Current Peer Education Presentations
Our Peer Educators – volunteers aged over 50 years – are trained to present health and well-being topics to seniors groups. Sessions have a practical focus and simple strategies to deal with issues are discussed. COTA NSW is currently offering the following presentations: Internet safety: be confident online, Mate to Mate, beyond maturityblues, and Medicines and You.
Internet safety: be confident online
Although some people over the age of 50 are competent and regular uses of internet services, many are beginners or have limited knowledge when it comes to computer technology. In the last 30 years cyber technology has developed much further than just searching for information and has infiltrated many aspects of our daily lives such as communication, shopping, banking and networking.
In response to older Australian’s needs, COTA NSW has developed a peer education session ‘Internet safety: be confident online’ to help older people become more aware and informed around internet safety and security.
Read more about the ‘Internet safety’ sessions.
beyond maturityblues:
anxiety and depression in older people
In partnership with beyondblue
In spite of the changes people may experience as they get older, having anxiety or depression is not a normal part of ageing. Around one million Australians live with depression and over two million Australians will experience an anxiety disorder each year*. These sessions focus on:
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learning about anxiety and depression,
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ways to identify and prevent anxiety and depression, and
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what you can do to stay mentally healthy.
Sessions are available to seniors groups; in particular to carers and volunteers, those living with chronic illness, men, veterans, and rural communities. COTA also has bilingual Peer Educatores available for non English speaking groups.
* Australian Bureau of Statistics 2008 – 2007 National Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing: Summary of results, Cat. no. 4326.0, Canberra, ABS
Did you know around 140,000 pepole are hospitalised every year because of medicine-related problems – and that more than half of these are preventable?*
Older people are the highest users of multiple medicines in Australia, so for six years COTA and NPS have been providing information sessions to help seniors use medicines safely and effectively. A Medicines and You session will help your members to:
- learn about using medicines, including active ingredients and generic medicines
- effectively discuss their health and medicines options with health professionals, and
- manage their health and medicines well.
Sessions are available to seniors groups across the state.
*Roughead, E., Barratt, J., and Gilbert, A. 2003, ‘Medication-related problems commonly occuring in an Australian community setting’, Pharmacoepidemiology and Drug Safety, vol.13, pp.83-87
Mate to Mate: connecting older men & HACC services
In partnership with Home and Community Care and the UWS Men’s Health and Information Resource Centre
Men over 50 tend to be undersevred in the community, less visible to service providers, and less likely to seek out resources available to them.* These sessions aim to enable older men to explore their choices in adapting to changing circumstances in their life. Between March and September 2012 sessions will be conducted in the Mid North Coast, Central West, and Cumberland and Prospect areas of NSW. These sessions focus on:
- making informed choices
- types of HACC services, eligibility, and access
- What we can do as a mate.
*‘Older men and HACC services: Barriers to access and effective models of care’, Men’s Health Information and Resource Centre 2009, University of Western Sydney, MHIRC Paper no.1
For additional information about these presentations, or if you would like to book a peer educator to visit your group or club, you can contact COTA by clicking HERE, by clicking on the relevant presentation heading above, or by browsing the right-hand side bar. The individual pages for the sessions contain downloadable booking forms and information flyers. To apply to become a volunteer Peer Educator, click HERE.