The silver revolution
The Australian Women's Weekly|November 2020
A 105-year-old dancer, a family who busted Gran out of a rest home during COVID and an academic who became an advocate after her parents went into care – Samantha Trenoweth meets the people who want to see greater kindness in aged care.
Samantha Trenoweth
The silver revolution

It was a wet Thursday afternoon in March. A southerly was blowing. Angela Finn closed her laptop and gazed out her front window on a wild, grey Coogee Beach. She was feeling a little bit teary. Australia had that day recorded its 13th death from COVID-19. Prime Minister Scott Morrison was urging people to stay at home and stressing the need for social distancing. Angela’s mother, Pam Bryce, lived across town in an aged care home, and she’d just received an email alerting her that a lockdown would be imposed there immediately. There would be no visitors allowed in and no daytrips out … indefinitely.

“We had just a day’s notice. It was such a shock,” Angela tells The Weekly. “I was worried. Mum is 87. She has been diagnosed with vascular dementia. With her cognitive decline, the phone is difficult for her. I was petrified for her mental and physical wellbeing. The bushfires at the start of the year had made her very anxious and when COVID hit, her confusion and anxiety increased tremendously. She worried about her family. She would ask again and again, ‘What is COVID? What does Mr Morrison want us to do? Is everyone going to be all right?’”

The Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety had released its interim report – ominously titled ‘Neglect’ – just five months earlier, and that was a worry, too. While the home that Pam was in was “not one of those places you read about; it was a good home”, Angela knew the pandemic would create extra pressure. And she knew the aged care sector was already at breaking point. Like so many families around Australia, she began to wonder if she could bring her mother home.

Denne historien er fra November 2020-utgaven av The Australian Women's Weekly.

Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.

Denne historien er fra November 2020-utgaven av The Australian Women's Weekly.

Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.

FLERE HISTORIER FRA THE AUSTRALIAN WOMEN'S WEEKLYSe alt
Hitting a nerve
The Australian Women's Weekly

Hitting a nerve

Regulating the vagus nerve with its links to depression, anxiety, arthritis and diabetes - could aid physical and mental wellbeing.

time-read
5 mins  |
July 2024
Take me to the river
The Australian Women's Weekly

Take me to the river

With a slew of new schedules and excursions to explore, the latest river cruises promise to give you experiences and sights you won’t see on the ocean.

time-read
4 mins  |
July 2024
The last act
The Australian Women's Weekly

The last act

When family patriarch Tom Edwards passes away, his children must come together to build his coffin in four days, otherwise they will lose their inheritance. Can they put their sibling rivalry aside?

time-read
8 mins  |
July 2024
MEET RUSSIA'S BRAVEST WOMEN
The Australian Women's Weekly

MEET RUSSIA'S BRAVEST WOMEN

When Alexei Navalny died in a brutal Arctic prison, Vladimir Putin thought he had triumphed over his most formidable opponent. Until three courageous women - Alexei's mother, wife and daughter - took up his fight for freedom.

time-read
8 mins  |
July 2024
The wines and lines mums
The Australian Women's Weekly

The wines and lines mums

Once only associated with glamorous A-listers, cocaine is now prevalent with the soccer-mum set - as likely to be imbibed at a school fundraiser as a nightclub. The Weekly looks inside this illegal, addictive, rising trend.

time-read
10 mins  |
July 2024
Jenny Liddle-Bob.Lucy McDonald.Sasha Green - Why don't you know their names?
The Australian Women's Weekly

Jenny Liddle-Bob.Lucy McDonald.Sasha Green - Why don't you know their names?

Indigenous women are being murdered at frightening rates, their deaths often left uninvestigated and widely unreported. Here The Weekly meets families who are battling grief and desperate for solutions.

time-read
10+ mins  |
July 2024
Growing happiness
The Australian Women's Weekly

Growing happiness

Through drought flood and heartbreak, Jenny Jennr's sunflowers bloom with hope, sunshine and joy

time-read
8 mins  |
July 2024
"Thank God we make each other laugh"
The Australian Women's Weekly

"Thank God we make each other laugh"

A shared sense of humour has seen Aussie comedy couple Harriet Dyer and Patrick Brammall conquer the world. But what does life look like when the cameras go down:

time-read
7 mins  |
July 2024
Winter baking with apples and pears
The Australian Women's Weekly

Winter baking with apples and pears

Celebrate the season of Australian apples and pears with these sweet bakes that will keep the midwinter blues away.

time-read
10+ mins  |
July 2024
Budget dinner winners
The Australian Women's Weekly

Budget dinner winners

Looking for some thrifty inspiration for weeknight dinners? Try our tasty line-up of low-cost recipes that are bound to please everyone at the table.

time-read
5 mins  |
July 2024