Healthy, wealthy and wise

An interactive forum presents sensible options for seniors to lead a happy life

There comes a time for all of us, when decisions have to be made. None more so than as one ages, the relative stability of man y years of working life starts co come to an end, a nd the future has to be considered The body sta rrs to fail, fu1a nces n eed to last, l iving requirements may have co be altered and suppo r t mechanisms need to be sought out. Sometimes it can aJJ appear to be too much! Even though we think we know everything, it often help s for the mind to be refres hed wi th all that i s currently availab le. We need to be e ncouraged, coaxed and nudged in the right direction so we can find tl1e o ptimwn so lution for ou r needs It is in this context that, with the aid of a very welcome grant from the Government of South Ausa-ali a, the Seniors Group of the lndian Australian Association of Sout h Australia (IA.ASA) organised a Well-Being Festival for Indilln seniors of Adelaide recently

The plan for d1e day was to have aging related topics presented by experts, wid1 tl1e opporrunity for members to make comments and pose questions. To avo id the 'all work and no play' adage, the programme was spiced up with suitable breaks, n ice khaa na and time co mingle and socialise

After a n introduction by the IAASA President Dr Surendra Agrawal, the first presentation was by Associate Professor Renuka Visvanathan, Direcror of the

Aged Care Division at Queen E lizabetll Hospital. Sbe suggested mat seniors should tr y to maintain a liiesryle char would keep them healthy and ind epend e nt for as Jong as poss ib le. This inclu ded keeping socially active, eating well and caking exercise. The aim of the age-care professional was to intervene earl)' enough to keep olde r people h ealthy, and to reduce and delay the need fo r res idential aged care. The need of keeping t he bodr and mind ac tive was stressed Jvfosc people a re well aware of the loss of bo ne mass and witb measures of dealing with dus, bur the issue of muscle loss (sacrope1ua) seem s to be Jess well known For vegetari ans d1is is a cause of greater conc ern as meir diet tends to lack protein , whic h is the base requirement i n build ing m uscle. It's a common misconception diat lentils and nuts alone can compensate fo r not eatin g meat as a source of protein Dr Visvanathan suggested mat vegetarian s need to think of taking a supplement sud, as 'protein whey' to maintain muscle mass. The aim s hould be to build up resen7es i.n order co coLmteract d1e inevitability of the aging process She also warned against unexplained weigbt loss and the need to maintain weight in advanced years

1 ow that the bod)' had been catered to, it was time to cons ider the nund. Dr Asha C Arasu i s a Psychiatrist, also at Queen Elizabeth Hospital. The s tate of me nund is so often over looked and its importance to overall well-being is not sufficiently considered. I liked her simple, but powerful quotations: successful old age may lie not so much in our stars and genes, as in ounelves.

You can add life to your years, instead ofjust years to your l!(e. The world looks different at different times in a person's life. At twenty we worry about what others think of us. At forty we don't care what others think ofus.

At sixty we cliscover they haven't been thinking about us at all".

We were g iven very c lear explanations about depression, dementia, Alzheimers and Parkinson's diseases. [nteresti11gly, Dr Arasu mentioned chat typicall y patien ts rend to seel, medical advice for Parkinson's disease at the onset of tremors. Yet such tremors are usually pr ece ded by a gene r al slowing dow n , and investigations sho uld ideally be cornrnenced at this earlier stage. Ocher states of the nuod that can arise include confusion, loss of memor y, changes in person ality, sorrow and anxie ty.

A common theme for both doctors was the importance of maintaining a relationship wi d1 a general practitioner to ens Ltre mar a crcle of routine health checks are in place, and to discuss any special i ssues d1at may be troubling tbe mind. As D r Arasu observed that i.n old age one needs co accept life as it is and make the best of it, rather than pi n in g fo r what might h ave been and wondering how things might have mrned our if a different c ourse of action had been taken. Sounds easy, but I suspect we ate all a lirde guilty of these negative choughrs now and again

Th e next speaker was Mr Bob O rmo nd from the Department of Human Ser vices at Cen crelink

Ir is a mark of a cmly developed and caring society when the government is prepared to take responsibility in providing assi st,rnce for d1e needs of its people. Mr Ormond talked on topics of relevance to us, mainly about the Aged Pension, criteria fo r e ligibili ty and respon s ibilities of the recipients. These are complic ated areas, but to have them explained si mply and have tl1e offer for further d etailed consideration of individual circwnscances was much appreciated.

A logical patl1 was being fo!Jowe d in the p resentatio n s as our next speal,er Mr Val Py lype n.ko from the Seniors' Information Servic e of the State Government o f South Australia expl ained th e accommodation options available to seniors and the aged Broadly, d1ere are rnree types - retirement v illages, e n try contribution accommodatio n and serviced apartments, each with its own set of implications for independence and finance.

Las tly, 'l\fr Ramana R ao of Metaplanners t alked to us from d1e point of view of a financial planner. Presented wid1 the saying chat 'mo ney can't buy you happiness,' he went on to exp lain that at least m oney should be able to provide for comfort and security.

It i s a lways difficult to judge wheclier such a clay bas been a success. Had we been nudged in d1e r ight direction? Were some of our d oubts c larified? Were we made to feel more confid ent to do something positive fo r our wel fare? If the answer to any of d1ese questions is 'yes' then I, for one, would clairn the Well -Being Festival to have served its pLtrpose.