Sports, health challenges, resistance and inclusivity

00:04 Tim

Hi, I'm Tim Hodge OAM, three-time Paralympian and two-time Paralympic gold medalist - and you're listening to Leisure Link with Peter Greco on the Vision Australia radio network.

00:27 Peter

It's just gone 5:00 and a very happy International Women's Day to you. If you're marking the occasion, hope you're doing it well. If you're listening after the event, hope you did it well. Peter Greco saying Great to be here. Welcome to Leisure Link here on Vision Australia Radio - 1197 AM in Adelaide... online at varadio.org, VA Radio Digital in Adelaide and Darwin... through your favourite podcast or streaming service... through our friends listening through 103.9. Hope FM, Esperance in Western Australia... and also thanks to Disability Media Australia for their tremendous support. You can find much more out about them, Powerd media. P O W E R D dot media. 

And of course, our thoughts are very much with those in southeast Queensland and northeast New South Wales. A dreadful time for you. Hope you're staying safe and our thoughts, prayers and best wishes are with you all. This program coming to you from Kaurna Land. Coming to you very shortly...

We'll catch up with Tim Hodge OAM, a couple of gold medals from Paris and also doing some great work for future Paralympians. Future people with disabilities indeed will find out about that. Sally [?] will join us. The Power Squad has just been named. What's in store for them? We'll find out very soon. We'll speak to Louise Goswell, who talks about an interesting initiative for the churches making more people with disabilities welcome. That's got to be a good thing. We'll catch up with our resident physiotherapist, Chelsea Marchetti - Resistance Training. What is it? How can we benefit from it? 

Professor Terry Nolan, too, will join us. RSV - very important topic to talk about, particularly for older Australians. What can we do to minimise our chances of getting it? We'll catch up with Mel Ottaway from Resthaven to talk about caring for people with dementia. We're also be joined by doctor Melanie Wong talking about an interesting breakthrough as far as people with allergies go, especially if you're living in remote or rural Australia. What a spectacular career. 

Tim Hodge OAM has had so far, and I'm sure there's still plenty more good things to come. Tim, welcome and thanks so much for speaking to us.

02:40 Tim

Thanks, Peter.

02:41 Peter

It was just a couple of gold medals. You must have been delighted.

02:45 Tim

Yeah, absolutely, over the moon. Went into the Paralympic Games in Paris with some high expectations, but really just about doing my own best and performing as best as I could and hoping that the medals would come from it. So to come away with... two gold medals and a silver medal as well was absolutely amazing. A dream come true for me.

03:05 Peter

It's funny Tim, we've been chatting for a little while and I thought, Oh, you know Tim. Not so much of getting on a bit, but you're still only 24. I mean, so, you know, obviously last year you were at 23 when you won these two gold medals and you've been to three Paralympic Games. You've achieved so much in such a short time.

03:21 Tim

Yeah. It's... always been, I guess, one year after another since I made my first team back in 2015 when I was 14 years old. And it's just been, yeah, one year after another each year, kind of compounding on the last. And so it's incredible to see kind of where I started and how far I've come. But... yeah. No, it's a journey filled with a lot of really good memories and a lot of fantastic achievements.

03:45 Peter

You said you're confident or you're feeling good going into Paris. Set high goals. They all turned out the way you expected. So your preparation went well and everything was kind of in place to to perform well.

03:55 Tim

Yeah, definitely. I mean, at the end of a cycle When everything kind of comes to a head, you've got to have all your all your ducks in a row by that point. And so my coach and I were really focused about two months out. We were focused on Okay, Paris is coming up very, very soon. How do we get ready? What will it take? And so for about 18 months out, right until Paris, we were really focused on that sole, sole goal of going to Paris as fit as I possibly could be, ready to race. And in every aspect, both mentally and physically. 

And so we really put in a lot of hard yards in the last 18 months to, to make sure that when we when I stood on the block in Paris and when my coach was in the stands watching me, we were both as ready as possible.

04:39 Peter

He was probably more nervous than you because he couldn't do much about it.

04:41 Tim

Yeah. Well, that's that's one of the things about coaching that he's told me. He can prepare me day to day, give me as much information, as much training as he can. But at the end of the day, he's got to sit back and he's got to let me take the reins and... watch me from afar. And so, yeah, I guess as much as that's a daunting moment for me, I've... kind of got control of the race. Whereas he has to sit back and go, I hope... he knows what he's doing. I've done everything I can. So... I've got to trust him.

05:09 Peter

Two gold and a silver. Did any of the races, any of the individual events kind of please you more than others, that really turned out the way you hoped?

05:16 Tim

I primarily... just my 200 individual medley - going in as the world champion and world record holder, I had some high hopes for that event, but I knew I had a lot of fellow competitors chasing me. Being the world record holder and the world champion for the last two years leading up to it meant that, yeah, a lot of eyes were on me... to compete and to perform really well in Paris. But I knew that at the Paralympic Games anything's possible. And so there could have been a massive upset. And so, for me, it was really about pushing myself as far as I physically could and mentally could, and leaving as little as possible to chance.

05:53 Peter

How do you do that? I mean, how do you kind of put everything out of your mind at the same time - focus on, you know, the job in hand? Like it's a... curious balance, isn't it, between being, you know, a sort of not going over the top, but also taking, being really ready.

06:07 Tim

Yeah, definitely... it takes a lot of, a lot of practice, a lot of repetition, to be able to work out where you best function in kind of that scale from too relaxed to... too excited. So my coach and I worked really hard in the lead up to, to make sure that I was really comfortable in kind of that middle zone. We went to a number of different meets all over the country and really put me through my paces, both physically and mentally. There was one competition that went for three days, and in those three days I swam... 20 races. And so that was to get physical and psychological aspect of getting up day after day, race after race, and keep performing and keep on trying to, to get my own best performance out. 

And so things like that really gave me a good handle on how I needed to prepare and how I needed to feel at the the moment when the race was about to begin. And so at the end of the day, it was really about preparing for Paris and I guess racing it like I've raced every other race before. It's not about trying anything new. If you're if you're trying something new at the Paralympic Games at that... level, then there's something wrong. It's got to be all well rehearsed, well drilled to the nth degree. And so yeah, when I stood behind the blocks in Paris, it was really about I've done this before. I've done it so many times before that I just need to do the same thing again.

07:29 Peter

That's an interesting outlook. Of course, the thing is, as you said, you were ranked number one, world record, world champion, etc. but I guess that brings the same pressure. Or maybe do you think you almost kind of like the other swimmers out of it?

07:41 Tim

Oh, it's a bit of both. It's a, it can be a double edged sword. I think with being going in ranked number one, you can be maybe a little too confident, a little too relaxed, and you can give the opposition an opening... or it could give you a bit of a bit of an adrenalin boost thinking that you're... the one being chased. So yeah, for me, it was very much about... having to... push myself harder than I'd ever pushed before. Especially in the lead-up, because once you're on top of the world, it's... you've got no one to chase. And so everyone's chasing you, and that's where you need to do stuff that no one's done before. 

And... that's what what my coach and I sort of set ourselves the goal of doing that kind of day in and day out, was to to do what no one's done before and to push ourselves further than anyone had gone before. So that, when I yeah, I was up on the blocks in Paris, I was confident in myself. I was focused on myself. And it was up to my competitors to to work out whether they wanted to sort themselves out or whether they felt confident. And yeah, because at the end of the day, I've got my lane, I've got my race. And that's all that really matters. Whether my competitors, some 10s faster or 10s slower, that's... their decision, right?

08:59 Peter

And the other gold?

09:00 Tim

The other gold was was absolutely amazing. The 400 metre medley relay. That was incredible. You don't get to compete in a lot of relays in your career at that kind of level. And so to be able to be part of the relay and also to win a gold medal was an absolutely amazing experience. Competing alongside four other athletes and all equally contributing to the result at the end of the day, is is something that I think is very unique. And to be able to stand on the podium this time with our heat swimmers as well, having... two interchange swimmers swimming for us in the heats, that really made it feel like a part of a team in what's usually a very individual sport. 

And so it's a memory that I'll cherish forever. And I remember looking up at the board as soon as our final swimmer touched the wall and seeing just the big number one next to our tie next to Australia, and the feeling was just overwhelming. And to, yeah, at that moment I realised I'd be going home with a gold medal around my neck. And the feeling and the the experience was just incredible.

10:06 Peter

Well, Tim, you give me goosebumps. It's tremendous. Well done. And... the medal presentation is always kind of cracked out to me. I mean, I guess this sort of thing, you probably watch afterwards and take it in more, because it probably is over in a flash.

10:19 Tim

Yeah, it's it's very much so over in a flash. I guess the excitement, the adrenaline, everything like that, it really is. It goes quite quickly. And so I guess trying to savour every moment was... something that was in the back of my head, standing up on the podium and receiving the medal and like, you can't wait to get your hands on that... medal, once you've won it, once you've won in the pool, you just, you want it straight away and you want to be able to see it and feel the weight of it. And so yeah, standing... on the podium, singing the national anthem... it's something that very rarely comes around. 

