Most older Australians aren’t in aged care. Policy blind spots mean they live in communities that aren’t age-friendly

Sun, 13 Nov 2022 19:30:26 +1100

Andrew Pam <xanni [at] glasswings.com.au>

Andrew Pam
<https://theconversation.com/most-older-australians-arent-in-aged-care-policy-blind-spots-mean-they-live-in-communities-that-arent-age-friendly-192591>

"In response to the horror stories of abuse and neglect from the Royal
Commission into Aged Care, the new federal Labor government has made
legislative changes. Prior to this, Australia’s most recent aged-care reforms
were enacted a decade ago. The focus, however, is still largely on residential
care homes, so what about older Australians in the broader community?

More older Australians are still living in their own homes. How do our policies
and cities support them? We have published an analysis comparing 85 policy
documents across all three levels of Australian governments against World
Health Organization (WHO) guidelines on age-friendly cities.

We found these policies reflect outdated views of old age. They neglect many
important aspects that contribute to happy and fulfilling lives in older age.

The policy focus is overwhelmingly on care and support services. There are
decreasing levels of attention to housing, transport, walkability and, least of
all, cultural diversity."

Cheers,
       *** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net               Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/                 Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/            Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/               Manager, Serious Cybernetics

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