Aged Care Insite Issue 110 Dec-Jan 2019 | Page 14

industry & reform Lessons from LASA Diversity, the care workforce, and the stigma surrounding death – these were just some of the topics covered in this year’s LASA congress. By Megan Tran A ged Care Insite was in Adelaide recently for the 2018 LASA National Congress. Here’s a quick rundown of some of the presentations. LASA’s Monday program included a seminar on ‘Reframing Dying in Australia’, with a focus on how best to address this taboo topic. Dr Stephen Ginsborg from the Sydney North Primary Health Network spoke of the stigma surrounding death in Western society. He said doctors themselves are uncomfortable with the notion of death, and that support staff should be included in the dying process long before someone passes, such as staff and the community preparing their goodbyes. “It can be made less difficult when we have a competent community,” he said, arguing for more education about death literacy, including more understanding about grieving, dying and mourning to better understand care. 12 agedcareinsite.com.au LOOKING FORWARD LASA chief executive Sean Rooney spoke about the rate of Australia’s rapidly ageing population – with about 2000 people turning 65 every week and about 1000 people turning 85. And with more than one million older Australians accessing services across our aged care system every year, the demand for services is increasing. “Among this ageing population, we would see great diversity, including Indigenous Australians, different cultural and religious groups, LGBTI Australians, those who battle disadvantage in various forms, and those who live in rural and remote areas of our vast nation,” Rooney said. He said recruitment in the social work sector is much like any other – mainly through employee referral and word of mouth. Eastwood said selecting a candidate involved a more nuanced process, where you need to know how caring a person is, explaining it was unlike a Seek job application and that it wasn’t a ‘seagulls around the chip’ mentality. He added that only about 8 per cent of people are selected through this process. And it isn’t just about the recruiters, he argued, as candidates are also the customers in that they are willing to invest time and ask a lot of questions about the role. AGEING WELL GLOBAL LESSONS The ‘Building and Keeping a Care Workforce – Lessons from Around the World’ session investigated how 55 per cent of care staff employed in the aged care services industry are closely linked to those who need care. “You only get it when you’ve done it,” the author of Saving Social Care, Neil Eastwood, said in relation to why those candidates applied for the job. Desmond Ford, head of programs and business development at COTA SA, spoke about the LGBTIQ People Ageing Well Project, a joint 12-month initiative by COTA SA and the SA Rainbow Advocacy Alliance (SARAA), which was designed to kick-start a consumer-led LGBTIQ movement for older South Australians. It also aimed to engage and empower members of the older LGBTIQ community throughout the state by giving them a