And if you're lucky, you get to do it once or more times. Some people don't get to do it at all... unfortunately. So it's... something that I'll always treasure for the rest of my life. And singing the national anthem now at... other events, it really brings back memories of standing on top of the podium. And so even if, for example, if I was going to a school event and they sing the national anthem before... an assembly or something, and it really brings back the memories, of standing on top of the podium and the goosebumps as well.

11:26 Peter

And you've got a little bit of the tower with you.

11:29 Tim

Yes, definitely. Yeah. Paris. The organisers did an amazing job of designing the medals and putting a little bit of the Eiffel Tower in each of the medals, and so it even comes with a certificate of authenticity to say that it's a genuine piece of the Eiffel Tower from the original tower that they put up. And I think it was 1889. And so, to have a little piece of history, it's historically priceless. 

And also just, I think the value in having these medals is not to put in a display case and to look at and things like that. It's to be able to share the story, share the experience, and to inspire the next generation by taking them out and showing kids and giving them the chance to to feel the medal, to hold it, to look at it and say, I want one of these one day, I'm going to try my best to get one of these. And so that's... the true value behind... the medals.

12:20 Peter

That's the beautiful lead-in there to what I was going to ask you also about today, Tim, was the adventure of the week in New South Wales with your Para Unit being launched, and you were there at the launch.

12:30 Tim

Yeah. So amazing. Amazing event... announcement for new funding for specifically for Paralympic sport and Paralympic training. Unfortunately, as a as a Paralympian, I know that we've been kind of the... disadvantaged cousins of the Olympic sports for a little bit now. And so this funding is absolutely amazing in terms of providing... specialised coaching facilities, support equipment and really just more opportunities. Is is the biggest part and providing more opportunities for young people with a disability to get into para sport and to be able to compete, whether it's for recreation or for... mainly high performance, and enables them to chase their dreams and to chase their goals and to be the next generation of Australian Paralympians.

And... I guess the value in Paralympic sport, the unique value in Paralympic sport is its ability to inspire everyday Australians to to get up and to put themselves out there and to to achieve and overcome barriers. Because Paralympic sport is filled with people overcoming barriers. And this funding will help... a lot of younger athletes overcome the barriers in their lives, and so it'll really make a huge difference, not for this generation and not even for the next, but even further down the line, it'll have a reverberating effect.

13:52 Peter

It's fantastic words. And of course, you talked about barriers in a sense that can be financial barriers. And I think there's a couple of million from a couple of the different governments and... institutes that have gone into it. So, I mean, in a sense, it's sad, but money does equal medals or money can mean medals. So the more funding that people like you get, the better your performances will be... as a whole.

14:14 Tim

All of this funding is not going into the pockets of the athletes. It's going into support. Yep. It's going into equipment. It's going into opportunities to be better, to compete, to improve their lives through sport and to chase their dreams. And I was speaking to... the New South Wales Minister for Sport at the time, and he was saying that the beauty of this funding, and this announcement is firstly, obviously the funding that goes to the athletes and goes to greater opportunities, but also the fact that no one will now want to take a backward step. 

And so this funding could potentially continue to grow. No-one's, no-one really wants to take funding away from such a good cause and from kids with a disability who want to strive for... greater opportunities in their lives. And so this will hopefully be the first step on a huge journey and a huge improvement for para sport that will continue generation after generation, and we'll see us hopefully become a peaceful, peaceful organisation with our Olympic partners in the future.

15:19 Peter

And the great thing that it was once launched in Queensland a couple of weeks ago, just before Christmas in Adelaide. So it's going to be very much part of a national approach, if I can put it that way.

15:27 Tim

Yes. Yeah, definitely. It's a nation wide approach to all para sports and that will be something that is sorely needed. From my experience. A lot of the times sports can be based in one state or another. And so that means that if para athletes want to be able to access world class facilities and training, a lot of extra cost is added in moving and carers and stuff like that. And so being able to have each state with its own performance hub and to cater for as many sports as possible, will open up more opportunities to more people across the country and will bring in a wider pool of talent and hopefully... bring us more gold medals, when it comes to the Paralympic Games in LA '28 and Brisbane 2032.

16:13 Peter

Tim, it's been an absolute delight speaking to you [?] - all you've achieved, you've certainly inspired us... I'm not sure to necessarily get in the pool and swim, but I think just inspire us, have a better day. We've had a great 10 or 12 minutes with you. Thank you so, so much for speaking to us, and good luck. I look forward to the next time we catch up.

16:28 Tim

Cheers. Thank you Peter. My pleasure.

16:30 Peter

That's Tim Hodge OAM - a couple of gold medals in Paris, and a little bit of an insight into what goes into an elite athlete. Tim is certainly there. 

Well, fantastic news for basketball fans and particularly women basketballers and quite fitting with the International Women's Day at the moment. Let's chat about the Power Squad has just been announced and let's chat about it with the manager, Sally Duncan. Sally, always great to catch up and thanks for your time.

16:57 Sally

Thank you very much, Peter.

16:59 Peter

I reckon there'll be some very excited young ladies in the last few days that have got an email or a letter or something to tell them that they've been selected.

17:05 Sally

Yes... it's always a stressful time to know whether you've been picked or not, but we have 14 wonderful, amazing young women who all received that good news.

17:15 Peter

How did they get told? Just by the by.

17:17 Sally

So we send them an email. So they all competed at the Australian National Championships in Ballarat earlier this year in February. And we usually chat to them all, and we just let them know that when we'll be picking a squad and that they'll be notified. So we... send out the good news first and then for those who've been in the squad before but didn't make it this time, we send them also a letter just to encourage them to keep going with their basketball, and just that there's a lot of events coming up in the future. So... just keep setting your goals and working hard and, you know, you never know what will happen.

17:50 Peter

The second email, I guess in a sense that's almost more important, isn't it? Because we all love good news, but it's kind of dealing with the not-so-good news that you've got to handle very carefully as well.

17:59 Sally

Yes, it's really important. And we do a bit of work off-court with the girls, once the ones who come into the squad come in, as I said, 14 of them, they all know that there's only ten going to be selected to go overseas... and compete in the World Championships. That's the event we've got this year. So we know that four of them are going to be disappointed. And so we talk to all of them about how you handle that. 

And... last year we actually had Michelle Timms who's an amazing Australian legend, she talked to the girls about how hard it is to receive that heart-bad news - because everyone puts in, everyone trains really hard to get there. And then, you know, depending on the combinations the coach wants, they may not get picked. So but Michelle spoke really well to the girls about how they deal with it, how they deal with it, like they've got friends in the... group as well. And what happens if you get in and they don't, or vice versa. Yeah, yeah. So it's... an important thing to have a good discussion about.

18:59 Peter

But it'll be such a great thing coming from someone like Michelle - what an impressive character. I think Michelle was inducted to the Hall of Fame the last little while. Yeah.

19:07 Sally

Yes. She's amazing. And... the fact that they, you know, people like her give back to programs like ours. It's just fantastic. She's been very supportive, as have many of the Opals and the other basketballers from around the country.

19:21 Peter

Yeah, I know I often say to Sally and, you know, we've been around a little while, but one of the great things over the last few years has been that kind of umbrella organisation that have really taken on board athletes with disabilities and kind of, you know, very much included them in the... big picture of basketball.

19:36 Sally

Yes. Inclusion is a very, very popular word. And it's nice to see that there's some reality behind it, that people are actually, you know, doing positive things and meaningful things too. It's not just lip service.

19:50 Peter

Yeah. Well, I think we might... leave that there, because I might say something I might get in trouble about regarding Inclusion, Diversity and Equity. But that being said, another question - hey, Sally, what's ahead of these girls? Because they've got some international competition, but there's a bit on between now and the competition isn't there?

20:08 Sally

Yes. Well to get to the competition, which is in June, we have this... a selection camp at the AIS at the end of March. 14 girls coming in, ten will get selected to be the teams that go overseas. And then we're hoping, funding-dependent, to have another 1 or 2 camps where we can get together and actually practice as a group with the specific players that the coach wants to incorporate when we go over to the World Championships. 

So this year is a World Championship year, so it's just basketball that's being held at the event we're attending and that's in June in Kazakhstan. So we've never been to that area of the world before. So that's pretty exciting. So yeah, hopefully in total three camps before we go. And we we often go a day or two earlier than the competition starts just to allow the girls to settle in and find their feet and feel familiar in the surroundings. And that helps with their performance on day one. Definitely.

21:09 Peter

I noticed that the games are being held in Kazakhstan, and I thought that's... a little bit unique. I mean, I had a day when the right to host it, but isn't it cool that, you know, you get the girls? The team is getting to experience this whole different culture, which is, I guess, part of the... fun part of the excitement of getting involved in a... sport that you're representing your country at.

21:31 Sally

The cultural thing is... an incredible part of what we do. I mean, it's not the main part. Basketball and being on the court and winning games is what we're there for. But being able to give these young women a and ourselves, I suppose, this opportunity to experience different parts of the world and different cultures, different cities, it's... really is a wonderful thing to be involved with. I think most sports who travel... overseas, you know... get to have that as an addition to the program and the outcomes of the program. 

