abilities to come together to learn, enjoy music and social connection.
Find out more about the Aged Care Navigator Service here
ACH Group is excited to have been recognised as an Australian Business Awards Employer of Choice.
The award acknowledges ACH Group’s efforts to maximise the full potential of our workforce through practices that demonstrate effective employee recruitment, engagement and retention. The key areas include culture, leadership and strategy; education, training and development, performance, recognition and remuneration, health, safety and satisfaction, performance management and recognition and remuneration.
Nichole Tierney, General Manager of People and Culture, said the award provided recognition of the organisation’s twin aims to produce a 10/10 experience for customers, and an employee experience that could not be felt anywhere else.
“It’s no secret that staff who are engaged, who have opportunities to keep learning, and who are recognised for their contribution, will produce a better outcome for customers. To this end, we instigated a program of work that took a holistic and long term view of the employee experience at ACH Group, identifying milestones that can be make or break for them, and we now take considered action to ensure that valuable employees are retained,” she said.
Key to the employee experience is the highly valued wellbeing benefits programs which includes salary packaging, an Employee Assistance Program, annual flu vaccination and skin checks, targeted healthy mind/healthy body campaigns, the annual Picnic in the Park for employees and their families, and an annual awards night to recognise the best of the best.
Ms Tierney said that management and employee buy-in had been crucial to the success of the workplace programs, and that the Employer of Choice Award was just recognition for everyone’s contribution.
If you’d like to find out more about working with ACH Group, click here.
ACH Group will host a series of free art classes during the South Australian Living Artists (SALA) Festival next month to encourage more people to try art for the first time.
Come ‘n’ try classes will be held in east, west, north and south Adelaide as well as Yankalilla and McLaren Vale in the Fleurieu.
“We know that art can bring so many benefits, including relaxation, a sense of satisfaction and joy, the chance to make new friends and challenge ourselves to try something new,” says ACH Group’s Katey Elding. “Art classes give people the opportunity to try art for the first time or renew to an old passion or interest.”
Ms Elding said ACH Group, which marked its 65th anniversary last year, had long recognised the value of art in healthy ageing.
“We’ve been running arts classes for older South Australians for more than 30 years,” she says. “From Hilton in the north to the Not the Da Vincis in the north, there are a wide range of groups across the state.”
Supported by a generous grant from the ACH Group Foundation, ACH Group is proud to be part of this year’s SALA Festival, to run during the month of August. Residents, customers, volunteers and staff have created a range of visual works, from paintings and photographs to mixed media, based on the theme “A Moment in Time, and Everything in Between”.
“This year is our biggest SALA to date with over 150 pieces of artwork selected for exhibition,” Ms Elding says. “We look forward to sharing these works as part of this wonderful community festival.”
“I wouldn’t say I’m old. I wouldn’t say that I’m not old. I just am.”
ACH Group General Manager Strategy and Partnerships Jeff Fiebig shared his views on ageing as part of a panel that explored ‘Images of Ageing’ at the Adelaide Festival of Ideas on Sunday.
Mr Fiebig joined South Australian Film Corporation’s Courtney Gibson, Little Lion PR’s Gabrielle Leonello and Adelaide advertising guru James Rickard to share their insights in a discussion hosted by ACH Group’s Jani Baker.
The panel looked at the way older people are represented in advertising, fashion and cinema. They looked at where things have improved and what needs to change.
Mr Fiebig, who has worked in the aged care sector for several decades, shared his personal experience of living as an ‘older’ South Australian. “One of the things that has struck me is that it is young people who get to make policy, who get to decide what the issues are, but they don’t actually understand the lived experience.”
One of those recent experiences – a stint at hospital – gave him an insight into the way older people are treated within the health system.
“I must have had half a dozen people come in and go through an assessment process with me – what’s your name, what’s your date of birth, what’s wrong with you, what’s your diet like, how many friends do you have? … A series of pejorative questions that in a sense framed for them who I was, but did not frame for me who I was. The whole notion of other people deciding who you are is one of the major themes that really affects you as you become older.”
He said the challenge for advertising agencies, manufacturers and designers was to reflect the needs of the older population as well as the middle and younger generations.
