A New Dawn!

Welcome to the second annual edition of the Lifestyle 55 + magazine. The purpose of this innovative magazine is to work with various stakeholders to showcase the best of the Sunshine Coast, disrupt thinking around ageing and help shape the Sunshine Coast as Australia’s most age-friendly community.

One of our great assets on the Sunshine Coast is our over 55 community. They bring a wealth of knowledge, expertise, empathy, emotional intelligence and wisdom -- all of which has been conferred and moulded over the course of time. They are an untapped resource brimming with potential.

Given the largest population increase over the next 20 years will be those over 75 years of age, it is more important than ever that we provide as many opportunities to enable our senior cohort to not just age well, but thrive.

Seniors are playing a very big role in creating solutions for the community, helping us become more engaged and connected than ever before. They are using their years of wisdom and experience to give back to the next generation. We are seeing this through business mentor groups and individuals who, as carers, are opening their homes to provide care in a loving environment instead of people having to go into residential care. This is the type of spirit we need to harness if we are to change the ageing narrative.

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank Danielle MacKenzie (CEO of Sundale), Kendall Morton (Director of Home Care Assistance), Bruce Baynes (Director of Sage Care Advice) and Kirt Jarrott ( Director of Poole & Partners Investment Service) for their support.

I would also like to thank Ian Putzier from Bee Inspired and Tricia Welsh for helping the team put this publication together. Finally, I would like to thank my parents, Yvonne and Theo Lopez, for being a constant source of inspiration, my husband, Sanjay, my daughters, Samaira, Tanisha and Shahira for their love and support.

Resort, Caloundra Cay.

In this edition, we celebrate the power of people, spotlighting individuals playing an instrumental role in shaping our community. We take a look at the next generation of influencers and business mentors making their mark with ground-breaking concepts. Our readers will be introduced to people redefining ageing and thriving through their retirement years. We showcase innovation, new ways of living, staying healthy, active and connected.