But you asked how it was selected. So [?Vertis] is the international body that sits over the top of all of the sports for people with an intellectual impairment. Our classification, if you like, is L1 - and they have some other classifications that they look after in a variety of sports. I think there's about... well, there's definitely over ten sports that sit under [Vertis] and they... cover all the countries around the world. So the choice for Kazakhstan, it's not actually an unusual place to go for sporting events. There's been quite a... they've hosted quite a lot of events in the past couple of years. So they're building their capability in that area. They have an international standard three-on-three basketball court that we'll be playing with - which thankfully is in a shopping centre, so we'll be air conditioned... so.

22:57 Peter

June - June is going to be hot, isn't it? Well, it's a northern hemisphere summer, obviously.

23:00 Sally

Yeah, yeah... we've checked out the temperature and hopefully it won't be too hot. I think it's hotter here at the moment than it will be, but it's an amazing.... we've never played in a shopping centre before, so that'll be something different.

23:12 Peter

Well, you talk about you're there to play basketball, you're there to... you'll remember you're there to play basketball. Not too much wandering off into the shops, Sally.

23:19 Sally

No, no, I'm a... bit of a shopper, but the girls will be... girls will be [?] focused. That will be relevant, I would think.

23:26 Peter

And you talked about three-on-three. This is kind of a bit of a growing area as well.

23:29 Sally

Yes. So three on three was first introduced to our program in 2015 when we went to the Global Games in Ecuador, and there weren't enough countries in the women's program willing to submit five on five teams. So the budget to take ten players and 4 or 5 staff is quite hefty. And so many countries just couldn't do that. So they said, well, we'll play three on three. That means you only have to bring 4 or 5 players and maybe two staff. So that ensured that the women's program can continued. So we've been playing three on three at the international level only. So they stopped the five on five for the women in 2015. So we've had quite a few years of experience with it. The girls are have adapted to it incredibly well. It's a very fast, very physical format of the game and well, I'm always amazed and inspired by these young women, but they're fierce on the court. There's so much courage and and as I said, it's very physical. So, um, yeah, but they're just amazing. So this year for, um, there's a bit of a story along with it. We, we are hoping to get back into the Paralympics in 2032, and we've got a bit of a worldwide movement going to support a bid that we're putting towards the International Paralympic Committee to ensure that basketball gets a place back in the games, in the Paralympic Games. And, um, we're putting it in based on three on three for men and women. So, um, the more programs that we can get going, um, or more events that we can hold to demonstrate that we have got a strong three on three competition around the world, the better. So that's why our world championships this year, they're offering three on three for men and women, and they're also offering five on five. The more traditional format for both men and women. But we'll end up seeing how many countries commit. I think we've got six countries so far for the women, but three on three. But only two were interested in the five on five. Australia obviously being one of those. But um, yeah. So having six countries for the world championships is amazing. We haven't had so many countries in the women for a long, long time now. So that's really positive for us and very positive in terms of the bid that we're hoping to put in for the 2032.

25:54 S2

Yeah, well, I guess we're all a bit biased thinking. That's Brisbane, you know, what a wonderful opportunity for a number of Aussie girls to be part of that.

26:01 S4

Yes, absolutely. Yes. Because only played in Australia twice 2019. They had the Global Games in Brisbane and it was um yeah that was fantastic. It was so nice to have so much home support. And then in 2022 we had the the inaugural Oceania Asia Games in also in Brisbane, and that went down really well as well.

26:26 S2

So it's a kind of natural thing that's going to be in Brisbane in 2032, isn't it?

26:30 S4

Yes. Yeah, we're definitely looking forward. Well we hope we make it.

26:34 S2

So it's a bit biased I know. But you know being positive.

26:38 S4

That's right. Yeah. We also went to New Zealand last year. So we instigated a a friendly trip over to New Zealand to try and help them with their program. So this was a new thing for the pearls to reach out to another country and say, we know we've got a strong program here, can we come and help you? And we took six girls over to Wellington and spent a weekend on court with their some of their players, and it was absolutely fantastic, not only for our girls to be able to be the ones who were giving back to into the basketball community, but for the New Zealand people to have an opportunity to ask as many questions as they like from parents, coaches, players, the whole range of people involved. And that was really good. And it resulted in two of their girls coming across to play in the Australian Championships earlier this year, and they're hoping to get a team to go to um next year, a full women's team next year to put in. So we're super proud of being able to to make a difference on the world stage. Yeah.

27:44 S2

Terrific. Sally. Great news. We'll keep in touch obviously, and I'm sure we'll catch up particularly after the event in June in Kazakhstan. Thanks so much for sharing a bit of that. Good news with us. And uh, well, well done to all those that have been selected and also that the coaching staff and yourself as manager.

27:59 S4

Thanks, Peter. Thanks very much.

28:01 S2

That's Sally Duncan there. Very excited. Understandably so. Really great news. And two wooden 2032 be great if it's accepted into Brisbane. Long long overdue. As far as athletes with intellectual disability being back in the arms of the Paralympic Movement.

28:18 S6

Hi, I'm Nathan Pelissier, Paralympic table tennis player, and you're listening to Leisure Link with Peter Greco on the Vision Australia radio network.

28:28 S2

More recently, a very interesting strategy launched by the Christian Media Association, which has a bit more about it. We've got Doctor Louise gospel on. Louise, lovely to meet you. Thank you for your time.

28:38 S7

Thank you so much for having me.

28:39 S2

Peter, tell us a bit about how this has all come about. It sounds like a fabulous idea. Obviously, from our listeners point of view, I think we'd be very supportive of it. But how might it happen?

28:48 S8

Yeah. So I guess, um, Christian Blind Mission are an organisation that have been around for a very, very long time, so now called CBN. And they exist as an international organisation that have this branch locally and for a long time were involved with, um, primarily with overseas work in helping raise money to for cataract surgeries or for wheelchairs for people with disability in developing countries and so on. But about ten years ago, they put together a program that was really aimed about things that were happening at home domestically in Australia. And what they wanted to do was create training programs that would help churches become more inclusive of people with disability. So there was just a recognition that there was a desire from people within church communities to be more inclusive, but really not having any idea of how to do that well. And so the Luke 14 program was put together as something that was there as a set of resources to help churches in taking steps to be more inclusive. And we've just recorded recently a whole new set of videos to go with that to, again, hopefully make that that step towards being inclusive communities even easier for churches.

30:00 S2

So I guess any organisation would talk about churches in particular can want to do the right thing, but sometimes it's hard to do the right thing. Or what sort of little things can you do that might sort of add to the to the whole picture that makes it more inclusive.

30:12 S8

You're exactly right. I think there's a desire, but not knowing where to start. I think that's a big thing. Or people worrying, oh, do I have to do everything all at the same time? You know, is this going to be really expensive and overwhelming so people aren't sure where to start? So what we wanted to do was give people some resources that help them to to work out what they can do, to take some first steps and really encourage churches to say, of course, there's going to be bigger things if you don't have a ramp into your building or you don't have accessible toilets, those are big things. That's going to take a while to prepare for that. But there's so many little things that church communities can do to be more inclusive as well. You know, you think about if making the PowerPoint slides, the text on those big enough that people can read. And there's unfortunately people can be focused on making those PowerPoint slides look pretty and so they can be nice pictures and things in the background. Just trying to explain to people that actually makes it harder for someone with low vision, you know, to read what's on those slides. So the simple steps that people can take in, you know, making their their church bulletins larger print to make it easier for people to read or, you know, simple things like when it's time to stand up instead of just saying please stand, please stand if you're able, you know, just recognizing for some people you actually you can't stand up, but it doesn't mean that you're less engaged in that service just because you're not able to stand so, so many little things that you can do that make a big difference to people feeling like they belong in your community.

31:39 S2

Yeah. So I often say those simple things can often be the most powerful, can't they?

31:44 S8

They really can. And I think there's something really important about, um, it really is like a welcoming into the community. When people are aware that you are thinking about disability issues, you're interested in disability issues, and it's on your radar because people are, you know, might be nervous if they're coming in. If you're a family with young children, one of those is on the autism spectrum at this church community going to be welcoming. How are they going to react to me and to my family. So there's lots of things that we can do to make sure people know you are welcomed. You know, we want this to be a place where you feel like you can belong. I think church websites are really key for this. You know, the more information you can have on your website about the facilities that you have, whether you do have a ramp, accessible toilets and a hearing loop or whatever it might be, the more information you can put on your website so that that's findable for people online, I think that's really key.

32:36 S2

What about in terms of receptiveness, you know, to, to to feedback about anything that might be happening at your church, be it your website or just, you know, stuff that's happening during services? I mean, I guess these are some great resources, but churches individually can, you know, sort of take on board suggestions or things that people say to them that might be a good idea as well?

