September Roundup

From Publicity Chair Ray Piper

‍A summary of the afternoon's presentation on FALLS

Thanks to Lions who attended and those who prepared the wonderful afternoon tea and those setting up and packing up.

At the conclusion of the afternoon, it was felt some follow up references were needed about Falls and exercises. They are at the conclusion of this report.

Choosing to Live Confident Healthy Lives
Falls Event Thursday 24th September

Recently 110 participants attended an event addressing the issue of Falling. It is revealing 77% of all injury hospitalisations for people over 65 are due to falls. The event was organised by the Hallidays Point Lions Club in service to the community.

Speaker Imma Strkljevic highlighted the importance of older Australians choosing to live confident healthy lives. Ima demonstrated that regular exercise (a little bit daily!) incorporating weight resistance for strength, flexibility and balance, will improve balance and reduce falls.  The good news is risk factors for falls including poor balance, a history of falls, slow reaction time, muscle weakness, lack of flexibility and poor eyesight can be dramatically improved. Strength, flexibility, balance and reaction time are the easiest risk factors to address.

Ima said a measure of the event's success will "largely be based on you", and those attending were encouraged to continue to exercise or take up an exercise program.

Local Health Professionals Joseph Cheah and Michelle Georgiou also attended the event. Joseph Cheah is Director Vestibular Physiotherapist, Hallidays Point.

Michelle Georgiou is a Cert IV seniors group trainer with over 40 years’ experience serving Hallidays Point and Darawank.

Both are well qualified and experienced in providing advice and tailored fitness program to help prevent falls.

For more information and exercise suggestions, Google these three sites, fallspreventionalliance.org.au   LiveUp.org.au (has excellent exercise suggestions) and Safeexerciseathome.org.au. These are trusted government supported sites committed to reducing falls and improving the wellbeing and quality of life for older Australians

Ray Piper