Closing the Gap

Words Ingrid Nelson

They say it takes a village to raise a child, but it also takes a village to help create a community where we feel valued and fulfilled as we navigate our transition years, pre-and post-retirement.

Our longer lifespans are allowing us many more years to enjoy the things we have always wanted to do. We have the power to work together within our community and with various stakeholders to disrupt the thinking around ageing and create an innovative environment where people have the freedom to reimagine and embrace their later years.

And, given the largest population increase on the Sunshine Coast over the next 20 years will be those aged 75 and over, it is more important than ever that we work together as a community to create an environment where people don’t just age well but thrive.

According to the World Health Organization, we need to create physical and social environments that promote healthy ageing and a good quality of life for people in old age.

To achieve this, eight age- friendly domains need to be addressed. They include housing, social participation, transport, outdoor spaces and building, communication and information, community support and health service, diversity and culture, civic participation and engagement.

We invited leaders on the Sunshine Coast to share their thoughts on how well we as a community are performing against these domains. Knowing our weakness and strengths is the first step toward making the Sunshine Coast the most age friendly region in Australia.

Joining us for a Leaders at Lunch at Market Bistro Maroochydore was Liberal National Party Member for Queensland, Ted O’Brien; owner and Director of Home Care Assistance, Kendall Moreton; Maroochydore Chamber of Commerce board member, Mathew Walker; Director of Poole and Partners Investment Services, Kirk Jarrott; Clinical and Social Gerontologist Tanya Dave; Director of Sage Care Advice, Bruce Baynes; CEO of COTA Queensland, Mark Tucker-Evans; and Dr Amanda Clacy from Vitality Village and Be Community and Aged Care.

Ted O’Brien - Liberal National Party Member, Queensland

Civic participation is a real concern of mine. In the early 2000s people complained that only 18 per cent of the community got involved in civic participation, and it’s now only about nine per cent. However, it’s one of the relative strengths on the Sunshine Coast, particularly for seniors including the men with whom I have had a lot to do through the Men’s Sheds in the region. Given the onset of COVID-19, a lot of the church networks have become less available, which has impacted seniors and it’s more important than ever they stay connected. This can be difficult for older people the more digital we get, and I’m excited about how we can improve that. The more we can empower local communities to wrap support around each other saves people falling through the cracks. My greatest fear is that breakdown. Empowering people locally to strengthen the bonds and help each other out and have a voice, that is pretty powerful stuff. There is something in the DNA culturally in our region that allows people to help each other. If I had a magic wand, I would love to take away the anxiety that a senior citizen feels when they need to reach out for basic advice. Whether it’s waiting to get through to Centrelink, or receiving a bill they don’t understand, or their computer crashes, and they don’t know how to fix it, anxiety about COVID -19… I would love to be able to eradicate that. But we don’t have to try and solve all problems at once.

One step at a time usually works best, and here’s one that we can all do: each of us can pick up the phone and ring a loved one or an old friend with whom we haven’t spoken for some time, and simply say “Hello”. At the end of the day, we all need each other and the smallest of gestures can mean a great deal.

Mark Tucker-Evans - CEO, COTA

One of the areas we are concerned about is ageism. Unfortunately, it is still alive and well within all of our communities Australia-wide and world-wide. It’s one of the least sexy “isms” but unfortunately, it is still prevalent. Ageism is a great opportunity for us as a society to respond to.

Older workers are not recognised in many industries, and I believe people are still being encouraged to retire earlier than they should, given that we are living much longer. When the pension first came about you were lucky to reach 65. These days, we are living 20 years past that, so how do we ensure we are in fact looking at that and planning our longevity? We need to look at ageing as a life-long adventure.

Kendall Moreton - Director of Home Care Assistance

We are starting to see the effects of unaffordable housing for older people -- it’s very expensive to live here. We are seeing people in their 80’s move back into a share house situation, which is less than ideal. I believe the Sunshine Coast has amazing opportunities for older people to access and participate in. A lot of volunteer groups will even pick them up and drop them home. I think we are very strong on community connection. However, I think we need to get all stakeholders and policy makers on the same page about quality of life as we age and what is important to our seniors.