32:56 S8

Yeah, I think that's really important actually. So one of the things that, uh, I wrote a set of guidelines for churches, for Anglican churches in Sydney where I'm based. And one of the key things that I say to people and that is, is that the people that you have in your community are your best resource as your starting point. So I encourage churches to do a community audit, essentially. So asking people, how do you think we're going on disability inclusion? You know, what things are you involved in. But you might like to be involved in other things, you know, but you feel like you can't because Bible studies are too late in the night time. You know, for you as someone with chronic illness or whatever it might be. So actually opening up that dialogue so people in the congregation have an opportunity to say, these are the things that I think we're doing well as a church. These are the things we might not be doing quite so well. These are the things I'd love to be involved in, but these are the barriers that are making it hard for me. And that actually gives the church a really practical, tactile place to start to, you know, to start to make a difference. So you might hear from people that say, actually, you know, the morning service in winter. It's really hard for me to get there if it's at 8:00 in the morning. Have you thought about doing online services in the winter? You know, for people, whatever it might be. I just think for people with disability you already have in your congregations should be your starting point, your best resource. And listening to them. What's going well, not so well. And using that to start to make, you know, changes one step at a time. Once you once you, you know, really paid attention and listened well to people's stories.

34:28 S2

Yeah. Tracy. Well, one change at a time. That's not a bad thing either, at least without kind of wanting to go too far the other way. I guess something that kind of is equally inclusive, but kind of, you might not think of it that way, is not being overbearing with wanting to help. I mean, sometimes people can have the best intentions and it's kind of a bit overwhelming. Look, I'm fine. I can sit down by myself or I can, I can, you know, make my way over there by myself. I don't, you know, I don't need this overwhelming amount of help as well.

34:56 S8

Yeah. I think that's really, really an important point, Peter. I think people do want to help, you know, especially church communities. People are keen to help one another, but it's respecting people's agencies. And in allowing if they say no, it's no, that's okay. They don't need your help and you don't need to take it personally or be offended. Just recognize they don't need your help. They might need it another time. And so don't not ever ask again, but just recognize if someone says no, that that's it. And and that might be in lots of different practical ways. As you said, it might be finding the seat, but it might be that, you know, you might need a lift somewhere, or someone might be perfectly happy to get the bus to church. That's fine. Or it might be even offering to pray for someone if they're going through a hard time offering to pray for them. But also, you know, allowing people to say no if they don't want that at particular point as well. So it really is, I think, important to to recognize everyone's situation is different. And you can ask you can offer to help. But if people say no, respect them enough to yeah. Accept that. No. Is that answer.

35:59 S2

That's the great point about people different because I will cut if you like the general community slack as far as a person with a disability goes, because, you know you might meet someone because I've got a visual impairment, they seem to be able to manage quite well, I think. Well, you haven't got a visual impairment. Oh well actually I have, but you know, I, I can see reasonably well. And then you might meet someone else who might not have any sight at all. So their circumstance is different. And sometimes it's very hard for the general public to get their head around it, because you say a person who is blind or whatever, they think everyone's the same, but of course they're not. And I can understand that for the general public, that can take a little bit of, um, kind of working out, working out as you go along.

36:37 S8

Yeah. It's so true. And yeah, I mean, I wouldn't want people to not ever offer help at all because some people might actually need it if they need to be navigated around the, you know, the space, if there's when there's lots of seats or there's kids running around with morning tea. So you certainly wouldn't want people to think to never offer it, because you're exactly right. Everyone's situation is different. And that's that's a really important point, then, isn't it? If you offer help to one person with low vision and they say no, doesn't mean don't ever offer it again because someone else actually might find that help really valuable. So yeah, everyone is in a very different position and understanding that if you've lived with that disability your whole life, you might feel differently about that than someone who is, you know, has low vision in their older age. So everyone's experience of that is going to be different.

37:25 S2

And lighting as well, of course, can make a lot of difference how much light there is at that particular time compared to another time.

37:30 S8

Yeah, that's exactly right. And so the lighting in an auditorium in a church building can be very different for an evening service when you've got, you know, fluorescent lights than it would be in a morning service, for example. So the reflection of the paper or of the PowerPoint screen, it might be different. And so yeah, some people might be fine in the morning, but find it harder to read what's on the screen in the night time. So just being aware again of those. Yeah. The environmental differences too.

37:55 S2

Well what about in terms of who this resource is available to. Because obviously there's a number of different denominations. I think we call them other religions.

38:04 S8

Yeah. So it's just it's a free resource available for anyone in these videos. So we've really tried to make it something that anyone can go in and download. It doesn't matter what denomination you're from. We really just wanted to give people the skills so that they've got some, you know, basic knowledge about understanding some concepts of disability and some simple steps that people can take. So it's not it's certainly not exhaustive. You know, there are more comprehensive. I teach subjects at a theological college on disability. So you can come and do a whole subject, you know, but this is just about trying to help churches start on that journey, you know, of simple steps that they can take. And the biggest thing that we really encourage people to do is, you know, to learn from the people in their community and use that as their starting point. But yes, there are free videos. You can download them from the CCM website and anyone can access those videos.

38:53 S2

If you just took me back a few years at least. I've been doing this program for a while. Our knife a number of years, particularly in Adelaide, there was a if you like, a local branch of the Christian blind mission. So that's going back a while, I think. And then it kind of disbanded.

39:05 S8

Yeah. Right. Okay. Yeah. So the main offices in in Melbourne. So a lot of work happens down there. I'm based in Sydney, so it works. It works out well for me to be able to do some work representing CBM around, uh, around Sydney. And so I often speak at churches or do lectures or speaking things where I get the opportunity to talk to people about disability in church communities. So it's a great privilege and an amazing thing where I've seen a lot of change over, say, the last ten years as CBM have really put so much effort into these resources and wanting to equip churches better. So it's been amazing just to see that growth in interest and churches becoming more aware of, oh, I haven't thought about this intentionally, but I realise now actually we need to be thinking about this a little bit more. So to see that change has been incredible.

39:55 S2

Well, long, long may it continue. Um, where can people go to find out more? And we'll put this information up in our show notes. But, uh, what's a good starting point in terms of a website?

40:03 S8

So if you go to our CBMM Orgo forward slash Luke 14, then you'll be able to find those resources there.

40:12 S2

Okay. We'll put that up with our show notes. Lewis, love to talk to you. Sounds like a wonderful initiative. And I guess in a sense it's kind of got broader applications as well, because if people are learning in the church about, uh, disability, they can kind of take that out when they go shopping or whatever they do, sort of outside their church as well.

40:28 S8

Yeah, I certainly hope that's the case. Peter. Yeah, absolutely.

40:30 S2

Appreciate your time.

40:31 S8

Yeah. Thank you. So good to talk to you.

40:33 S2

So Lewis gospel there, talking about some resources that have just been recently launched regarding making the church more inclusive. And trying to catch up with our resident physiotherapists. And also from the Flipper Academy Chelsea marchetti. Chelsea, great to have you with us again.

40:53 S9

Great to be here, Peter. Thank you for bringing me on this month.

40:57 S2

It's a pleasure. Now, what are you going to talk about? Resistance training for the uninitiated. What actually is it?

41:03 S9

So resistance training is essentially any form of workout or training where we are putting our resistance against our body. So when we talk about, I guess, the majority of movements every day, we are to an extent always resisting our muscles against gravity, because gravity is always a force that we have to go against. So things like standing up, that's kind of resistance because we have to resist gravity to be up tall. But I guess the what for most people, what we could talk about in terms of resistance training is adding further resistance to that. So that might be holding some sort of weight or putting some sort of height to jump or, you know, putting in, you know, heavier band or something. So that's putting that extra bit of resistance on top of gravity onto our muscle groups, so that we can push through both of those resistance levels to build our muscles and make them stronger.

42:00 S2

Okay, you've kind of answered the question. I was going to say, what are some of the benefits of resistance training? Why is it a good thing to do?

42:06 S9

So I guess resistance training is super important because it helps us maintain or increase our muscle mass. So when we're talking about the elderly population, it's important across the board. But we know that after you turn about 30, you start to lose your, um, muscle mass by about 5 to 10% every year. So that's really yeah, it's really important because if we continue, if we don't do resistance training and like I said, resistance training itself is even going for walks and standing up every day and things because those things are still resisting against gravity. That's going to help maintain our muscle mass. And that's important because it reduces our falls risk, because if you have lower muscle mass and you've got therefore lower bone density. Because resistance training also increases your bone density. It makes your bones stronger. If you've got loss of both of those things, you are at higher risk of breaking your bone when you fall. So you end up with conditions such as osteoporosis, which I think we've spoken about before, Peter, and we've talked we've spoken about falls risk before as well. So having that increased muscle mass can really help prevent us from being at risk of fractures and breaking of bones, which can be really debilitating.

43:16 S2

So when you talk about 5 to 10% of muscle mass, that's if we kind of do nothing. If we kind of let our bodies do nothing, that's the kind of rate at which our muscles would, uh, deteriorate or, uh, sort of go back with that.

43:29 S9

Yeah, absolutely. We have so many risks of muscle, what we call muscle atrophy, which is when our muscles just decrease and decondition over time from not doing anything with them. So if you don't use it, you lose it, unfortunately. Which is why resistance training is so important and why physio plays a massive role in that.

43:48 S2

Now we're always looking forward to turning 30, but I'm not so sure now.

