PENINSULA ONLINE

Issue 3
Monday 30 March 2012

Disability services in the region set to get a boost

Monash University Peninsula campus, in partnership with Mission Australia (MA) Housing, Yooralla and the Summer Foundation Ltd, has been allocated $1.939 million from the Supported Accommodation Innovation Fund to establish accommodation for young people with disabilities in need of long-term supported accommodation.

A further $1.88 million has been provided by the Victorian State Government that will see the establishment of accommodation places for up to six people on land provided by Monash and located on the edge of the campus in Lardner Road.

The Federal Government funding is part of a $60 million injection of money to 22 organisations across Australia to develop supported accommodation in local communities for young adults with a disability. With about 70 people under the age of 50 being admitted to nursing homes in Victoria each year, this joint initiative provides an opportunity for young people with acquired disabilities to live an independent life in accommodation that is relevant to their needs.

Libby Callaway from the Department of Occupational Therapy said the initiative had the capacity to help reduce the number of young people with acquired disability who are currently cared for in nursing homes, or those who are at risk of placement in residential aged care.

"There is an urgent need within the community to provide age-appropriate accommodation for younger people with disability," Ms Callaway said.

The units will provide residents with tailored accommodation and twenty-four hour care. The close proximity to the campus means the residents will have the opportunity to access existing recreational, social, employment and educational services available, including the Monash Peninsula Activity and Recreation Centre.

"Another exciting opportunity this project offers is a nation-first clinical training experience, driven by the person with a disability and their support network, for students from seven disciplines within the University's Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences," Ms Callaway said.

"In addition to the 24-hour care provided, residents will be offered the option to access undergraduate allied health student support to work towards and achieve participation goals they see as personally meaningful or important.

Geoff Carney, MA Housing, Libby Callaway, Louise Farnworth, Occupational Therapy, Monash, Anj Barker, Ambassador, Building Better Lives, Geoff Shaw, State MP for Frankston, Leon Piterman, Di Winkler, Summer Foundation, Sanjib Roy, CEO, Yooralla and Gaye sheppard, Regional Manager, Yooralla. Find out more about Anj's story

MPARC is 'officially' OPEN

It's official. Monash Peninsula Activity and Recreation Centre (MPARC) is open!

Staff, students, members of the local community and local and state politicians attended the official opening of the building. All recognised that MPARC will provide a significant boost to community sporting activities and sport education in the region.

The new $13 million sporting facility has been jointly funded by Monash University and the Commonwealth Government's Capital Development Pool and Better Universities Renewal Funding. It was officially opened by Monash University's Vice-Chancellor Professor Ed Byrne last week.

Professor Leon Piterman AM, Pro Vice-Chancellor (Berwick and Peninsula) said the new six-star energy rated facility is keenly sought after by both university and community users.

"Like the hockey pitch built in 2002 which provided a much needed space for the Frankston and Mornington Peninsula hockey clubs, MPARC provides another opportunity for the community to utilise a state-of-the-art facility," Leon said.

The new centre will further enhance the campus' 'Healthy Active Communities' theme by providing specialised teaching and research space as well as consultation rooms for students and staff in a range of disciplines including education, occupational therapy, physiotherapy and sport and outdoor recreation.

"MPARC will also enable the Peninsula campus to expand its offerings in the area of sports science and sports management in the future, making Monash Peninsula a preferred destination for students with ambitions for a career in sport," Leon added.

Director of Monash Sport, Martin Doulton, said Monash University was taking a leap forward on the Peninsula with the new MPARC facility which features a new gymnasium space, a group fitness room, a group cycle studio, plus a two-court multi-purpose stadium with viewing platforms.

"The centre offers services and memberships to Monash University students, staff and the wider community," Martin said. "MPARC will see the launch of an expanded social sport competition, which will lead a dramatically improved set of sporting services and facilities on the Mornington Peninsula. "We are going to leverage the extra court space to relaunch our social sport program on the Peninsula including indoor soccer, mixed and women's netball, badminton and basketball - all open to the public."

Senator Gavin Marshall and Professor Ed Byrne officially open MPARC.

Global Art for Peace

Eleven Monash Peninsula staff have contributed to an international "vision for global peace and goodwill" through art that will soon be exchanged with an art piece from Superior, Wisconsin in the USA.

The Global Art for Peace Project is an international art exchange project encouraging participants to create a work of art using any medium to express their ideas about global peace.

Art technician in the Faculty of Education at Peninsula, Melanie Attard, facilitated the project which culminated in a work of art titled Unity/Freedom/Harmony by Brenda Cotter, Tanya O'Brien, Angela Jensz, Sylvia Almeida, Matt Fishbeck, Elana Welsh, Hilary Monk, Melanie Attard, Corinna Peterken, Marlena Kupczyk, and Chester Greaves.

"We began with a blank stretched canvas, then selected our individual squares and designed our art work on paper," Melanie explained. "We then painted the background colour in acrylic paint before etching our design onto a foam printing plate, using acrylic paint for the transfer to the canvas. Some designs were then added to with markers and paint to bring out detail," Melanie explained.

