Today regular guest clinician, Associate Professor Jeffrey Looi, Researcher in Neuro-degenerative Diseases, Specialist in Dementia Care, Head of Addiction Medicine and Psychiatry Department at the Australian National University Medical School, Canberra, and Áine Ní Tighearnaigh, consumer/carer advocate continue their conversation on the most recent recommendations from the Royal Commission into Aged Care, Quality and Safety.

Jeff and Áine analyse the latest recommendations from the Aged Care Royal Commission which have been highly influenced by Covid-19 exposing the pre-existing weaknesses in servicing, management and oversight of the Aged Care system. They examine the validity of health economics arguments, ageism, cultural perceptions and practice, against mainstream community attitudes to older people and voter apathy. To bring about greater community awareness of aging, is there value in educating young people about what to expect as you age and how to plan for these contingencies? What part does representative democracy play in the inclusion of older peoples voices in lobbying and in the development and design of services and accommodation options? What is certain is that we need more humane planning of services, inclusion of the voices of the elderly, better coordination, governance and workforce development strategies.

Transforming Perceptions bringing you news, views, updates and diverse perspectives on social, emotional and mental well-being from the lived and living experience, community, multicultural and mainstream mental health sectors; and music from round the world.

Transforming Perceptions - Saturday 17th October 2020 - 2 - 3:30 pm (AEDST), Áine Ní Tighearnaigh speaks with Mary Ivec, Convener, Canberra Restorative Community Network and Rhiân Williams, an Independent Social Researcher and Dispute Resolution Consultant about Restorative Justice Practices, ACT Child Protection and it's impact on the social and emotional well-being of Canberra’s Indigenous communities.

Mary provides a background to the development of restorative justice practices, in particular the work of local Australian National University (ANU) Canberra, academic John Braithwaite in the 1990’s and the establishment of the Canberra Restorative Community Network. Mary shares that restorative justice processes have been successfully used to address social and community issues in Halifax, Nova Scotia in Canada and New Zealand. Rhiân explores the difference between assisted negotiation and restorative justice processes providing examples of how restorative justice processes can work to reduce conflict, increase social cohesion and improve outcomes for community members. We also discuss how restorative processes could be implemented to reform coronial processes in the ACT.

In the ACT, Child Protection practices are having significant negative impacts upon the well-being of Indigenous communities. 2018/19 financial year data shows 806 children being in care, including 696 in out of home care in the ACT. In 2019 alone, 119 children were taken into out of home care in the ACT. The Canberra Restorative Community Network has commissioned preliminary research that reveals the economic benefits of reforming the ACT’s Child Protection System, the benefit to children and their families and which supports using restorative approaches in child protection to reduce numbers of removals. www.canberrarestorativecommunity.space/blog

Transforming Perceptions, bringing you news, views, updates and information from the lived and living perspective, community, multicultural and mainstream mental health sectors; and music from round the world.

Transforming Perceptions - Saturday the 10th October 2020 is World Mental Health Day 

Associate Professor Jeffrey Looi, Dr Doris Kordes and Áine Ní Tighearnaigh discuss Mental Health and the Federal Budget, Covid-19 and the impact on mental well-being and Aged Care within the context of the theme for World Mental Health Day - Mental Health for All: Greater Investment – Greater Access.

Bringing together the clinical and consumer and carer lived experience perspectives, Jeff, Doris and Áine dive into a discussion and analysis of the mental health allocations in the federal budget. They explore workforce issues, the impacts of Covid-19 on mental well-being, the systemic and structural issues in the mental health sector, and the inclusion of marginalised voices in policy and service development through co-design and co-production. They discuss the need for oversight, transparency and good processes and strong and ethical leadership from political representatives. They raise concerns about the growing quantification of exchanges and communication with stakeholders, and the bureaucratization and corporatization of mental health servicing and the sector, all within the context of WMHD theme - Mental Health for All: Greater Investment – Greater Access.

Transforming Perceptions bringing you news, views, updates and diverse perspectives on social, emotional and mental well-being from the lived and living experience, community, multicultural and mainstream mental health sectors; and music from round the world.

OCTOBER is Mental Health Month in the ACT and we are celebrating 10 years on air working to promote the de-stigmatisation of mental illness. Transforming Perceptions will be showcasing some of our best of shows from our archives as well as new interviews on topics relevant to today's sector.

Saturday 3rd October 2020 2 pm - 3:30 pm (AEST) we are bringing you an extremely relevant interview from our archives which first went to air 11th August 2012 where David Lovegrove, Áine Ní Tighearnaigh and Associate Professor Jeffrey Looi Head of Psychiatry at the ANU discuss the topic of Bullying and Workplace Bullying and it's impacts on mental well-being.

What is Bullying? - "Bullying happens when a person or a group of people repeatedly and intentionally use words or actions to cause distress and harm to another person’s wellbeing. It isn’t the same as a ‘normal’ conflict between people (such as having an argument or a fight) or simply disliking someone. It’s more about repeated behaviour by someone who has power or control over someone else"

"At work, employers have a responsibility to provide a safe workplace, which means one that's free of bullying. This means that by law if you report bullying behaviour, your employer has to go through a proper process for handling your complaint".