43:53 S9

I think for most people, you know, if you're up and you're walking and you're trying to, you know, you're staying active and doing the appropriate guidelines that are in line with, um, the Australian activity guidelines, which I think is about 150 minutes of exercise a week. Um, then you should be, you know, doing pretty well. But we do try and advocate, especially for people over 65, to try and increase their resistance training levels, because it really does implement a strong muscle system, which can help prevent you from I guess I talked about falls, but even just, um, it becomes a prevention of majority of chronic illnesses as you get older because it just helps with more muscle. You burn more energy. Um, with more muscle you have more movability mobility, you have less fat. So therefore you're at less risk of other conditions that can lead to that. So it is really important to be doing.

44:45 S2

Well, I guess if we go way back in history. Of course. Chelsea, if, you know, if we couldn't, uh, you know, run after animals or go hunting for food, we would have starved. So I guess these days, the shops just down the road. But I guess we've got to kind of compensate for the easiness of getting food, etc., that, uh, we've got to do things like exercise and movement. So we talked about, you know, walking every day, which is fine. But I guess if we could do a little bit more in terms of, uh, that resistance training kind of build on that to get even more benefits from it.

45:16 S9

Absolutely. So I talked about walking. I guess that's kind of like your bare minimum. And, um, your resistance training for walking is really for people that aren't regular walkers. Um, so we're looking at people that are kind of in their rehab stages or, um, you know, have disabilities where walking is not their primary level of mobility. But when we're talking about the general population resistance training, we're talking about things like Pilates, things like weight training, things like any sort of incline walking, because we have to actually resist against gravity more because we're up on an incline. So those types of things. Um, so, you know, your gym based movements are really where you're going to get your resistance training. Um, so Pilates is a good one, I guess, for the elderly population, if you don't want to go and be a gym bro, because he always, always love to recommend Pilates because it is a really nice way to get some gentle resistance. Um, also a bit of mobility I would recommend though. Um, a clinical Pilates. Um, because you can get Pilates places at the moment, which are, you know, really into the fitness and the strength and that's really great. But if you're someone that's got some other conditions or falls, risks or things that need a bit more of a clinical eye, then I think clinical pilates through a physio practice is usually the best way to go to help manage all those conditions. You can also look at things like weight training. You can go with a personal trainer or an exercise physiologist is always a really good person to have because their job is trying to maintain and improve your exercise regime in line with maybe some of the medications or chronic conditions that you may have. So they're a really good tool to use. And a lot of gyms actually have them in their gym programs for doing kind of your PT stuff now anyways. So you can always talk to your local gym about that and just have that extra clinical eye on some of the things that you're doing, which could be really important with this type of training.

47:06 S2

That is really important is it can some medications can affect things like bone density or indeed, you know, your, your heart, etc.. So if you've got that person with that clinical knowledge and you might say, look, I'm on these tablets or I'm taking this medication, they could probably structure your training to, you know, to be much more tailor made to your individual circumstances rather than, you know, maybe you know, someone that your neighbor tells you or catching something on YouTube.

47:30 S9

Absolutely. And you know, you're getting a really good clinical eye on it. It can be really dangerous going into the gym and just picking up some weights and not really knowing what you're doing, especially in the older demographic. When you've got all those other things going on, it is really important to seek some expertise in clinical guidance on what you're doing. And more often than not, a lot of the reason why people don't engage in resistance training is for those reasons, because they don't really know where to start. So having someone on your side that's got really good base, understanding and knowledge could be a really good way to, um, have some guidance on what you're doing and stay safe.

48:04 S2

You talked about 150 minutes a week. I guess it depends at what intensity you're working at. But is it occasionally good to have a day off, maybe 2 or 3 days a week, do a little bit less, particularly for a structured program or where your resistance training is quite intense. Is it good to give your body a break from that rather than do it every single day?

48:22 S9

Yeah, absolutely. And it's always good to just use the guidelines as a guide. You might do an hour, three days a week and that kind of takes you. That's the 150 minutes. So you know when you kind of break it up, it just depends on on what you want to do. I think you're testing me a little bit, Peter. With how off the cuff. I know my guidelines, but, um, I think it does actually factor in, like a five day a week kind of system. So I think it's really just a guide on how active to be to kind of maintain healthy status. But yeah, like I said, it's always good to kind of maybe even talk to your local GP about what might be a good idea for you, and then also where the best kind of put your resources in terms of who can guide you on your exercise plan. So if you go to a GP and say, look, I really want to get into resistance training, then they can refer you to an exercise physiologist that they might know. Some GP clinics now have them on site, so that's really handy as well. Or even a physio. Physios are really good at this sort of thing as well, and putting programs together and being able to kind of structure all that medical stuff with the exercise stuff. So we are a really good resource for this type of thing. So definitely use us where you can.

49:33 S2

That's a really good point, is that because a lot of, particularly those larger GP and GP Clinics have got lots of different allied health professionals that work within them. So as you say, you can kind of very easily be referred to the physiotherapist and you don't even have to go anywhere. They're kind of on the premises. So, you know, it's easy to get to.

49:51 S9

Yeah, absolutely. And then you know that they're a trusted professional because your doctor who is your doctor has recommended them. And there are lots of options that you can go with. You don't always have to go with the physio that your GP recommends, but it is always a nice way to start and you can even say to them, look, I'm, I'm after a bit of a guided programme, you know, just have a chat with the allied health professional. You know, we are really good and we want to try and make it work. And obviously there is a financial cost associated with that. But if you look into things with your GP, there are some systems in place like, you know, if you've got a chronic condition like diabetes or heart condition, um, Medicare actually give you five physio sessions claimed at about $60 each over the year per calendar year. So you can talk to your GP about that and they can often coincide that in with your exercise fees or your physio. And they can actually, you know, you can factor that money into that. So, you know, you end up using your money a bit more efficiently and getting good bang for your buck, which is always nice when it comes to health.

50:48 S2

But an investment in your future I love.

50:50 S9

Absolutely.

50:51 S2

Exercise fizz. That sounds pretty cool, doesn't it?

50:54 S9

It does, doesn't it?

50:57 S2

Yes, I love it. If you want to get in touch with you, where can we find you?

51:01 S9

Oh, so you can find me? Um, I own a business called Flippa Academy. We're doing hydrotherapy and learn to swim skills for children with disability. So you can go to our website at Flipper Academy. Com.au you can contact me directly at Chelsea Market at Flipper Academy. Com.au or alternatively you can look at our, um, inquiries email if you're after an inquiry for yourself or, um, a friend or your child. So it's inquiries at Flipper Academy.

51:27 S2

Com.au all that information up in our show notes. Enjoy your long weekend. We'll catch up next month.

51:32 S9

You too. Peter, Have a great month and a great long weekend.

51:35 S2

Just my kitty there from the Flipper Academy.

51:43 S10

Welcome aboard the leisure lift. Please select your floor.

51:55 S2

I'm really delighted to welcome to the program from Melbourne University. A specialist in the area of immunology and infection, Professor Terry Nolan. Terry, if I may call you later. Thanks so much for your time.

52:06 S11

Thanks, Peter. Lovely to be with you.

52:07 S2

Now you're very keen to get the message out there regarding RSV, particularly for older adults.

52:13 S11

Yes, I am, particularly for older adults, but also in the background and equally importantly, is protection for newborn babies, which may or may not come up in this conversation. But the focus today is on older adults.

52:29 S2

And why is it particularly important for older adults? I guess having kind of had Covid behind us and vaccines and, uh, you know, being careful with infections, etc., we're all kind of getting a little bit fatigued about it. So I guess it's always good to be reminded.

52:41 S11

Yeah. No spot on. And everyone, all of us, including me, probably felt a little bruised by Covid and, um, and being bombarded with advice and all of the technical detail behind vaccine recommendations. But unfortunately, uh, well, first of all, Covid hasn't gone away. It's still with us and it's still killing older adults in particular. But it doesn't in any way diminish the importance of all of the other infectious diseases, which, you know, we are confronted with, and particularly the importance where, uh, fantastic new vaccines have become available for the first time, were able to do something about preventing those infections.

53:18 S2

I believe last year was a very bad year in terms of a reported or recorded incidences of RSV.

53:23 S11

Yeah. Around the world. Um, that's been the case. What happened during Covid, particularly because of the lockdowns and all of the social restrictions was that there was almost no RSV. Circulating RSV in temperate climates circulates mainly in the winter, although it does circulate all year round. But the peak period is the winter period as it is with flu. But after Covid, after having a year of basically no RSV in that winter period because of these lockdowns, it came back with a vengeance. And probably because, um, what's called an immunity debt, that because the population wasn't being exposed, it in fact left them vulnerable. And their higher attack rates now occurring are probably that phenomenon. So, yes, it's still with us. It'll probably settle back into the same sort of pattern that we saw prior to Covid. Um, but now unlike prior to Covid, we didn't have any vaccine for RSV. Now we do. So that's a huge difference.

54:20 S2

And how effective and how safe is it?

