General News
19 May, 2023
Glowing success for Twilight Years event
Horsham's first seniors seminar – Managing the Twilight Years – has been a resounding success, with almost 200 attending from across the region. An initiative of Horsham Combined Probus Club, it featured seven half-hour sessions hosted by...
Horsham's first seniors seminar – Managing the Twilight Years – has been a resounding success, with almost 200 attending from across the region.
An initiative of Horsham Combined Probus Club, it featured seven half-hour sessions hosted by health, finance and law experts, among others, designed to help peope navigate more smoothly through the growing range of issues faced by over 55s.
Organiser Faye Smith said she was delighted with the response and had been swamped with positive comments about the calibre of speakers on the day and the many relevant issues covered.
“Events like this are obviously needed,” Mrs Smith said.
“Someone said to me recently that at my age I should have a ‘number’. I now know why I need a number, what it’s for and how to get one.”
Topics covered included health programs, planning funerals, financial tips for nursing homes and aged care, legal advice, coping with crises, Centrelink help, dementia concerns and many other topics.
Speakers on Wednesday were Simon Risson from Horsham Church of Christ; Grampians Health staff Barry Arnott, Annabel Askin and Annette Connor; financial advisers Ashley Rowan and Amy Lehmann of Consortium Private Wealth; retired lawyer John Brack; undertaker Trevor Bysouth through a prerecorded message; a Centrelink community engagement officer from Ballarat; and Grampians Community Health workers Jodie Smith and Joan Hargreaves.
Grampians Health manager of district nursing Barry Arnott said there was a real need for such an event.
“As you get older, it is so difficult and complex to access services and support, so information like how to do it makes this all a bit easier," Mr Arnott said.
“I spoke about accessing My Aged Care. Once it was much easier to get services and now it’s much more difficult."
Horsham Church of Christ pastor Simon Risson said it was important to tackle uncomfortable conversations.
“I’m speaking particularly about how we prepare a funeral service and the things that need to be involved,” he said.
"It’s important to have the conversations while you can make those decisions and involve your family in the conversation."
Mrs Smith said organisers were assisted with a $500 grant from Horsham Rural City Council, and thanked the generosity of Horsham Church of Christ, which offered its facilities at no cost.
“This was really the first event like this that we know about,” she said.
“But when you talk to seniors, they’re facing unexpected issues with banks, finalising estates, paying the huge costs requested for aged-care or residential accommodation, and trying to deal with many other unexpected things that crop up.”
Mrs Smith said dealing with issues associated with ageing were already complex and becoming even more so.
“This seminar was a great start at tackling this,” she said.