What’s wrong (and right) about our health system
Aged Care Commissioner Carolyn Cooper has just released a report (Amplifying the voices of older people across Aotearoa New Zealand 2024) that is a mixture of the bad news (waiting lists, difficulty seeing a GP, etc etc) with a few bright spots, generally small projects that look encouraging. There’s some interesting stats: did you know that the over-85s are the fastest growing demographic, and the majority of over 65s are disabled.
Here is a brief summary of the recommendations:
1. There is a need for a targeted strategy to ensure quality health and disability services for older people.
2. Better discharge planning by hospitals.
3. Supporting person-centred, culturally safe communication for older people
4. I am pleased to see that Te Whatu Ora | Health NZ is undertaking an aged-care funding and service models review.
5. Getting a sustainable and well-trained workforce in the care sector
6. Shortages in psychogeriatric care beds across the country must be addressed urgently.
7. More kaupapa Māori aged-care services, particularly for people with dementia mate wareware and psychogeriatric care needs.
8. Primary and community care, especially general practitioner (GP) clinics, should be valued as critical partners
9. Older people have expressed the importance of enduring relationships and having a single point of contact for primary care.
10. Investing in innovation, especially models of care that can keep older people safer and well for longer in communities.
11. I am supportive of initiatives such as the 24-hour rural telehealth line recently established to ensure more equitable access to primary care services in rural areas.
12. Regular training and development of primary and community care providers and staff on the health and wellbeing of older people
13. Preventative actions to reduce dementia include increasing hearing-aid subsidies and public health interventions fostering social connection and age-friendly environments. The subsidy for hearing aids has not been increased for many years
14. I support the public health actions to prevent dementia
15. Home and Community Support Services (HCSS) has a significant role to play in keeping people well in their communities for longer and in reducing demand on ARC and emergency and specialist services.
16. It is hoped that the aged-care funding and service models review by Te Whatu Ora | Health NZ considers aspects of home and community support services to improve the sustainability of services
17. While providing care in a person’s home is an integral part of keeping people well in their communities for longer, I hold concerns about the lack of transparency over the care provided by HCSS.
18. Tracking shortages of care and support workers, nurses, and other HCSS workers
19. A comprehensive national HCSS workforce dataset collated, shared, and regularly updated
20. We also need accurate data on current and projected demand for HCSS by Te Whatu Ora |Health NZ, especially for older people with high health needs.
Caroline is speaking to our association (and answering questions) on 11am Friday 5 April at the Wellington Quaker Meeting House, 7 Moncrieff Street, Mount Victoria, Wellington 6011. We will serve a light lunch after the discussion. Please come!
What’s up with Grey Power
A regular report by our President
Public meeting – Aged Care Commissioner I am looking forward to meeting members at our public meeting at 11am on 5 April to hear Carolyn Cooper, the Aged Care Commissioner, speak about her work and her first report released recently. The report is here.
Following the presentation we will serve a light lunch. The meeting is being held at the Quaker Meeting House, 7 Moncrieff Street, Mt Victoria, 11am 5 April.
Older people’s issues Over the past few months older people’s issues have been in the news – retirement villages, aged care beds, cost of living, rental accommodation costs, electricity prices, and increases in rates. These affect us all. We seem to do a lot of talking about these, but our members are asking about any outcome from Grey Power’s advocacy.
As a Grey Power Federation Board member, I have been involved with the retirement villages review. The Coalition agreement between National and New Zealand First will advance the outcome of the review, but there is no timeframe for that. The Federation will be making a submission on the Bill when introduced and referred to a select committee and I would welcome input from our members.
New member discount benefits Have you checked the Grey Power website for discount benefits. Harrison’s was recently listed.
Grey Power Federation AGM 2024 Brentwood Hotel, Wellington Tuesday 18 – Thursday 20 June 2024. I will be attending as a Board member. The Wellington Central Association will have two committee members attending. This year there is a vote for President and Treasurer. Any member can attend as an observer.
Strategic Plan Several projects are underway.
Constitution – minor updates to comply with 2022 legislation will be put forward as remits at the AGM. Later there will be a review of the constitution with some rewriting to bring the organisation up to date.
Documentation – we are collecting all the current documentation and templates being used. We are planning the process for updating all Grey Power documentation on a 3-yearly cycle. The Zone Guidelines have recently been reviewed.
Membership and Grey Power Electricity The Board has informative meetings with Shani, CEO Grey Power Electricity, Grey Power’s current financial supporter. Association members who purchase their electricity and other services through Grey Power Electricity create funding for Grey Power’s advocacy work.
Programme for 2024 In the past we have invited our local Member of Parliament to meet with us and we will arrange that later in the year. We have several other ideas for speakers. Your Committee would welcome any suggestions for speakers.
Wellington Central Grey Power Association AGM This will be held early in May and we will be in touch with you soon about the date.
