Tell Us Why You Care: National Carers Week
Help raise awareness this National Carers Week by visiting the National Carers Week website and telling us why you care. National Carers Week 2020 runs from 11 – 17 October and is a time to recognise and celebrate Australia’s 2.65 million unpaid carers and all they do.
This year we’re asking all unpaid carers to Tell Us Why You Care so that we can highlight the realities of caring and help build a carer-friendly Australia. We also ask all non-carers, businesses
and organisations to Tell Us Why You Care about unpaid carers and show your support. By painting an authentic picture of caring in Australia, we will raise awareness of the incredible contribution that unpaid carers make to our nation.
1-in-8 Australians provide unpaid care and support to family members or friends with a disability, mental illness, chronic condition, terminal illness, an alcohol or other drug issue or who are frail aged. Unpaid carers make an enormous contribution to our community as well as our economy and National Carers Week gives everyone a chance to show their appreciation.
Visit www.carersweek.com.au for more information on how you can Tell Us Why You Care and Get Involved with this year’s campaign – whether that be hosting a physical or digital event, or making a buzz on social media, spreading the word through your social media channels by using the hashtags #Carers2020 and #WhyWeCare
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National Carers Week - Share Your Story
This National Carers Week Caring Fairly wants to hear from you! Raising awareness is a vital step in growing community support and creating positive change for carers. We know that right now many people in the community don’t know what it’s like to be carer. To help change this Caring Fairly is asking carers to share their experiences so they can amplify their stories and make sure their voices are heard. Will you share your story today?
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GROW Australia: Odd Socks Day
GROW Australia’s Odd Socks Day this coming Friday 9 October is an important opportunity to show people struggling with their mental health in these challenging times that they are not alone. When you wear odd socks you’ll be helping raise awareness of mental health issues and help to stamp out the stigma around mental ill-health. By wearing a pair of Odd Socks you’re on your way to starting the conversation about mental wellbeing and how everyone can have an odd day.
Odd Socks Day was commenced by Grow in 2013 and now is celebrated on the Friday before Mental Health Week and World Mental Health Day. Each year, participation has grown so that now hundreds of thousands of people connect to Odd Socks Day. This year is going to be different because of social distancing requirements and changed workplace arrangements, but now more than ever a strong community response is needed to support the extra mental challenges faced by people impacted by COVID-19.
At the start of the introduction of physical distancing and lockdowns, many people locally took up the challenge to reduce social isolation in their local communities – from their balconies, driveways, over the phone or through social media. They were building community, helping people with mental health problems, who often feel isolated anyway, and those with emerging problems due to the pandemic, to build resilience and coping skills.
Odd Socks Day provides another great opportunity to participate and help build that caring and sharing community. Ways to participate include hosting a fundraising event at your school, office or with your friends – face to face or virtually. Meet up, take a photo and then post it to social media – using #OSD2020
You can also purchase odd socks during October from Odd Sock Mob here who will donate a percentage to GROW for Odd Socks Day.
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National Digital Mental Health Framework
The Australian Government is leading the development of the Framework under the Fifth National Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Plan. The Framework aims to provide an integrated and strategic approach to digital mental health service delivery within the broader context of Australia’s mental health system. This objective includes defining optimal delivery of digital mental health services to:
- improve service access
- reduce duplication of effort and investment
- embed these services in the broader mental health service system
The Department has engaged a consortium of PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), The Good Things Foundation, the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners, and John Torous MD MBI, to scope and develop the Framework. The project will involve a current state assessment and national consultations with the view of delivering a final framework by June 2021. Consultations are due to commence in November and will run for several months. All consultations will be conducted in a COVID-safe way and mostly via virtual means.
The Department is encouraging you to share your views on the role of digital mental health in Australia, now and into the future. Please click here to learn about the project and engage with key contacts from PwC about this project.
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Consumers Health Forum: What’s the next Big Idea for Health?
Consumers Health Forum are inviting you to produce a video about your Big Idea for Health to screen at their 2021 Shifting Gears Virtual Summit to be held on March 18 -19 next year.
Create your video in an easy to use app called ‘Cinefly’ - the winners will share their idea with ABC TV journalist Ellen Fanning* at a Big Idea Forum at the conference.
The best ideas will also be promoted through CHF’s advocacy work, and on their social media channels.
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BPD Awareness Week
1- 8 October 2020
To celebrate BPD Awareness week, NEABPD Australia present two free webinars for familes and carers. Hear from our experienced Family Connections™ leaders as well as leading experts in the field of Borderline Personality Disorder.
Monday 5 October 7:30pm
What is Family Connections? The top 5 skills and how they can help you and your family.
Register here
Thursday 8 October 7:30pm
“The latest treatment options for BPD and coping strategies while waiting for treatment”
Register here
Barbara Dicker Oration 2020
Swinburne University of Technology and the Barbara Dicker Brain Sciences Foundation proudly present the ninth annual Barbara Dicker Oration, Dementia Care: A tech-enabled future.
Living with dementia is a deeply personal, challenging and complex experience not only for the person with the diagnosis but also for their loved ones, the community, and care providers. According to Dementia Australia, over a million people will receive a dementia diagnosis in Australia by 2058.
Can we push the frontiers of human-centred technology to reshape the future of dementia? Join eminent Australian Sir Gustav Nossal AC CBE FRS FAA, our new Vice-Chancellor and President Professor Pascale Quester, Chancellor Professor John Pollaers OAM and members of Swinburne’s research community for an important conversation, expertly moderated by ABC medical journalist Sophie Scott.
Date: Thursday 22 October 2020
Time: 4.00pm – 5.15pm
Venue: Webinar. A link to the webinar will be emailed to guests prior to the event.
RSVP is essential by Tuesday 20 October. Submit your questions to the panel through the registration page before this date.
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New online training to support small business advisers
On 30 September 2020 Beyond Blue launched a free online learning course – Mental wellbeing: support yourself and small businesses. This course is designed to help improve the mental health literacy of small business advisers and develop the ‘soft skills’ to have often difficult conversations with a client or customer.
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RANZCP Community Collaboration Committee - Seeking expressions of interest
Expressions of interest for community members to join the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists (RANZCP) Community Collaboration Committee (CCC) are now welcome.
The CCC is a dedicated and passionate group of psychiatrists and community members committed to developing policy, advice and standards of practice to support partnering with carers and family/whānau in mental health care.
The Committee is made up of four psychiatrists (RANZCP Fellows) and eight community members who have lived experience: two carers and two consumers from Australia, and two carers and two consumers from New Zealand.
The Committee are currently seeking expressions of interest for the following positions on the Committee:
1 x Consumer from New Zealand
1 x Carer from Australia
1 x Carer from New Zealand
Applications close on Friday 16 October 2020.
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