Office of Senior Victorians

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Office of Senior Victorians

• The Office of Senior Victorians is committed to
  enhancing the quality of life of seniors by
  promoting positive ageing and encouraging the
  community to plan for an ageing population.

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Office of Senior Victorians

• Programs
• Positive Ageing initiatives
• Seniors Go for your life programs
• Victorian Seniors Card Program
• Victorian Seniors Festival
• Ministerial Advisory Council of Senior Victorians
  
• Elder Abuse prevention program
• Lifelong learning opportunities for older
  Victorians

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Safety Issues Information

• Seniors Information Victoria
• An initiative of Council Of The Ageing Victoria
  supported by the Department for Planning and
  Community Development.
• Seniors Information Victoria offers free
  information on a wide range of issues of interest
  to older Victorians including
• Safety-related information
• Health and wellbeing
• General information on financial and legal issues
• Home-based and community services

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Safety Issues Information

• Seniors Safety Information Guide
• Includes information from
• Victoria Police
• Metropolitan Fire Brigade
• Country Fire Authority,
• Ambulance Victoria,
• Seniors Rights Victoria
• State Emergency Service
• Metlink
• VicRoads

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Safety Issues Preventing Elder Abuse

• Elder abuse refers to any act within a
  relationship of trust between an older person and
  another person that results in harm to the older
  person. Abuse can include physical, sexual,
  psychological, financial or social abuse such as
  neglect.

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Safety Issues Preventing Elder Abuse

• Seniors Rights Victoria - Information, Advocacy
  and Legal Services
• SRV became operational at the end of April 2008.
  It is a major component of the Governments elder
  abuse prevention strategy.
• SRV provides a range of services, including
• information, telephone assistance and referral
  support to older people experiencing abuse
• legal advice
• advocacy and support to older people and their
  families
• community and professional education regarding
  older peoples rights
• support to expand the capacity of existing
  community legal centres to address the legal
  needs of older people.

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Safety Issues Physical Strength

• Strength Training
• Strength training involves the use of weights to
  build muscle strength and endurance.
• Strength training has been shown to have
  psychological and social benefits as well as
  reducing the risk of falls.
• Programs include Seniors Go for your Life
  Strength Training for Older Adults Improvement
  Program and Living Longer Living Stronger
• The Government has committed to ensuring there is
  a strength training program for older adults in
  every local government area by 2010.

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Safety Issues Urban Planning

• Age-Friendly Communities
• Older people need a safe physical environment
  which includes
• pedestrian, wheelchair and mobility scooter
  friendly walkways
• outdoor seating in parks, transport stops and
  public spaces
• well-designed roads with safe crossings for older
  pedestrians
• buildings with lifts, escalators, ramps, wide
  doorways and passages, adequate signage and
  non-slip flooring
• car parks that allow easy entry and exit
• OSV and the Municipal Association of Victoria and
  the Council on the Ageing are working on a
  project with local governments to improve safety
  for older people.

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Safety Issues Mobility

• Driving
• Older people involved in an accident are more
  likely to sustain serious injury and have more
  difficulty recovering.
• The report Maintaining Mobility the Transition
  from Driver to Non-driver identifies ways to
  support seniors maintain their mobility as they
  reduce and stop driving.
• The Mobility Advisor Pilot project investigates
  whether personalised advice by trained advisors
  can improve access and mobility for retired
  drivers.
• Drivers and pedestrians over 60 years of age are
  over-represented in traffic casualties.

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Conclusion

• The number of older Victorians will increase
  rapidly over the next 10 years and beyond.
• It is important that we put measures in place as
  soon as possible to assist seniors to live and
  travel safely in the community and ensure they
  have access to information which will help them
  feel safe and be safe.
• The Victorian government is committed to
  improving safety for seniors and the Office of
  Senior Victorians is working across the whole of
  government to meet this objective.