Colleen Singleton, President
Paying your Grey Power subs
We’ll be sending out renewal notices shortly. Please wait till you receive the notice; refunding double payments can be a bit annoying!
New discounts
Harrisons are offering all Grey Power members 20% off carpet and hard flooring; 30% off Curtains & Blinds; and 20% off Solar Panels. Plus you can get Flybuys with every purchase. If there are special offers available, you will always receive the lowest price as a Grey Power customer.
There’s also discounts on Coffee Capsule 2U, Atopis skincare. For further details and a full list see here.
Swollen legs?
Have you had cancer treatment? Or always had swollen ankles that you can’t seem to control? Chronic leg ulcers? Do all the women in your family have “fat legs”? Has your doctor given up trying to help or just given you diuretics and sent you on your way?
These are all possible signs of lymphatic disorders such as lymphoedema, phlebolymphoedema and lipoedema.
So what are these conditions? At their most basic, you may know them as fluid retention or swelling, but there’s a lot more to them and there’s a lot to be learnt about how to live a better life with these conditions, so the Lymph Info Trust is running a public information day!
There’s speakers to talk about these conditions and how they are diagnosed, the treatment options and how you can work together to manage them, and give you a better quality of life. You’ll have the chance to see product demonstrations, talk with therapists and a range of support services.
Saturday 25 May, 9am-3pm, Michael Fowler Centre, 111 Wakefield St. Light lunch is included. Registration required: tickets $49 per person, CSC/Gold Card $35. More info here.
SuperGold Card review and perks
Have you ever wondered about the full range of benefits and discounts that may be available with the SuperGold Card? You can find them by going to the SuperGold website or even download the SuperGold app on your smartphone.
An alternative is a very useful summary of all the perks, discounts and benefits provided by MoneyHub. They have produced a comprehensive review of the benefits and discounts as well as looking at the various additional perks available to seniors beyond the card’s primary offerings and list of non-financial support services.
In brief
Consumer win: 12 retirement village operators warned about potential Fair Trading Act breaches
Great rant aainst downsizing (in the Oldie magazine)
NZ Super is becoming more essential, actuaries say
Rates rebates may help you stay in your home; applications close on June 30. To check on eligibility there’s an online calculator.
A new proposal to convert your home equity into income
A retirement fund is hoping to break into the home equity market with plans to launch the country’s first home reversion scheme in February 2024 after five years of planning. The scheme works on an agreement to sell Lifetime Home a portion of your house and get the money paid back in instalments over 10 years. Homeowners can release equity from their property by selling a portion to a retirement fund and paying it back in instalments while remaining in their home.
Founder and managing director Ralph Stewart, who previously headed AXA Insurance then ACC, said, “We supplement homeowners’ retirement income, every ‘Super Tuesday’, every fortnight with a small amount of money, that adds up to an amount every year that we then exchange for equity in their home. We do that for 10 years from age 70. “So, for a million dollar house, we pay the homeowner around $23,000 a year and at the end of the 10-year period, we would own 35 percent of the home and they will own 65 percent.”
Unlike a reverse mortgage which pays out a lump sum at the start of the term and accumulates interest, which is then repaid when the homeowner sells up. The reverse mortgage model is based on debt – the homeowner borrows the money and defers the repayment of the debt until they sell the house. It’s a good model but it means that the homeowner has to effectively suffer a variable interest rate – the amount of money they pay back to the bank when they sell their house is unknown at the beginning.
Massey University Associate Professor Claire Matthews, comments that – ‘There are slightly more risks [than a reverse mortgage] because you’re actually handing over ownership of part of your property. You’ve got the lion’s share and so that does limit the risk, but what happens if you want to do something to the property?’
The difference in this model to a reverse mortgage is certainty about total overall costs. When the homeowner sells the house, they would essentially “buy-out” Lifetime Home – which would benefit from any capital gains.
EDITOR NOTE: This is a scheme in its infancy and there are several regulatory rules to navigate. They propose doing a pilot run of 80 homes for 12 months, which will cost about $10 million. The company’s primary business is its retirement fund, which would fund the home equity scheme. For further information go to www.lifetimeincome.co.nz
Grey Power Tauranga/BOP
2ND NOTE: In Wellington (but not Porirua) you can choose to postpone your rates till when your property is sold, subject to conditions. See here for details.
Why is decluttering so hard?
There are a multitude of reasons why some of us collect clutter while others seem to have it figured out and maintain a clutter-free oasis. Some reasons include our personality type, our upbringing, our motivation, time pressures or some combination of them all.
There are also as many reasons to avoid clutter. Firstly, it’s is a health hazard with many injuries caused by tripping over items left in random places. Secondly, clutter doesn’t look good and thirdly, it’s hard to find things. Too much clutter can make preparing to move home a much bigger challenge than it needs to be and how many of our children will thank us for leaving them with piles of “stuff” when we are gone.
