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COUNCIL ON THE AGEING (AUSTRALIA)

Response to Attitude, Life-style and Community Support

discussion paper for the

National Strategy for an Ageing Australia

 

Council on the Ageing (Australia)
Level 2, 3 Bowen Crescent
Melbourne Victoria 3004

Phone: 03 9820 2655
Facsimile: 03 9820 9886

Email: cota@cota.org.au

JANUARY 2001

Contents:

Introduction
1. Promoting positive attitudes to ageing and older Australians
2. Building social capital
3. Supporting the role of older people in families
4. Access to information and information technology
5. Developing a framework for lifelong learning
6. Reinventing retirement
Conclusion

Introduction

Older people are a very diverse group, and like the population at large have a variety of needs and social resources. In terms of the National Strategy for an Ageing Australia, the task ahead is to set in place the frameworks which will assist all older people to achieve a high quality of life. This in itself will have considerable benefits on health and well-being and in turn this will reduce morbidity and the call on health and aged care services.

In its submission to the Healthy Ageing discussion paper of the National Strategy for an Ageing Australia, COTA has already canvassed many issues which are relevant to the terms of reference of the Attitude, Lifestyle and Community Support Discussion Paper.

COTA sees the project in the Attitude, Lifestyle and Community Support Discussion paper engaging a number or components.

There is potentially a vast range of topics that could be included under the umbrella of the attitude, lifestyle and community support theme. Our list is not intended to be comprehensive but rather indicative of issues that are essential to the task of building a National Strategy for an Ageing Australia.

1. Promoting positive attitudes to ageing and older Australians

One of the key tasks in the National Strategy for an Ageing Australia is to identify a way forward in promoting positive attitudes to ageing, the older population in general and older people as individuals. It is important to recognise these three dimensions of the task.

1. Attitudes to ageing

First, the National Strategy needs to promote a more positive outlook on the ageing process itself. COTA considers that in the past, there has been a strong tendency for attitudes to emphasise the deficits and losses of ageing rather than those aspects of ageing that are positive and life-enhancing.

While COTA does not advocate for an unrealistic view of ageing – undeniably, rates of disability and illness do increase with age – we believe that these risk factors need to be set against the positive dimensions of ageing. For most people, ageing is and will be accompanied by reasonably good health and energy levels well into the later years of life and for many people only a gradual decline in capacity over time.

Most people continue to be engaged in community and family life well into old age and continue to be both receivers and givers of care and resources. Moreover, for many people, the later years of life bring new opportunities for pursuing interests, for volunteering and broadening horizons through education and travel. The community needs to receive messages about the myriad of possibilities that can – and do - open up with ageing. Such possibilities should not be open only to those with substantial resources, but should be open to all older people regardless of financial assets.

2. Attitudes to the older population

Second, the National Strategy needs to promote a more positive attitude to the older population as a group and the process of the ageing of the population. It will be tempting for attitudes to evolve predicated on the belief that the older population is a burden on the economy and society and will slow economic growth. It will be critical that such divisive and conflictual attitudes are countered by information about the real effects of ageing of the population.

There is a considerable body of evidence showing that the impending "panic" about the burden of the aged and the effect on the economy is largely unwarranted and that the ageing of the population is well within Australia's capacity to cope without economic or social dislocation. Much of the research also points to the uncertainty of the effects of population ageing on the economy.

For example, the recent Productivity Commission report on long term aged care (Madge 2000) describes the range of offsetting factors that could reduce the demand for aged care services in the future such as reduced rates of disability amongst the older population and higher levels of wealth amongst the aged.

Another example of a plea for a balanced approach in considering the impact of population ageing is made by the Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs, Philip Ruddock, in a recent speech.(Ruddock 2000) He points to the likelihood of Australia achieving a sustainable population future including sustainability in public expenditure and the labour force by 2050 if we are able stabilise the fertility rate at around 1.65 (children born of women of child bearing age) and achieve an annual net overseas migration of around 75,000. He outlines a three point strategy for ensuring that the size of the population and the size of the labour force does not decline:

Paul Johnson (Johnson 1999) speaking to the Productivity Commission/Melbourne Institute 1999 conference on Australia's ageing population makes the point unequivocally that:

much of the alarmist discussion of the consequences (particularly the economic consequences) of population ageing is overblown. It is possible to develop enormously optimistic and enormously pessimistic scenarios; often the difference in projected outcomes depends upon slightly different initial conditions which are magnified by compound growth over three or four decades.

A critical task for the National Strategy for an Ageing Australia will be to educate the community about the impacts of population ageing.

3. Attitudes to older individuals

Third, older people need to be represented as individuals, as diverse as the rest of the community. Stereotypical beliefs about older people need to be replaced with views of older people that are much more closely aligned with the reality of older people's lives.

The older population is an increasingly diverse community in Australia as a result of the great social changes since the 1970s. Such changes have included high rates of divorce, lower rates of marriage and child-bearing, women's increased labour force participation, immigration from widely varied parts of the world, and liberalisation of attitudes towards sexual orientation and lifestyles.