54:22 S11

There are two vaccines which are now licensed in Australia. So they've been through the safety a very rigorous safety assessment of the Australian regulator, which is called the Therapeutic Goods Administration or the TGA, and the evidence of both these vaccines in older populations, that is, those aged 60 and over where the major clinical trials were done. First of all, is that it's very highly effective in the 85 or 80 to 85% range for prevention of significant RSV disease. And in terms of safety, nothing has emerged. That's of any concern about its safety profile, both in the clinical trials but also subsequently where it has now been marketed in the US and in Europe for more than a year. There's been very careful what's called pharmacovigilance, which means paying attention to any safety signals that might have emerged once it's been rolled out in millions rather than tens of thousands, which were the numbers in the clinical trials. And that safety surveillance, reassuringly, has revealed nothing unexpected that's popped up at this point. Nor do we expect it to. But of course, with any new product, we pay close attention and make sure that if there is to be a signal that pops up, we know about it. But so far and with every expectation that this will continue, it looks very, very safe.

55:36 S2

Is it just one shot to Terry or.

55:38 S11

Yes, just one shot. Just one shot. That's right. In this population, whether or not a booster shot will be required down the track is not a science scientific question, not yet resolved because there hasn't been around for long enough. But it's possible boosters are required when your immunity wanes. Just naturally the antibodies sort of tail off and or if the virus changes, if it actually mutates. We've all seen this with Covid, with with Omicron and the different generations of of those Omicron variants. RSV is much more stable than coronavirus in terms of mutation and also both much, much more stable than flu, which really mutates very frequently, which is why we have a different flu vaccine every year. But it looks like at the moment that at least two years or maybe three years following the vaccination, no booster is required. But that question is still to be resolved.

56:33 S2

And you talked about two types of vaccines. Does it matter which one you go for or.

56:38 S11

No, no not really. There are two manufacturers that have slightly different. You know, I won't go into the sort of technical details, but essentially the same. And also in terms of both the effectiveness results from the clinical trials that were done and also the safety monitoring that I've just talked about. They look very, very similar.

56:57 S2

Yeah. You talked about people over 60, I guess people over 60 who might have other health challenges, probably even more important.

57:02 S11

Yeah. So Italy, which is everyone knows about Italy now having been through Covid, I chaired Italy for nearly ten years. The last pandemic, the the flu pandemic in 2009. But more recently, people are familiar with Italy, which which is the government's advisory group to give the public and healthcare providers guidance. Italy does recommend that for those between 60 and 75 who have a significant health condition and they're listed, we can talk about those if you'd like to should be vaccinated against against RSV. But for those 75 and over, it recommends that everyone should be vaccinated irrespective of whether they have a coexisting health problem.

57:40 S2

Okay, so what sort of things might you be having that might necessitate you if you're, say, between 50 and 75, to start to consider the RSV vaccine?

57:49 S11

Yeah. So basically it's a pretty big list, frankly. And by the time you get to 60, the proportion of the population who have at least one of these conditions is pretty high. But, uh, but it varies from, you know, having heart disease, chronic respiratory conditions, you know, um, emphysema, um, severe asthma, people who have immunocompromising conditions, those who have diabetes, type one or type two diabetes, which is relatively common in that age group, kidney disease, other neurological conditions and also overweight. So it's called obesity, although there is a change in the thinking about that label being used. But people who have what's called a BMI body mass index of 30 or greater, which is probably a pretty substantial proportion of the population over 60, are also recommended to have it. Now, when I say recommended, it doesn't mean it's publicly funded. So that recommendation is associated with the need for someone, either the person who's being vaccinated to pay for it, or their employer or someone else to actually pay for the vaccine.

58:51 S2

Okay. What about in terms of the children you talked about, particularly young children? Is that a different vaccine? And of course, these days we have a lot of grandparents doing a lot of babysitting, you know, parents out working, etc. and that could be more prone to infections from little kids who might be in preschool, etc..

59:07 S11

They can. And that principle is very important. We know with whooping cough, for example, and we've done a whooping cough epidemic going on around the world at the moment where that's very important. Unfortunately, we don't yet have a vaccine for children. They're there in clinical trials, but they're still a few years off, probably. There are some technical reasons why it's a bit more complicated for young children to be vaccinated, but we do have two other approaches which are highly effective and very safe. One is to immunize the pregnant mother, and that has been recently funded by the federal government and is now on the national immunisation programme for the first year this year. And that is with one of the two manufacturers vaccines. That is the same one that's licensed for older age individuals. But that vaccine now is recommended for pregnant women between 28 and 36 weeks of pregnancy. But also there is another. It's not a vaccine in the usual sense, but another product which is given to newborn babies or babies in the first 6 or 8 months of life. And that is what's called a monoclonal antibody. People might remember the use of monoclonal antibodies during the Covid pandemic, but basically an antibody rather than the vaccine to generate the antibody can be given, and that is now being funded this year by all of the states, not the federal government. The state government is funding it. So for babies at the moment, there are two approaches available, either for the mother to be vaccinated with the RSV vaccine to the mother, then passes the antibody that her immune system makes onto her baby. And so her baby is then born after placental transfer of that antibody with very highly protective levels of antibody against RSV and the clinical trials that have shown that to be highly effective, or if they have not been vaccinated, they can receive free of charge as well. This alternate thing, which is the monoclonal antibody, which will protect babies up to about the age of at least eight months, or maybe even several months beyond that, in the first year of life.

1:01:06 S2

Can also have a great pleasure speaking to people like you. And I often ask the people like you. For example, would the conventional GP kind of know all about this? I mean, they're very, very busy. It's hard to keep across everything.

1:01:18 S11

Yeah, well, I had the highest respect for my GP colleagues, and it is a challenge for them because they have to know pretty much about everything necessarily at the same jet, you know, particular specialist area, but that you're dead right. As the as the volume of knowledge and new products expands, it becomes incredibly challenging. But the answer to your question is yes, they will. They'll know about RSV. It will come back to the beginning of this conversation. It used to be thought that RSV was a virus that was only important for babies under the age of one year, for example, where the highest rates of hospitalisation do occur, and also severe disease. But in the last 20 years, it's become apparent that individuals at the other end of the age spectrum are also the victims of this virus. And the studies that were done to actually make that clear haven't been done until relatively recently in the last 10 or 15 years. And that's now the basis for realising that there are target for also prevention. And that's why we've seen the licensure of these vaccines. So the awareness of GPS of this virus comes, you know, they'll all know about bronchiolitis, which is a type of infection in the lungs that is the commonest manifestation in young babies of this. And that can go on to very severe pneumonia and kill babies. But they they will know about that. But GPS are now becoming aware of this new literature, which makes it clear that the old their older patients, particularly those, as we've just discussed, between 60 and 75, who have a, you know, an associated medical condition that puts them at high risk of complications of this virus infection or those who are aged 75 and older, they will now be aware of it. So some maybe more than others, but certainly for your listeners and for patients who have seen their GP, if they don't mention it to you, you should bring it up with them and ask them what their advice is. And that's very, very important to also give them a signal that their patients are also concerned about the opportunity to be protected against this. Quite. Significant health risk for them as they get older.

1:03:19 S2

A great message. Thanks for spending some time with us. Really appreciate it.

1:03:22 S11

It's lovely to speak. Thanks, Peter.

1:03:23 S2

That's Professor Terry Nolan there from Melbourne University talking about RSV. So if you think your GP soon maybe raise the issue with him or her.

1:03:38 S12

Come on in.

1:03:39 S13

We open our doors to people we trust and care about. And for over 90 years, South Australians have been opening their doors to Resthaven. In turn, we've been opening doors to an easier, better life at home. From personal care to help with the shopping and social outings, you'll welcome the care that Resthaven brings.

1:03:59 S2

Can't you hear from our friends at Resthaven? As you mentioned last month, the big year for Resthaven this year is celebrating their 90th anniversary. Let's chat about it with the Executive Manager for Community Services and retirement living. Mel Ottaway. Mel, great to catch up again.

1:04:14 S14

Hey, Peter, how are you?

1:04:15 S2

I'm going especially well. I know the celebrations. Well, they've kind of just started, but I know there's a few things planned throughout the year, so look forward to hearing more about them. In the meantime, you're going to talk about, um, caring for someone with dementia.

1:04:28 S15

Yes. Yes, absolutely. Dementia is a challenge. I guess it's a it's known as a brain condition. And it's often something that frightens people. It's often seen in people over the age of 65. But it's one of those things it's important to remember it's not a normal part of aging, and it's something that we do need to consider, though as we age, there's almost about 450,000 individuals living across Australia with dementia of varying degrees, and we obviously want people to live well with dementia.

1:05:07 S2

450,000 in a sense, Sadly, but reliably. Those numbers are increasing, aren't they?

1:05:12 S15

They are. They are. And it's one of those things that, unfortunately, there's currently no known cure, but there's lots of treatments to manage the symptoms. And so I think that's really important to consider is the fact that if someone does have a diagnosis of dementia, it doesn't necessarily have to be doom and gloom. There are some really, really good options to manage it and live really well. Some of those might include, you know, there's a range of medications that can assist with dealing with some of the symptoms, for example, some of the anxiety or some of the depressive things that can accompany dementia. Sometimes medication in that sense will do wonders.