Kirk Jarrott - Director of Poole and Partners Investment Service

Over the years we have seen our clients move through various stages in life. The financial implications of these stages can be challenging and also rewarding if the right steps are taken early in life’s journey. This is an area we need to address. The old adage of saving 10 per cent of your income is about right when it comes down to affording retirement living. The more you save for retirement the more options you have.

On the Sunshine Coast we are fortunate to have so many lifestyle options in the aged care/retirement space. For people to enjoy these lifestyle options they need to have an income source. For many, planning for the financial side of retirement can be confusing. We are fortunate to have quality advisers who can assist with aged care planning and retirement strategies. From our perspective, we like to keep financial affairs as simple as possible and break down the complex array of financial terms and calculations into simple examples that everyone can understand.

Mathew Walker - Maroochydore Chamber Of Commerce

In my previous role as community and wellbeing manager in the aged care sector, I witnessed a great deal of isolation and people ending up living in squalor. We had one instance where someone who was isolated passed away on Friday and no one was made aware until Monday.

Another challenge is unemployment. We are seeing an increase in the number of people aged 55-64 unable to find work. COVID has made it hard for many. We need to create employment pathways and provide support. Having leaders come together like this, is important. We need to set goals each year and collaborate to address them.

Tanya Dave - Gerontologist, IAgeWell

On the Sunshine Coast our seniors are very active and community orientated. I have come across many examples where members have seen an issue and created a solution not just for themselves but for others. Our 2019 award recipients are great examples of that. Shirley who has Parkinson’s disease saw the need for a Parkinson’s support group in Caloundra so, with the help of her husband, they created it. The same goes for Vince and Lorrae who established Carers Outlook. Vince’s wife had dementia and he was her carer. He saw first-hand how difficult the journey was for a carer. When his wife passed away he, along with Lorrae, set up Carers Outlook. Today their work has helped so many people on the coast. Niether Shirley nor Vince was given any funding to start these engagement platforms. They did it out of love. These are just some of many. We need to give a platform to our senior community. With their support we can tackle isolation, improve civic participation and improve communication. COTA had a great peer educator program of which I was part and it worked so well. Areas we need to look at urgently is social housing. Older people with chronic health issues living among people who are abusive is not good at all. The stories I hear can be quite confronting and attempts to move them from this situation have fallen on deaf years. The system is under enormous pressure.

Dr Amanda Clacy - Vitality Village and Be

The biggest issue we see is access to service. In some areas, there is a shortage of care staff which impedes our ability to deliver care. In other areas, there is a demand for services but no funding available to deliver it. It certainly is a challenge at the moment. At Be we choose to look beyond how things are, to how much better they can be. We provide a range of services designed to support older people to remain living in their own home and support their independence and social connections within the community. Vitality Village is a joint partnership project of Be’s and private investors. Partnerships and collaboration are at the heart of Vitality Village. Vitality Village came from a desire to create solutions to some of our communities’ biggest health and wellbeing challenges. As the saying goes, ‘a problem shared is a problem halved’, and that’s where you come in! We’re creating an environment for our tenants or ‘Villagers’ to identify and deliver significant improvements to health care, through collaboration between health providers, innovators, researchers and the community.

Bruce Baynes - Director of Sage Care Advice

Regarding residential aged care, I did a lot of research to see what was available throughout the Sunshine Coast region and discovered there is far more choice of care facilities than any other region I have found in Australia. Within 20 kilometres of our business premises in Maroochydore, there are 40 residential aged care facilities alone. That tells me there is a real need for them on the Sunshine Coast. That is not surprising given that people over 65 years of age make up one quarter of the population. In terms of improvement, I would love to see an aged care dedicated hotline for Services Australia (formerly Centrelink), to help older people navigate the system. Transportation is another concern on the coast. We are building all this new infrastructure with limited parking available, and we need more transport options, especially for the elderly. I love the idea of what Sundale is doing to support women. We need to start addressing that more. Connection is so important too. I am part of the Healthy Ageing Partnership on the Sunshine Coast. We held a morning tea recently which was so well received. We need more of that. Communication in this digital age is another issue. I have enough trouble with my iPhone, and I just turned 60. Imagine trying to make an application online or scan documents required, for someone who is older. It needs to be addressed! If I could give a message to the elderly, it would be that aged care is affordable to everyone.