Ms Leonello, who works with a number of high end fashion brands, said she believed things were improving when it came to representing older people in the fashion industry.
“I think that fashion, like other industries, is more fragmented these days, which is allowing specialisation into what was once more marginalised groups – not just older people but plus size and different ethnic groups,” she said.
She said the latest Dolce and Gabbana haute couture fashion runway show in Como, Italy, featured a model in her 70s and another in her 40s.
Closer to home, the Australian Fashion Week and Melbourne Fashion Week both featured mature age models in their runway shows this year.
“Fashion has always been aspirational: the basic premise is that you want to try and achieve the unattainable. What they’ve done over the last few decades is put forward 14-year-old models for skin care, and it just doesn’t relate any more. I think as a consumer base we’re more aware, but we also have an ageing community.”
When it comes to the big screen, stereotypes around ageing abound, according to Ms Gibson.
“It’s not just older characters that are stereotyped – teens are either wayward or bookish, in the same way the older person is either doddering or cantankerous.”
She said the rise of the series, or long-form cinema, was helping make space for more complex characters, but there was a long way to go.
“Not much has changed: older women on Australian TV are rare; there’s Margaret Pomeranz, Lee Lin Chin, our own Maggie Beer; there’s Jennifer Byrne and Lisa Wilkinson who are our emerging middle aged to getting older women, and the pressure on them to look 40 rather than 60 is considerable. I don’t think men get off much more lightly- the tyranny of the hair transplant among news and current affairs presenters in particular is still a thing.”
Mr Rickard said advertising was a youth-obsessed industry, but that needed to change.
“Baby Boomers are diverse – you’re talking about a span of 20 years,” he said. “My industry fails miserably in terms of delivering to this audience. People have a perception that Baby Boomers listen to Doris Day, but it’s more likely to be the Rolling Stones.”
You can listen to the recording of the ‘Images of Ageing’ here.
Telstra volunteers are sharing their IT knowledge with ACH Group IT Getting Connected workshop participants. Last month volunteers attended workshops at McLaren Vale and Campbelltown to answer questions about social media, skyping, cyber security, iPad and Android basics and more.
Telstra Community Engagement Manager Jessica Le says the voluntary work is part of Telstra’s corporate social responsibility program.
“Our employees are given a day a year of paid volunteer leave and we encourage them to give people one on one time to assist them with technology, whether it’s a laptop, phone or iPad, or to demystify the concept of the NBN,” she says.
Lawrie Neaylon attended a session at Campbelltown Library and had some help finding out how to transfer photos from his phone to his laptop so that he could email photos to family in Victoria. “It’s great to have someone help you one on one, I find that really helpful,” he said.
Find an IT Getting Connected class near you here, or call us on 1300 22 44 77.
ACH Group engaged in good faith in response to a tender to redevelop the Repat site released by the previous government in 2016.
Following the election of the Liberal Government and their subsequent articulated plan for a health precinct which states that they are open to working with other organisations to realise this plan, ACH Group welcomes the Government’s clear vision for the site as detailed in their masterplan. ACH Group looks forward to engaging with the Government on this opportunity and other future health endeavours.
Warmer weather brings our gardens to life, but also the pollens and other allergens that trigger hay fever.
People who experience allergic rhinitis can be severely affected by symptoms such as a runny nose, congestion, itchy, red eyes (allergic conjunctivitis), sneezing and sometimes also cough.
The nose, the roof of the mouth or throat can become itchy. These things can cause problems with sleep that can cause fatigue.
Hay fever is most often caused by the body’s reaction to common allergens such as pollen, house dust mites, moulds and animal dander (skin cells and fur). For some, these symptoms can be mildly inconvenient, but for others the problem can make them feel miserable and may even contribute to other more serious issues like asthma and more.
The good news is that effective treatments are available. Antihistamines can be purchased from the pharmacy without a prescription and, unlike the products used in the past, the newer medicines don’t cause drowsiness.
Special nasal sprays, that include steroid products and decongestants, and eye drops can also help.
As spring arrives consider a conversation with your pharmacist who can point out options or refer you for medical attention if needed.