1:05:57 S2

So you're the manager for retirement living and community services. So these are people that are either still at home or living in your retirement living facilities.

1:06:06 S9

Yes, yes.

1:06:07 S15

So we have a number of people living in the community or within our retirement villages who do have a diagnosis of dementia of varying degrees. It's a disease that affects people in different ways, usually from the perspective it affects their memory, their thinking, and their ability to perform activities of daily living.

1:06:28 S2

And I'm imagining in general terms, people are not on their own. They're not living on their own as such.

1:06:34 S15

Well, it does vary. We do have some people who do have dementia who live really well on their own. And then we have a number who live with support. So it might be a partner or a spouse, or it might be a child living with them.

1:06:50 S2

The reason I ask that question. Well, I'm thinking like it's probably as important or equally important that the person who's doing the caring or living with the person with dementia is also supported to.

1:07:02 S15

Yes, absolutely. Peter. It's one of those things that being a carer for someone with dementia can take incredible patience. It can be really frustrating and heartbreaking watching someone that they love, going through a challenging condition and so ensuring that there is really good support for carers is really important.

1:07:26 S2

A lot of patients, a lot of energy. Often you speak to people who say they're kind of, uh, you know, exhausted or very tired because of kind of the toll it takes. It's not just the the patients talked about, but it's also the, the sort of that it can wear you down.

1:07:42 S15

Yes, yes. Look, I think from the perspective, depending on the varying symptoms that that someone can display, it can change someone's behaviour significantly. And so being faced with repetitive questioning or even sometimes agitation or physical aggression, some of that can be really challenging for someone to deal with, particularly when it's someone who has loved and cared for someone and seen quite a personality transformation occur.

1:08:14 S2

Yes, I think we probably all can identify with people like that. So how does it work? So you might have a person who has been diagnosed with this condition. Did they come and see you? And then you kind of put a plan in place. And that plan can kind of change or can differ as time goes on?

1:08:32 S15

Yes. Look, Peter, it would depend on each individual's needs from the perspective. Sometimes an individual in the early stages of dementia might need a little bit of support with some household tasks. So it's about really focusing with individuals on what they can do rather than what they can't do. And so our staff are trained to work with individuals to be able to provide that support and not necessarily focus on the deficits or the challenges that they're having. There's a lot of supportive aides that can be put in place to be able to, again, support someone to live in their own home. They include some really simple things, like talking clocks that will provide information in regards to what day it might be or what the time is, because sometimes people may be challenged and no longer be able to read a clock if they see it, but having a clock that talks to them can make an enormous difference. Maintaining regular patterns again is something that can assist. So making sure that there's regular routine in someone's life so they can know what to expect. Maintaining things like good sleep habits and things. Nothings worse. Do you know what it's like yourself if you don't sleep well? Trying to get through the day can be challenging and it is often more of a challenge with someone with dementia. Maintaining regular exercise is really important. So there are a number of things that that people can consider doing if they have a diagnosis of dementia. I guess the other side, from a carers perspective, asking for help is perfectly okay and making sure that as a carer you have breaks and having support is a really important one.

1:10:27 S2

You touched on two really important points there, the getting support and it's okay to ask for help because I think I've mentioned this to a few people from West Haven over the years. Our generation, I'm thinking those that can't aren't in that aged care area yet. You know, we're kind of maybe a bit more willing to ask for help. Those older people tend to kind of stiff upper lip and get on with it. I'll be okay. I can manage this myself. That's kind of that, that generation, which in a way is very admirable. But also, I mean, there is support out here. Yeah. Please accept it. Please. You know, ask for it. Offered.

1:10:59 S15

Yes, yes. And that would probably be something that I would absolutely emphasize from the perspective that if people do get support, it often will mean that someone will be able to continue better in their caring role from the perspective that we're all human. And it's actually okay to say, I need a bit of help here, and it's amazing what a little bit of respite or a bit of time out can give a carer opportunity to become re-energised and continue on with their caring role.

1:11:30 S2

That's a really important point you made was the fact that, you know, sort of focus on the things that a person can do rather than sort of look at the negativity, you know, sort of, uh, be aware and acknowledge that there are things that they can do and that kind of adds to their self-esteem as well. And I guess just better functioning in the household all round.

1:11:49 S15

Yes. Well, you know what it's like yourself. You don't want to know what your weaknesses are. And so particularly when you've got someone with dementia, if someone is struggling with something, nothing is more frustrating than someone keeps pointing it out and wanting you to trying to do it. Often it's better to focus on something that someone can do.

1:12:08 S2

And that's such a great point. What about in terms of waiting times to get help? It's obviously a bit of a ticklish question, and it's probably not one sort of general answer, but I guess depending on the assessment that you do with a person or a couple, a family, etc., it depends on how sort of soon support can come into play.

1:12:28 S15

Probably the thing that I would absolutely recommend is not waiting till things get to a crisis point. Often we will see people once they've got to that point, and it would have been lovely to be able to be involved much earlier on. And so I think when someone has a diagnosis of dementia, it's about seeking out, getting registered on my aged care. Looking at options in regards to the supports that are available. They might not be something that someone needs today, but it is a lot easier if someone has gone through some of the bureaucratic processes, I guess, to get part of the system and and support mechanisms.

1:13:11 S2

That's interesting point. So if someone's already in my aged care and they've kind of registered and kind of in the system, as it were, then if something like dementia crops up as something they might need support for, that can be a little bit more streamlined than, I guess. Obviously, having to go back to the back of the queue and and starting into the system.

1:13:30 S15

Yes. And I think it's really important to making sure that people do ask for help in regards to us as an organisation, are able to provide that support, to assist people, to navigate through some of the complexity of things like my aged care, because it's not easy.

1:13:48 S2

You talked about, you know, medication and things that are out there that can help. Obviously those sort of things can be prescribed by GP or specialist. So would people from Resthaven also work with the other allied health professionals to kind of have a bit of a team behind the people with dementia or their family to make the outcome even better?

1:14:08 S15

Yes. Look, one of the things that we can support people with is the fact that if people do need our support to accompany them to things like medical appointments and things, we're able to do that. Because sometimes having someone with a clinical background can provide that additional support to translate or navigate through some of the noise, often in regards to just joining the pieces together can be really helpful.

1:14:34 S2

Yeah. Sometimes that information overload can be overwhelming in any sort of sphere, but with something like this, probably even more so.

1:14:41 S15

Yes.

1:14:41 S2

If people want to find out more, what's the best starting point? I guess they can always visit the Resthaven website.

1:14:47 S15

Absolutely. Our website's a really good place to start with. Obviously got a number of contact numbers on their other organizations, such as Dementia Australia, are also a fabulous resource in regards to general information and things. There's also a number of support groups out there as well. As I said, it's really important for people not to feel like they're on their own.

1:15:08 S2

I think probably the overwhelming message from today, isn't it? You're not alone. It's okay to ask for help. Yes, yes, you be the person with the diagnosis or a member of the family that's that's supporting.

1:15:18 S15

Yes. And look, I think the thing is, is the message I'd like to have people understand is the fact it can be really scary. And we really understand the fact that people hear the word dementia, and they often jump to the last awful outcome in regards to. But there are so many people living really full lives with dementia all around Australia.

1:15:42 S2

Terrific. Mel, a good positive note to end on. Thank you so much. And again to Resthaven. Congratulations on your 90th anniversary. We'll chat to people right throughout the year, but thank you for spending some time with us this afternoon.

1:15:54 S15

Thanks so much, Peter. Great to talk to you.

1:15:56 S2

They're locked away there. Who's the executive manager for community services and the retirement living at Resthaven Resthaven snow. Or that information with our show notes. Well, some really good news for people with allergies, particularly if you're in rural or remote areas, to tell us a bit more about it. We've got, um, allergy specialist and the national director for the Allergy Council, doctor Melanie Wong. Melanie, lovely to meet you. And thank you for your time.

1:16:22 S16

Thank you very much for inviting me to speak to you.

1:16:25 S2

Yeah. This was good news and launched by a government minister, so got a bit of gravitas about it.

1:16:30 S16

Yes. We were very, very excited to launch this initiative, the Allergy Assist program, that will actually be helping people who live in rural and remote regions and First Nation communities to access better and more efficient, effective and earlier access to allergy care.

1:16:49 S2

Now, allergies can be kind of brushed off a bit by some people who don't necessarily suffer from them badly. You know, on my nose is running or my eyes are watering, but it can be very, very serious, can't it? Analogy can be very serious.

1:17:00 S16

Absolutely. So just to put it into perspective, about 1 in 5 individuals and 1 in 10 babies in Australia actually are affected by allergy of one sort or another. That's about 5 million Australians. And when we talk about allergies, it could be food drug, insect allergies, eczema, asthma, hay fever, urticaria which is also known as hives. So a lot of different things that can impact the individual, their families and their communities.

1:17:27 S2

And timeliness is important when you're seeking help.

1:17:30 S16

Absolutely. And so there are some things that are troublesome as you allude to, but they actually make a big difference for our quality of life. And it also affects our workplaces. So people might not be able to go to work because their hay fever is stopping them from being able to present themselves in a way that might be acceptable to the rest of the community, or it could be an embarrassment. They could be too itchy. They could also have a life threatening allergic reaction to foods or insects or something like that, which needs emergency care and recognition of. That's really important.

