Let’s talk about our older people!
Have you ever watched something that has a lasting effect on you? That makes you think a little differently. We encountered this when we watched the widely popular ABC program ‘Old peoples home for four year olds’. It really got us thinking more about our elderly patients. How lucky we are to have them, how as a collective we can better support them and support the network around them.
So let’s talk about our older people!
Older people make up a considerable proportion of Australia’s population—in 2017, over 1 in 7 people were aged 65 and over and as the number of older people in Australia continues to grow, optimising their health and wellbeing is increasingly important. It is also an opportunity, as extending a lifetime of good health enables our older people to continue to contribute socially, culturally and economically to the wider community.
This month we are going to dive into some of the issues that affect our older people.
Healthy brain and aging
Healthy ageing involves more than just promoting good physical health. Social and mental wellbeing are also important determinants for a high-quality life into older age. Staying mentally active throughout life can help maintain cognitive functioning, mental wellbeing, and promote independence into older age.
Independence at home
Many older people choose to live at home for as long as possible as there are many benefits that come with maintaining their independence for longer.
Staying connected with family, friends, social groups and community is an important part of keeping healthy and staying independent as they get older.
Setting a routine can help keep up with day-to-day tasks.
Our Gp’s, Nurses and Allied team can work with patients to put in place plans to ensure that our older people can stay at home and live healthy and fulfilling lives for as long as possible.
Palliative Advance care plans.
Palliative care is about maximising quality of life. Palliative care can provide support to families and carers, and assist our older people to live as well as possible for as long as possible - doing the things that matter most to them.
We are really looking forward to sharing these topics with you this month. We hope you enjoy following us on Instagram and Facebook as we look at these, hopefully provide some insight and start some conversations with our older people that will help to better support them.