The Office of Seniors and Veterans has provided the Belconnen Mens Shed (BMS) with funding to assist with the delivery of a program that will bring people together to discuss matters that are of interest to seniors. Although the BMS will coordinate the program; the events will be available to all female and male senior members of the ACT community.
The sessions will be focused on providing information to seniors that will assist them to make informed decisions or to source further information and assistance. The end goal of the program is to produce a reference guide for ACT seniors that provides information relating to:
• Legal services and support;
• Dealing with government agencies; • Coping with grief and changing circumstances;
• Considerations related to health services, medication, insurance and medical service providers;
• Adjusting to deteriorating health, mobility or finances; • Dealing with accommodation challenges;
• Planning for retirement;
• Household budgeting;
• Living on the Australian Age Pension;
• Matters related to relationships, families and older people in caring roles;
• Finding physical and social activities that are suitable for your needs.
Guest speakers will be able to provide information or answer questions. The presentations will not be related to marketing or any form of product specific promotion. The information sessions will commence during February 2020.
To gauge interest and decide information topics and the venue locations and the session times, a survey is available for interested seniors. The survey can be obtained at Terry White Chemmart pharmacy at Ainslie, Garran and Higgins, or from the COTA (ACT Office) located at the Hughes Community Centre, Wisdon St Hughes. It is also available on-line at https://tinyurl.com/tips4actseniors.
The survey feedback will be used to establish the dates, times and locations of the information sessions. The survey results will also be used to select the information session topics and prioritise the dates of each presentation.