Entertainment

Do you recall Kate Fischer? She was the model, actress and TV presenter famously engaged to billionaire James Packer until a highly-publicised split in 1998 led her to move to Los Angeles and retire from public life ten years ago.

Catholic Healthcare residents at two NSW aged care facilities recently had a chance to travel the world – without even leaving their homes.

Legendary Aussie singer Kamahl will headline a free Christmas in July concert hosted by the Older Persons Advocacy Network (OPAN) next Tuesday.

Dementia experts will host Q&A sessions following screenings of a new documentary film, Everybody’s Oma, which follows the story of a NSW Central Coast grandmother with dementia and her family.

Residents at Arcare’s North Lakes home in Queensland have enjoyed a visit from baby animals at a mobile petting zoo. Piglets, a one-month-old calf, and a three-week-old goat joined other animals like ducks, chickens, sheep, and guinea pigs at the Arcare home, with delighted residents exclaiming over how they’d like to take the critters home with them. According to Lifestyle Coordinator Maree, the visit helped residents share stories and recall fond memories of their own younger years working on farms.

Aged care residents in a northern Victorian town will have a new activity bus, with a fundraiser hitting its $90,000 target in just three months.

Arcare Aged Care homes across NSW, Queensland and Victoria have celebrated National Take Your Dog to Work Day, with staff members bringing their canine companions to meet the residents. Arcare Noosa held a Pet Parade (pictured), with 15 pooches walking the runway to the delight of residents; Residence Manager Laura-Jo, who brought her own dog Harry in for the event, said it was a great day for all involved. “It was such a wonderful turnout of residents, some choosing to even watch from their balconies with a cup of tea.

Residents at the Regis Legana aged care home in Tasmania have received 14 music therapy headsets to support people living with dementia. The program was made possible thanks to a $1,500 grant from Rotary Australia Compassionate Grants and the Dick Smith Foundation, and has shown positive effects for residents with dementia – bringing up positive memories, increasing movement, calming nervousness, and encouraging social interactions. According to Regis, residents in the program have been “thriving”.

71-year-old semi-retired engineer breaks record of Britain’s oldest dancer A former electrical engineer and mathematician, Doreen Pechey has become the oldest person to ever pass the Royal Academy of Dance’s ballet grade six exam. Mrs Pechey studied for two years before taking the exam, practising daily at home and at thrice-weekly classes. She then had to prove she could perform a number of complicated moves to the exam’s testers. Why did she take up dancing? As a girl, she had wanted to study ballet, but her parents couldn’t afford the costs.

Would you get on a bus if there wasn’t a driver behind the wheel? That’s the aim of the new RAC Intellibus™, a $250,000 electric shuttle bus that is undergoing a three-month trial in South Perth by motoring group RAC. The French-made vehicle, which seats 11 passengers and runs at an average speed of 25km per hour, is equipped with front and rear cameras, GPS technology and multi-sensor technology so it can detect traffic, pedestrians and cyclists. It can also be manually stopped by an on-board chaperone with an Xbox controller.

Don’t look down! China opens terrifying cliff-side glass walkway You’ll definitely need a head for heights to visit China’s latest tourist attraction. The 100-metre-long glass path is just 1.6m wide and stretches along the Tianmen Mountain in Hunan province – complete with a jaw-dropping view of a 300-metre vertical drop below. Known as the Coiling Dragon Cliff skywalk, it’s located in the Zhangjiajie National Forest Park and is the third glass skywalk to be built on the mountain. Check out this video of the skywalk here.

That’s what English actor Ian McKellen has said he hid in a recent interview with The Daily Mail. “I was offered $1.5 million to marry a very famous couple in California,” the 77-year-old actor said. So why did he turn the offer down? The actor would have had to don his Gandalf costume again, the character he performed in the movie adaptations of J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit. The offer allegedly came from the billionaire founder of online music company Napster, Sean Parker, who had a $10 million Lord of the Rings-themed wedding in 2013.

Dressage rider Mary Hanna breaks record for Australia’s oldest Olympian The 61-year-old grandmother surpassed the record set by equestrian rider Bill Roycroft set back in 1976. And she’s already making plans to do it all again, with plans to compete at the 2020 Games in Tokyo with her daughter Gitte Donvig. Speaking to The Australian, she said: “One of the reasons I love this sport so much is that you get better the more you do it.

It’s the newest hobby for those recently retired and was pioneered by former palliative care nurse Katie Williams, 77. She began the project in 2010 in Rotorua – the idea has since proved so popular, there are now a dozen clubs around the north and south islands. She developed the idea as a way of helping people have a funeral that reflected their life. “Because of my work and my age I had become a perpetual mourner,” Ms Williams told the Guardian. “I had seen lots of people dying and their funerals were nothing to do with the vibrancy and life of those people.

SYDWEST MULTICULTURAL SERVICES is the largest multicultural organisation in the Western Sydney region, a leading not-for-profit organisation assisting & empowering culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) communities for more than 30 years. SydWest provides quality Aged Care Services to assist people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds to live independently in their homes and in the community for as long as possible.