Transforming Perceptions, bringing you news, views, updates and information from the lived and living perspective, community, multicultural and mainstream mental health sectors; and music from round the world.

Áine Ní Tighearnaigh speaks with Catriona Bisset, middle-distance runner and Tokyo Olympic 2021 hopeful about the National Mental Health Commission's campaign #GettingThroughThisTogether and her personal experience of recovery from an eating disorder. 

Catriona is based in Northcote, Victoria and is currently living under Stage 4 restrictions. Catriona has a personal lived experience of anxiety, depression and an eating disorder and has become  a Lifeline Community Custodian promoting messages about mental well-being and raising the profile of mental health awareness in the community.  

Catriona is an Australian middle-distance runner, national record holder in the 800m. As an Olympic hopeful Catriona is currently training for the Tokyo Olympics which has been rescheduled to July 2021.  She chats with Áine about how she is maintaining her training regime and motivation during the lock down and provides helpful advice to those in lock down or who are struggling to keep active.

#GettingThroughThisTogether is a national conversation to support the mental health and well-being of Australians as the uncertainty around Covid-19 continues.

Shame is a complex feeling that can be carried from childhood and remain into adulthood.  Equally younger and older adults can experience situations in which they are 'shamed' by others, or may feel 'ashamed' of failures in their own actions or the actions of others. Shame is viewed as a taboo topic, one that it is not appropriate to share or in some communities, of which to speak.

Áine and Naeem share some of their personal experiences about Shame and how it has affected them. Naeem discusses how cultural and religious structures can create or embed shame into ways of thinking and behaving at a personal or collective community level and the importance of talking about feelings of shame and identifying our own barriers to living consciously.  Áine and Naeem acknowledge that Shame is a difficult topic and that neither of them are experts on the topic. They both hope to continue to explore the topic of Shame in future shows in partnership with others.

Naeem takes us through an 11 minute meditation at the end of the today's show helping us to deeply contemplate and recover.

Naeem Zaman is a member of the Transforming Perceptions Team assisting with discussions around health, mental health and well-being, sharing insights from his own experience and as part of our Energising Your Life segments.  Naeem works as a fitness instructor teaching body balance and is studying Psychology with a view to undertaking a Masters in Social Work.  

Naeem used this meditation after our first exploration on the topic of Shame.  It is a short and relaxing 11 minute  meditation.  Music by Sean McVitty, music for healing.  To hear the full discussion on Shame and Naeem's post discussion commentary and meditation go the Podcast - Áine Ní Tighearnaigh and Naeem Zaman talk about Shame. 

Naeem Zaman is a member of the Transforming Perceptions Team assisting with discussions around health, mental health and well-being, sharing insights from his own experience and as part of our Energising Your Life segments.  Naeem works as a fitness instructor teaching body balance and is studying Psychology with a view to undertaking a Masters in Social Work.  

In this episode Naeem takes us through a short and relaxing 12 minute  meditation.  Music by Sean McVitty, music for healing.  This meditation followed our Energising Your Life segment where  Áine Ní Tighearnaigh and Naeem Zaman discussed ''Themes around Conscious Living'.  You can hear that full episode and Naeem's pre and post meditation comments in the episode dated 13th June 2020.

Áine Ní Tighearnaigh is in Conversation with Associate Professor Jeffrey Looi, Researcher in Neuro-degenerative Diseases, Specialist in Dementia Care, Head of Addiction Medicine and Psychiatry Department at the Australian National University Medical School, Canberra. 

Many elderly, approximately 295 people nationally (at the time of interview), who are living in government-subsided residential aged care homes have passed away from Covid-19, without having their last few moments with their families since the pandemic commenced.  The current crisis with Covid-19 imperilling aged care facilities was foreseeable in the known shortfalls of the system - but will action occur, apart from emergency takeovers, now?

We ask - Is it enough to say “Sorry”, when this Aged Care Covid Crisis could and should have been prevented?

Transforming Perceptions bringing you news, views, updates and diverse perspectives on social, emotional and mental well-being from the lived and living experience, community, multicultural and mainstream mental health sectors; and music from round the world. Our Podcasts are available at AnchorFM, BreakerFM, Spotify, Google Podcast, Apple Podcast, Overcast, Radio Public and Pocket Casts.

On Transforming Perceptions on Saturday 28th September 2019, Áine Ní Tighearnaigh and David Lovegrove are in conversation with Associate Professor Jeffrey Looi, ANU and Dr Tony Schumacher Jones, Churchill Fellow Award Winner 2013 on the topic - The Politics of Loneliness – Humane Aged Care: Robot or Human? Tony and Jeff discuss the politics around dealing with loneliness in our communities, especially as how loneliness affects older people who are living in aged care and new innovations to address their needs. But is their needs or the need to reduce or not make financial and emotional investment into humane care? Are robots and artificial intelligence the solutions to the challenges we face with an aging population? And, if so, how far do we want to take it?

What do we gain and lose by taking it all the way to having robots running facilities? And, if we don’t want to take it all the way – that is, having robots run the entire facility, then why not? At what point do you say too much? To what extent will we allow the technological tail to wag the ethical dog?

Transforming Perceptions bringing you news, updates and diverse views on social, emotional and mental well-being from the lived and living experience, community, multicultural, mainstream mental health sectors; and music from round the world.