After years of encouraging others to start decluttering early if they are thinking of downsizing, I wonder why I find it so hard to get rid of unused items. Many items, I’m sure, will be useful at some point, and then there are the pictures the kids created at primary school, my large collection of books (and a pile of my dad’s books as well – all neatly inscribed for each birthday or Christmas). Emotional connections.
The best ways to declutter are well known. Experts say create three piles of items as they are being cleared – items to be thrown away, items to be donated and items to be kept. But they don’t come with instructions on how to start and how to stay decluttered.
After reading several books on decluttering I had collected a few more ideas such as having a place for everything, keeping like-items together and trying to discard an item when a new one is purchased. However, it was the next book on my list that has given me hope in my efforts towards minimalism (or at least decluttering). It is the well-known and best-selling book by James Clear named Atomic Habits. This book offers so many good ideas on how to get started on a new habit, maintain a habit, and how to break bad habits.
Some of the gems that I have taken away from the book include habit-stacking; starting a new habit by tying it to something that is already a regular habit or occurrence e.g., if you have a regular house keeper visiting then you could choose a time before, during or after their cleaning to do decluttering.
Another learning is that it is easier to maintain a habit if there is some immediate reward. That ties in with the advice to start decluttering with a small area such as a cupboard or even a shelf. Then there is the satisfaction of having completed a task.
In his book, James Clear recommends keeping track of progress by putting a cross on the calendar or something similar. Missing one day may happen through something that can’t be avoided but never miss two days. It is better to do something small as long as you turn up.
Why is a nation of DIYers spending so much on funerals?
Coffin building clubs, family-led services, hatchback hearses – more and more communities are gearing up to rebuild the D.I.Y. funeral culture of old. However there is a spanner in the works. Despite all the enthusiasm for reducing costs, New Zealanders are still paying, on average, $10 000 per funeral. That’s far more than many households can afford, and far more than the thousand dollars those families in the know, with helpful doctors, are paying.
A couple of years ago, a dying friend asked me to organise his cremation and other parts of the funeral process. When the doctor came we asked if he could send the paperwork direct to the second, “referee,” doctor whose signature we also needed prior to cremation. This was the first time this doctor had had such a request, but when the system was explained to him, he was happy to help. Two minutes and one email later he’d saved the family a great deal of stress and money.
The lead up to that gracious act had, however, been a battle. It took dozens of phone calls and emails to find a way through the obscure system that surrounds that second, crucial signature. No-one in the medical centres, was willing, or able, to help us. The doctor himself, so helpful in person, had been impossible to contact beforehand. In the end we had to hire a social worker to get his attention.
The Ministry of Health is approaching the end of a 12 year review of burial, cremation and death. Submissions came in from a wide range of respected organisations including NZ Nurses and Age Concern as well as grassroots advocates. Disturbing cases of exploitation were cited. But while regulation of the funeral industry was looked at, the elementary question of how the funeral industry ended up with a captive market wasn’t asked.
Death Without Debt wants all doctors and nurse practitioners centres to do the essential paperwork for families as of right – so New Zealanders have choice.
An affordable funeral doesn’t mean skimping on dignity. Quite the reverse. People are reporting the hands-on approach gets everyone involved and builds bonds and memories that help the grieving process.
For more information, resources, workshop dates and news of progress, visit here or contact 021 163 3178 deathwithoutdebt@proton.me
By Fergus Wheeler, Death Without Debt
It’s raining, men
Every man “of a certain age” has experienced the urge. You suddenly feel a strong pressure in your bladder and the need to urinate becomes an inevitable rush to a lavatory. Such urges can happen at night, disrupting vital sleep.
This rush is something that King Charles III, admitted to a London hospital in January, might have encountered prior to his decision to undergo prostate surgery.
Your kidneys produce urine. The liquid waste then travels down ducts called ureters to the bladder. In a male, the urethra runs through a part of the reproductive system called the prostate. Its function is to produce nourishing fluid that transports sperm.
As the body ages, factors such as family history, lifestyle and hormonal changes can cause the prostate to enlarge. This common condition, known as benign prostatic hyperplasia, varies in severity, and is often noticeable around age 50.
It’s important to note that benign prostatic hyperplasia is not associated with prostate cancer and does not increase your cancer risk. However, it can make prostate cancer screening more challenging.
Therefore, regular check-ups including a digital rectal exam and discussions with your health care provider are crucial. If you notice changes in urination, consult your doctor.
Prostates can range in size from a walnut to larger than a baseball. All prostates grow, but not all prostates cause symptoms. A mildly enlarged prostate can cause noticeable symptoms such as a weaker stream when urinating or increased frequency, especially at night. A significantly enlarged one might not cause any symptoms.
King Charles’ need for improvement in quality of life highlights the importance of paying attention to these symptoms.
This article was edited from a contribution to CNN from Dr. Jamin Brahmbhatt, a urologist.