September 2022
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Useful Fact
Carer Gateway is an Australian Government program providing free services and support for carers. If you care for a family member or friend with disability, a medical condition, mental illness, or who is frail due to age, then Carer Gateway can help you. The Australian Government works with a range of health and carer organisations across Australia, known as Carer Gateway service providers, to deliver services to carers no matter where they live in Australia.
Interesting Website
Resilience.org aims to support building community resilience in a world of multiple emerging challenges: the decline of cheap energy, the depletion of critical resources like water, complex environmental crises like climate change and biodiversity loss, and the social and economic issues which are linked to these. We like to think of the site as a community library with space to read and think, but also as a vibrant café in which to meet people, discuss ideas and projects, and pick up and share tips on how to build the resilience of your community, your household, or yourself.
Resilience
Campaign
Within 10 minutes of inhaling cigarette smoke, blood becomes sticky. Dangerous clots can form, increasing the risk of a catastrophic heart attack, even in a person's 40s or 30s. Even smoking one cigarette a day or smoking occasionally significantly increases the risk of dying from heart disease.
Quitting smoking is the best thing a person can do for their health, including their cardiovascular health.
No matter how many times a person has tried to quit, Quit is here to help. Trained Quitline counsellors, many of them former smokers, will listen and tailor strategies just for them.
Call Quitline 13 7848 or visit quit.org.au for quitting advice & support.
Key Event
The thing about cancer is that it can really affect your sex life. In this episode of The Thing About Cancer podcast, Julie McCrossin talks with Professor Jane Ussher about why it’s so important to have an open and honest conversation about sex with your doctor and your partner.
Today, more than ever, sex is all around us – in magazines, movies, TV and on the internet. Yet sex is still a taboo subject, and people rarely talk openly about their own sex lives. This is even more the case for people with cancer. But sex impacts every part of our lives, from our identity, to who we choose as a partner, to our feelings of self-esteem and our place in the world. After a diagnosis, sex may be the last thing on your mind. In the long term, however, it can be a real issue, especially if you find out that your cancer treatment has had an impact on your sex life, which in turn can impact your relationship with your partner and overall quality of life.
Who are
Celebrate T21 is a social enterprise based in the Illawarra and operating as a community service nationally. Through our network around Australia we bring together families within the Down syndrome community, sharing their stories and providing inspiration. We also connect families with organisations including Down Syndrome Australia, T21 Mum Network Australia and 321 Pregnancy Care.
We dream of a world where no family should feel isolated, unsupported or pressured to terminate based on a diagnosis of Down syndrome.
Out & About
Freesound is a collaborative database of Creative Commons Licensed sounds. Browse, download and share sounds.
Resource
It’s best to start having end of life conversations before you need to, even if it feels a little uncomfortable at the time. This toolkit attempts to make it easier to open conversations about death and dying. It will give you ideas about things to consider and decide when it comes to your own death and how to support a loved ones wishes if faced with their death. We’re all going to die one day, so this toolkit is relevant to everyone, at any age. Looking at the issue through an LGBTQ+ lens helps us to explore our unique lived experiences and the different issues we face.
Diary Dates
6th September – On the Couch with Sexologist Aleks Trkulja
19th October – On the Couch with Kirli Saunders
You can register for all our free online webinars here.
There are also free modules like Doin it Right, Nitty Gritty & Because You Care that you can sign up for and complete for free in your own time.