Speaker, writer and advocate Sue Pieters-Hawke (pictured) will visit Ararat and Lake Bolac in July to speak at two free positive ageing events covering dementia and the My Aged Care system.
Ararat Rural City Council is supporting these two events along with Grampians Pyrenees Primary Care Partnership holding the first session at the East Grampians Health Services (EGHS), which will be held in Ararat on Wednesday 10 July and Lake Bolac on Thursday 11 July.
Council CEO Dr Tim Harrison said the first event would cover navigating the My Aged Care System and the second covers how to live well with dementia.
Dr Harrison said Ms Pieters-Hawke is a national ambassador for Alzheimer’s Australia, co-chairs the Federal Dementia Forum, and was the primary carer for her mother Hazel Hawke who died in 2013 after living her final years with Alzheimer’s disease.
At the first event on July 10 at Pyrenees House in Ararat, EGHS staff would be available to help people with the first steps of accessing My Aged Care, the central contact point for aged care information.
In the second event on July 11 at the Lake Bolac Bush Nursing Centre, Ms Pieters-Hawke will speak about the highs and lows of adjusting to a life with dementia.
Dr Harrison said Ms Pieters-Hawke will provide the audience with an experiential understanding of the fact that people with dementia still fully experience their own lives, and talks about ways we can support them in a manner based on respect, appreciation and human rights.
This event will also include a Q&A session with a panel of experienced local professionals armed with strategies, resources and lived experience.
The two events are being presented by Ms Pieters-Hawke, and are proudly supported by East Grampians Health Services and Lake Bolac Bush Nursing Centre, and sponsored by Ararat Rural City Council, Grampians Pyrenees Primary Care Partnership, Perennial Pasture Systems, Westvic Tyres, Bendigo Bank, Elders, Gorst Rural and Claas Harvest Centre.