This project took the group 10, one hour classes between October 2011 and April 2012 to complete, and was created as part of a weekly Art for Wellbeing - "Art Adventures" - class held every Friday.

"The finished piece is an amazing success and the enjoyment felt along the way provided a peaceful space for participants to work and reflect," Melanie said. 

Each artist reflected on the project:

Angela Jensz (Finance HUB) contributed squares 4 & 5. "It has been great to be involved in a project that involves people from different countries and backgrounds. I'm looking forward to seeing how another country views and perceives peace. It will also be interesting seeing different techniques and how colours and images are used and interpreted."

Elena Welsh (tOES) contributed Squares 8 & 14. "I appreciated the time that I spent on the project. It gave me the time and space to reflect on Peace; what it means to me, how I experience peace and how to convey that to others. It was also lovely to watch and interact with other people in that space. The Project also encouraged me to reflect on all the many people who are not able to experience Peace as I can, due to violent conflict, persecution or because of destruction of natural habitat."

Corinna Peterken (Faculty of Education) contibuted square 11. "Natural Environments and organic forms bring a sense of harmony and peace to me, working with others. Watching their progress and contribution gives a sense of community. In our busy lives it is important to take time to connect with a bigger picture and to also go within and feel what is really important. This project has provided a space for that."

The piece is displayed locally in each participant's community before the Global Art Project organizes an international exchange by matching participants, group-to-group and individual-to-individual. The exchange occurs April 23-30 biennially, resulting in thousands of people sending messages of Peace around the world at one time-visions of unity simultaneously encircle the Earth. The Peninsula campus will swop their art work with 'Art-To-Earth' designed by a group of 17 artists in Superior, Wisconsin.

Marlena, Melanie, Brenda, Angela and Corinna with the finished art work.

Melted and Broken Art Exhibition

Students from the Faculty of Education's Studio Arts - Two Dimensional Studies unit will be exhibiting their Semester 1 work from Tuesday 22 May to Tuesday 12th June.

The exhibition will be in the Level 2 Foyer of Building A. Pop in and view the work of our talented Education students. For further information, contact Melanie Attard on extn 44625.

International and local paramedics benefit from our best

Ms Chantal Perera from the Department of Community Emergency Health and Paramedic Practice has recently left for Nepal on an Australian Youth Ambassadors for Development (AYAD) assignment. The AYAD program is an AusAID initiative that will see Chantal  volunteering with Nepal Ambulance Service (NAS) for one year.

"The assignment will implement logistical and technical projects, and impart best practice principles to NAS staff, in order to sustainably increase the efficacy of pre-hospital medical care in Nepal," Chantal explained. "It is an amazing opportunity and I feel really fortunate to be participating."

Two Emergency Health honours students are also contributing to increasing paramedic's body of knowledge through research projects supported by St John Ambulance. Christian Winship and Jason Tosch, both first year Honours students in the Bachelor of Emergency Health (Paramedic) degree, were awarded $5000 each from the inaugural St John Ambulance Australia Research Honours Scholarship to assist their research projects over the next 18 months.

Both projects were deemed to be addressing gaps in current first aid research.

Christian's project is titled: ‘Assessment of the Glasgow Coma Scale: A study examining the accuracy of paramedic undergraduates', while Jason's project is: ‘Rescuer Fatigue in Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation'.

Their supervisor Dr Brett Williams was delighted for both candidates. "These scholarships are a reflection of the quality and capacity of both Christian and Jason and their research proposals," he said. This was reflected in their positive feedback on their research questions and methodologies. It is hoped their studies can be replicated with St John Ambulance Australia in 2013.

Brett added that he was delighted for both students who have also just commenced roles in the industry -- Jason as a paramedic with Ambulance Victoria and Christian with the ACT Ambulance Service.

Sailing to success

We could all take a leaf from Caitlin Davies' book whose motto is: "No excuses, just do it".

Undertaking third year of the double degree in Nursing and Emergency Health (Paramedics) at Peninsula might take up a good amount of time but Caitlin has just braved the elements of the cold Sydney waters to earn 6th overall and First Female in the three-day 2012 Australian University Fleet Racing Championships.

The event was particularly important to Caitlin this year as she was defending her title of First Female.

“I have represented Monash University at this regatta for three years now. I am extremely happy with these results as I was competing against some amazing world class sailors on their home waters, alongside a few international sailors,” Caitlin said.

Caitlin drove the two-day journey along the Australian east coast to the Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club in Pittwater, Sydney. The annual event is open to current university students and alumni.

“This year we had a very strong fleet of 34 boats. I was the only Monash University representative in the 2012 competition but I’m hoping in the future we will have more Monash sailors participating,” Caitlin said.

Caitlin is a member of the Sandringham Yacht Club and trains with their high performance squad three times a week, along with regular gym sessions.

A trip down memory lane

The Peninsula campus has a long and historic past. The first group of students to start at the campus in 1959 were very hands on, making sure that Struan was spic and span.

Sport and Outdoor Recreation students?? Not in 1971 but sport and outdoor activities have always been a big part of campus community.

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