Crosswords

No I don't mean the angry kind...lol. I mean the kind that you find in magazines and newspapers.  If you find those magazines in public places, such as the doctor's surgery, someone else has usually beaten you to it. There is nothing quite like the pleasure of happening upon a completely blank untouched crossword. A clean slate that is all yours. I have recently discovered that you can access crossword puzzles online and there are even free ones.

Here's the link http://www.crosswordsforfun.com.au/wordpress/  

You might wonder what this has to do with aged care but believe me a lot of older people like to keep their minds active with crosswords. The medical esablishment reccomend keeping your brain active as you get older to keep memory problems at bay.  For some people there is no better way to do that than a good crossword. If you are an aged care worker you may wish to direct your crossword fanatic clients to the site above for some problem solving fun to pass the time.
Are you a crossword enthusiast? or Do you prefer Sudoku?

If your brain likes number puzzles  more than word puzzles I have a link for you too.

Ceck out this site: http://www.websudoku.com/

Let me know how you go and if these sites are useful... what do you think? How do your clients like the idea of puzzles online instead of in a book?

Aged Care Wages

Have you ever considered undertaking a course in aged care to start a new career in the aged care industry? If so you at some point you will be wondering about pay rates. Let me begin by explaining that the pay in aged care is not high and before you all stampede out of this blog in droves please let me explain. After a career in aged care spanning 30 years have some ideas. So the pay rate is not high but one thing is for sure, you will always find a job with a Certificate III in aged care or above. You will be engaged in THE growth industry of the future( even if it feels like you have entered the past somedays). The rewards in aged care are many, not just monetary, you get a real sense of satisfaction when you make a difference in another persons life every day. You may tnink that people go to work for the pay and I agree most would not do tneir job for nothing but if there is no satisfaction in your job you won't want to keep turning up just for the pay. Eventually you will move on!
There are also other factors that influence pay rates in aged care. Penalty rates apply in the evenings at night and on the weekend so perhaps you would like to earn your weeks pay over a weekend and have the whole week off instead! I have done it and it works! Particularly good for working around the care of children. You may wish to get a higjer qualification and move into a team leader role or beyond. Some people study along the way an achieve nursing qualifications. Where do you see yourself in an aged care role and what are your study and career goal?
Here is a link that may help you decifer what you should be paid in aged care.check it out

http://www.payscale.com/research/AU/Job=Aged_Care_Worker/Hourly_Rate

Ride of his Life

Continuing on with the theme of positive ageing, I would like to tell you about a person who I believe to be a classic example of this. His name is Doug Sunderland and he is a truly inspirational older person, down to earth Ausiie and no fuss crusader of life! Doug suffered the loss of his wife and was also diagnosed with prostate cancer. These events had him feeling pretty down and his doctor suggested that he "get on his bike" as there was no guarantee that he would be around too long. Having been a motor cycle enthusiast all his life,  Doug decided to hit the road. He travelled to numerous countries and rode his bike in many locations. Doug was recently featured on ABC Television's Australian Story program, which manily focused on his most recent ride. What Doug refers to as chucking another lap of Australia. At age 85 he took off on his bike, solo around Australia, sleeping rough on the side of the road and eating canned food.
Before he left on this incredible journey, he befriended a young man named Kristopher Growcott. Kris was concerned about Doug going off on this long journey that covered many isolated places. He also knew that Doug was prone to not eating and Kris would rather that he slept comfortably and safely along the way, particularly at his age. Kris created a facebook page called Cavalry of One and it soon had many fans, many of them motorcycling enthusiasts.Todat the page has 4578 "likes".  The word soon spread about Doug and his adventure and many people in numerous locations around Australia offered Doug a room for the night and a nourishing meal.
Doug, being a man of simple needs could not understand what all the fuss was about and failed to see why people would put up a total stranger in their homes. He didn't really care for all the fuss and bother to begin with but he phoned his friend Kris daily to update him on his whereabouts and adventures and Kris in turn updated the facebook page. On the last leg of the journey Kris rode to meet Doug and accompany him home to the end of his trip.
I invite you to check out the Australian Story program to view the whole story and I am sure you will agree that Doug Sunderland is a special older person with a very positive attitude to his life and is getting on with his life despite his loss and health problems. I must also mention that his friend Kris is also an inspirational young man. Check out these links.
http://www.facebook.com/#!/CavalryofOne
www.abc.net.au/austory/