1:18:03 S2

And I guess in a sense this is where allergy assist comes into it.

1:18:07 S16

Absolutely. So the point about allergy assist is that unfortunately, we have very poor access to allergy specialists in our rural and remote regions. Although we have fantastic local doctors and rural generalists who could actually help make diagnoses earlier, start treatment earlier, particularly if they've been empowered by advice from specialists who are largely in the metropolitan areas. And so this allows doctors to see their patient. They can upload questions which are in a de-identified fashion onto a central hub, basically, and then the system allows a panel of allergy specialists to answer within 48 hours. And that way the doctor can either start treatment, start investigations, or organize the appropriate early referral if that's necessary. And on top of that, it means that other people who are actually part of this network of we expect over 6000 practitioners in the rural and remote areas can actually see this interaction play out online and can learn from that experience of others so that if they have someone in their practice who presents with similar problems, they can actually treat them without necessarily needing to get further advice.

1:19:28 S2

Okay, so the patient would be would be de-identified, but the kind of symptoms or some of the relevant facts would be there for others to kind of tap into and get some sort of IP from that.

1:19:40 S16

Absolutely.

1:19:41 S2

How cool.

1:19:41 S16

Mhm.

1:19:42 S2

So what about in terms of, I think you said some 6000 practitioners?

1:19:48 S16

Yes, that's exactly right. So, so this is a government funded initiative. It's shared between the National Allergy Council and the Australian College of Rural, Rural and Remote Medicine, which is a medical college of, of Australia. And so it's actually based on a program that Akram has been running for for about 20 odd years. And looking at skin conditions could tele derm. So it's actually based on exactly the same model. And so that's why we're really excited because this is the first time we know about in the world, in fact, that such a program has been initiated for allergy. And because the skin care model has been so successful, we're hoping that allergy model will be exactly the same.

1:20:33 S2

It was launched last week. Is it kind of up and running now?

1:20:36 S16

It is up and running. We I haven't got any updates for you yet as far as what's happening, but it is so funny.

1:20:43 S2

We'll forgive you for that, Melanie. And you? I mean, you know, cost of living. Everyone's aware of it. You said it's free, so there's no kind of use to pay about this.

1:20:53 S16

It is. So it's free for the practitioners, and therefore we presume it will. Will not. No costs will be passed on to the patients who come to the practices that are using this, this resource. And so I think this really it helps to solve some of the inequities of, of access to medical care that we know exists within the Australian community.

1:21:15 S2

And especially in rural areas. I mean, heaven knows, because I mean, you know, you talked about, you know, within 48 hours, you kind of got to that assistance. I mean, you know, some of the places that people might live to get to a doctor in a more central area could take a long time. And of course, then if you've got family, you've got to get someone to look after them and and so on and so forth. So we'd have it kind of remotely available like this is tremendous.

1:21:40 S16

This is exactly why we're very, very excited about this program.

1:21:43 S2

Well, you touched on a little bit to Indigenous Australians and allergies, and we've heard a fair bit regarding things like, uh, diabetes, but are they, you know, also, uh, more prone to allergies or sort of equally, but because they're in remote areas, you kind of mentioned them as well.

1:22:00 S16

I think that they are equally at risk of having allergic disorders. But the access to to appropriate care actually may not be as good as someone living in the metropolitan areas.

1:22:12 S2

Yeah. And again, travel might be well, you know, I don't really want to travel. I mean, it might be I'm very comfortable with my local GP or I've got to know them really well. So I kind of trust them. But to sort of get out of the local area might not be something that they would, you know, readily do.

1:22:29 S16

Absolutely. Travel is, we know, is a major disincentive for people to seek care in, in metropolitan areas. And so really empowering their Local doctors who they trust and and can access easily is really important.

1:22:43 S2

Trust is very important. I touched on the fact that it's launched by Minister Jen Carney. One of the interesting things, having done this programme for a little while now is we've been chatting to people from Allergy Australia, etc. that on a sort of seemingly regular basis, get to Parliament House in Canberra and speak to politicians. So is this one of those things that has taken a fair bit of lobbying to kind of eventually get to this particular point?

1:23:06 S16

I think we have very enthusiastic people who are advocating strongly for the patients that their families and communities, and we absolutely know that there's a significant impact on quality of life as well as longevity. There are definite people who are at at risk of life threatening reactions. And so the strength, I think, is the fact that many people in Australia are affected, that we can absolutely do something about it, that things are not quite right yet, and that we have things that we can improve. And so we're really quite appreciative of the fact that there is someone listening in Parliament, in government at all levels and all affiliations who are happy to help and to to relieve some of the burdens of health burdens in our society.

1:23:56 S2

I mean this with the greatest of respect to all politicians. I guess if they've got someone in their family who might be susceptible to allergies, I guess they kind of understand the message a bit easier when it's like that, you know what I mean? Like, sometimes if it's a little bit, uh, you know, they kind of get it, but, you know, not not as much as if a family member or someone very close to them is impacted as well. That kind of is maybe a bit easier to get the message across.

1:24:21 S16

I think that's definitely true. But I'm going to highlight the fact that at least 1 in 5 individuals in Australia has sort of allergy. And so I think many people actually, if they look around the room and even within their own families, Probably do actually have someone with allergies and probably and may not actually recognize it. And so my role is actually to try and get that recognition out there so that that people are not necessarily putting up with their allergic symptoms because they're not even recognized by their siblings, parents, etc., and getting out there and getting help because there is help out there.

1:24:57 S2

And how can we access that help for allergy assist? What's the kind of first step? If you like to either find out more or indeed to access the the service?

1:25:05 S16

I think it depends on what symptoms you have. For some people, actually keeping an eye out on the internet and and talking with their friends may be enough such that they could get good advice. The next level is talking to their local doctor and the next level. Then if if their local doctor is feeling that they need additional help getting the help from from specialists. And this is where the allergy assist program fits in, it's when the local doctor is feeling that there could be something else they could be doing or should be doing, but not quite sure exactly what it is. They can actually ask this community of practice that we're hoping will be set up by this, this program, and that way be able to manage their patient in front of them more easily, and not only the one in front of them, but the next one after that, who comes with the same thing, and others.

1:25:55 S2

Other practitioners might be able to benefit from that experience as well, or from that case study, if we can call it that.

1:26:01 S16

Absolutely. So we are expecting that Akram has over 6000 members. On top of that, other medical practitioners who are in the rural and remote settings, who are not part of Akram, will also be able to become part of this. So they register and then they can become part of this free program as well. So it's all inclusive.

1:26:21 S2

Well, on behalf of the 5 million Australians, congratulations to all that have been involved to make it happen to this point.

1:26:26 S16

Thank you very much. We are really excited.

1:26:28 S2

For Doctor Melanie Wong who's an allergy specialist also director with the Allergy Council here in Australia. And we'll put some information up on our show notes about that. But certainly allergy Assist sounds like a wonderful breakthrough and many people will benefit from it. Just a couple of things before we go. Some really good news from Blind Citizens Australia. Rachel Genki used to be Rachael Leahcar has been appointed to a position at BCA. Hopefully we'll have Rachael on in the next few weeks to talk about that. That is really good news. Also great news during the week with the announcement of Emma Stevens, the wife of Police Commissioner Grant Stevens, being named the South Australian Woman of the year, particularly for Emma's work in the area of organ donation and raising awareness. So congratulations to Emma Stevens and the WA election. Well, just about to close the polls. I guess the interesting thing will be the swing labor will win obviously retain the state, but how will the swing go and what impact would that have on the election and the federal election? And indeed, what impact will Cyclone Alfred have on when the election is called? All interesting questions. They'll be answered in the fullness of time. A couple of quotes before we go. A couple of regular contributors. Gayle has sent a quote through from Helen Keller who says, keep your face to the sunshine and you will never see the shadows. So Gayle, thank you so much for that. And Marika has sent one through. Always great to hear from Marica. Marika says well-behaved women very rarely become part of history. So Marika, thank you so much for your quote. Some birthdays before we go. Hayley Sands having a birthday. That champion table tennis player from South Australia, John Kennedy having a birthday. That Paralympic athlete from Tasmania. A very happy birthday to you and Jana Thomas having a birthday. Jana very much involved with raising awareness about type one diabetes. Sam, Richard, thanks so much for your help. Pam Greene, thanks so much for yours. Reminding you as we like to do, that, Leslie is available on that favorite podcast platform of yours. If you like the show, please tell a friend. Actually, tell a friend even if you don't like the show. Maybe they'll like it. We'll welcome everyone. We're very inclusive here on International Women's Day. Indeed, 365 days of the year coming up very, very shortly is Vicki Cousins with Australian Geographic. So if you're listening through 1190 7 a.m. in Adelaide stay tuned for that. Be kind to yourselves, be thoughtful and look out for others. All being well, let's look back at the same time next week on Vision Australia Radio. This is leisure link.

1:29:17 S17

Woo! Woo! Woo!