Everyone can now experience the beauty of Uluru thanks to this bird’s eye footage captured by the first drone allowed to operate inside Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park. The incredible video provides a new look at the 3.6km long rock, showing the 600 million-year-old monolith in amazing detail. Voyages Indigenous Tourism Australia released the footage with approval from the traditional owners and hope that it encourage more travellers to visit the site for themselves. Watch it here for yourself. http://www.voyages.com.au/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xUADPqYbnvI

He was ousted from the Prime Ministership, but Tony Abbott is still making a contribution to Australian society, this time in the new edition of the Australian National Dictionary. Oxford University Press head Peter van Noorden has singled out the former Coalition leader for lightening up the Australian language. “We’re a bit disappointed that Tony Abbott isn’t as prevalent anymore on our TV screens,” he said. What were his favourite ‘Abbottisms’? “He certainly brought us some beauties in terms of ‘shirt front’, which was a real winner,” Mr van Noorden said.

Umbrella Multicultural Community Care Services Inc. “Being part of Umbrella means belonging to a fun and caring multicultural family.” WHAT DO WE DO? All of our aged care programs and services, including Home and Community Care (HACC) and the new Home Care Packages, are designed to assist older people to remain living independently in their homes by giving them the flexibility

One form of exercise that is becoming popular amongst older people is yoga. This ancient practice combines different postures, breathing techniques and meditation. It is low impact, which makes it a perfect option for anyone looking for a gentle form of exercise. The benefits include:

The host of Network 10’s show Have You Been Paying Attention? has a very personal reason for writing a new comedy musical about aged care.

Retirement living provides a community for its residents and providers, such as South Australian operator ECH, are among a number creating intergenerational activities.

In the final episode of the seventh series of ABC TV series ‘Kitchen Cabinet’ next week, the Minister and mother-of-three will reveal if she is the cook in the household. In this series, which first went to air in 2011, the host Annabel Crabb prepares a meal with a politician, using the relaxed environment to get her subjects to reveal a more candid side of their personality.

Ken Weeks, a resident at Whiddon Grafton in NSW’s Northern Rivers region, celebrated his 110th birthday on Thursday, 5 October, and received a special present. The father of two is partial to Heinz baked beans.

Julianne Tombleson, caregiver for Home Instead Sydney Eastern Suburbs and Sutherland Shire, has been named in-home aged care provider Home Instead Australia’s CAREGiver of the Year for 2023. Awarded at a gala event in Sydney, Julianne said she was honoured to win among an incredible field of finalists.

It had been almost 50 years since Norman ‘Dot’ Kitson has been riding the barrels on his surfboard.

Imagine the fun the residents and staff get up to at Uniting Starrett Lodge Hamlyn Terrace in the NSW Central Coast, 77km north of Sydney's CBD.

When a beloved family member is assigned to residential aged care it is probably the most shocking thing a person experiences in their life.

It takes a special person to work in aged care: kindness and empathy, passion, compassion, resilience, ability to communicate, willingness to listen and learn, patience and understanding and the ability to not take oneself too seriously.

Sas Peiris, Executive Chief at the Not For Profit's aged care home in Perth, Western Australia, where Maggie Beer's Big Mission was filmed, said he enjoyed being part of the series.

“I’ve grown up within these walls,“ said Amanda Collins, whose Mum remembers being able to bring her children into Sundale Palmwoods Garden Village Care Centre in Queensland's Sunshine Coast, during the summer holidays.

Rakshya Karki and Prasamsa Khanal were both healthcare professionals in their home country of Nepal in South Asia.

Dementia Advocate Jim Rogers (pictured above with his daughters Daisy and Millie) has been busy recording seven episodes for Dementia Australia’s first podcast, Hold the Moment.

Samantha Armytage, who left Channel 7 in August after 21 years, has jumped over to the Nine Network to host an Australian version of ‘The Golden Bachelor’.

Innovative Melbourne-based aged care provider Lifeview holds an annual Positive Ageing Celebration (PAC) gala for the residents and families from its four residential homes.

Findings from a new study from the Texas A&M University School of Public Health suggest older people with mild cognitive impairment who engage in high levels of activities such as word games and hobbies have better memory, working memory, attention and processing speed than those who do not.

94 residents from 17 of Regis’ residential aged care homes in Victoria came together for a memorable day out on the iconic Puffing Billy steam train last month.

Bridget Grocke, one of Australia’s oldest residents, has survived two World Wars, the Great Depression, the Space Race, the Global Financial Crisis, and the Information Age.

Bruce Hoffmann has taken to the skies for his sixth skydive with daughter Lori to mark his 94th birthday last month.

On Valentine's Day, there will be a special celebration at Bolton Clarke Baycrest Residential Home in Pialba, Hervey Bay, honouring Alan and Joan Williams and other long-married couples. Alan and Joan are marking a remarkable 80 years of marriage, a testament to a love that has stood the test of time.

In a world where many love stories fade with time, the bond between David and Angela Merz has not only endured for 53 years but has grown even stronger through life’s many challenges.