The Jean Hailes Foundation is holding this year’s Women’s Health Week from September 2 to 6, 2024, to raise awareness about the ‘health and wellbeing of all women, girls and gender-diverse people.’
Of all aged care workers in Australia, approximately 240,700 workers are female, compared to 60,600 male workers, according to the latest data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
In-person and online events for Women’s Health Week are being run all across Australia, with some of this year’s online events including:
Some events require registration and bookings can be made on the Jean Hailes Foundation website. In-person events include expos, social gatherings and community walks, however, locations vary and are not available in every state and territory.
Australians are invited to create events to celebrate Women’s Health Week and make the events either public or private. Examples of events to highlight the importance of women’s health, which could be held in aged care homes, include hosting a quiz, inviting a guest speaker or holding information sessions.
You can register your event on the Women’s Health Week website until the close of business on September 6, 2024.
Approximately 38 percent of female personal care workers were aged between 40 and 59 years old in 2020, according to the latest Aged Care Workforce Census.
As menopause typically occurs in women aged between 45 and 55, many aged care workers experience related symptoms.
Menopause is classified as 12 months after a woman’s final period. Some women may experience no obvious changes, however, other women may experience hot flushes, difficulty sleeping, irritability and depression.
Women’s health expert Professor Susan Davis from Monash University highlighted a challenge that some women going through menopause may face.
“[…] The flushes and sweats are the things that most dramatically play with people’s heads,” she said.
“If you’re not sleeping [because of flushes and sweats], it’s very hard to cope.”
However, women who experience menopause often continue working, including aged care workers, highlighting the importance of looking after one’s physical and mental wellbeing.
Professor Davis also commented on how women experiencing menopause can benefit from different strategies to improve mental health.
“There is some evidence that cognitive behaviour therapy, mindfulness [and] hypnosis may help, but quite frankly, if a woman’s struggling, they need to speak to their doctor about going onto estrogen [treatments].”
“Going to a very valid resource like Jean Hailes [Foundation website] or the Australian Medical Society website would be what I’d be suggesting [for information rather than social media].”
“Women should initially go down the conventional paths [of seeing their GP] and if they’re not getting the right answers from one particular doctor, [they should] see another doctor.”
Learning more about menopause and other health factors for women during Women’s Health Week could help women improve their self-care and better understand their bodies.
However, if attending an online or in-person event during Women’s Health Week doesn’t fit with your schedule, plenty of resources are available, including a health checklist for women depending on age.
In last year’s Women’s Health Week, the Jean Hailes Foundation saw 1,563 events across Australia and engaged 531,000 participants with health information such as what is involved in certain health checks, the effect of hormones and looking after your mental health.
Looking after your health is important for everyone, but people working long hours or rely on physical strength to assist people should keep this at the forefront of their minds to ensure they are not straining their bodies.
People working in residential aged care facilities and other aged care services may be employed in either direct or indirect roles. Direct roles include nurses, personal care workers and support staff and indirect roles include cooks, gardeners and cleaners.
Approximately 9,400 direct care roles were vacant in residential aged care facilities, in the Department of Health 2020 Aged Care Workforce Census.
However, the government is making changes based on the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety final report, published in 2021, to ensure that Australia continues to build and develop its aged care workforce.
Some government initiatives to improve the aged care industry include providing free training to upskill staff, e.g. fee-free TAFE. Additionally, the University of Tasmania has released free online modules for aged care workers that are suitable for people new to the aged care sector and for current aged care workers to use as refresher courses.
Approximately 370,000 people are employed in Australian aged care homes and services including residential aged care facilities, home care and the Commonwealth Home Support Program.