The National Strategy for an Ageing Australia needs to give recognition to the great diversity that will emerge in the future. Older people will have both greatly varied earlier lives and will live in a great diversity of circumstances as they age.

In summary attitudinal change will be critical to managing the challenge of Australia's ageing population in terms of:

Age discrimination issues have been well-documented in the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission report Age Matters (HREOC 1999).

One of the main dimensions of age discrimination is in employment involving the targetting of mature age people in downsizing and retrenchment and the systematic discrimination against older people seeking jobs. In addition, age discrimination in employment can exist by denying access to training to older people and limiting opportunities for promotions. COTA discussed these issues in depth in the response to the Employment for Mature Age Workers Issues Paper.

While age discrimination in employment is the most overt form of discrimination in the Australian community, discrimination against older people can be evident in a range of other areas of life such as access to health care and treatments.

The foundations of age discrimination can be identified in a wide range of cultural practices such as:

While shifting cultural norms and values is very difficult, Government can have an important role in terms of leadership on the issue of age related discrimination in the following:

Forming positive attitudes to ageing and older people is one of the largest challenges for the National Strategy for an Ageing Australia but one that must be at the heart of its policies and programs.

2. Building social capital

COTA concurs with the Discussion paper that building social capital should be key element of the National Strategy in achieving positive ageing for the majority of Australians.

In addition to those elements mentioned in the discussion paper, COTA believes the following are critical.

Community and urban planning

Urban structures need to be developed which maximise the independence and mobility of older people. COTA believes these are important for the well-being of an ageing population.

Older people need to live in communities and urban settings that are sensitive to their needs for access to shops, facilities such as swimming pools, libraries, education and other services. As people grow older and become less mobile their lives become more focussed on their immediate surroundings. Places within walking distance may become more important to them, than those accessible by car or public transport.

In addition, it is important to recognise that rural Australia has an ageing population. Community and urban planning, housing and transport planning need to adapt to local conditions

The nature of housing and transport systems are vital components of the urban planning process as discussed below.

Transport

Transport that is affordable, accessible and structured to meet the travel patterns of seniors can do much to enable involvement and participation, as well as contribute to improvements in quality of life.

Public transport

While driving a private car is an option for some older people, it is not an option for many especially for people in the older age groups. Accessible, affordable and appropriate public transport is needed for older people to ensure that they can take advantage of community facilities and services.

COTA believes that governments should be reinvesting in public transport by developing innovative strategies to meet transport needs at a community level; evaluating ways in which the existing system is meeting these needs; and adjusting it where necessary.

Much better integration and coordination of public transport is required, for example, between, bus and rail services to improve route designs within and across suburbs and in rural areas, and to improve service frequencies and connections.

Good public transport systems in conjunction with a greater emphasis on urban villages and higher density land use could begin to address the problems of social isolation and over-dependence on cars which erode the quality of life of older Australians.

The specific transport needs of older people in rural and regional Australia needs to be considered. Flexible, affordable, and accessible community transport options need to be developed to ensure that the opportunities for older Australians outside the metropolitan areas have opportunities for social opportunities and are able to access the services that they need.

Older drivers

As the Discussion Paper suggests, issues of older drivers are very sensitive. It is COTA's view that lack of flexible, affordable and accessible community transport options means that many older people are loath to give up driving for fear of isolation and lack of mobility.

With population ageing, it will be essential that sensible measures are developed to assist older people in maintaining driving skills, being aware of their limitations as drivers and utilising other transport modes.

Housing

COTA believes that a range of policies and program responses are needed to cover the diversity of housing circumstances and needs of older people. The policy aim should be to provide older people with options which suit their current needs.

The broad divide in terms of need for housing assistance is between people who own a house and those who do not.

It is well established that older people in private rental accommodation are the most disadvantaged amongst older people. However, owner-occupiers also need housing assistance. Some of these needs relate to the low exchange value of their homes, high maintenance costs and barriers to relocation.

The housing circumstances of a person in older age have immense effects on their quality of life and well-being, health status and life expectancy. Therefore housing is a vital consideration in terms of a healthy ageing strategy.

Older people need housing that incorporates a number of elements. COTA's selection of the most important of these are derived from those stated in the Commonwealth-State Housing Agreement and consist of accessibility, affordability, appropriateness, security of tenure and equity. (Industry Commission, 1993, p10). We discuss each of these principles in terms of their application to the housing needs of older people.

Accessibility: For older people accessibility means being able to enter the type of accommodation that is most suitable for their stage of life and physical, social, cultural and psychological needs. It also incorporates the idea of accessibility to the services and amenities, relatives and friends that are important in maintaining the quality of life of older people need and use.

Affordability: The Council on the Ageing considers that a benchmark of 25 per cent of income for housing costs is the most appropriate one for ensuring that older people, who are reliant on the Age Pension and are in public or private rental accommodation, have enough income left over to ensure an adequate standard of living.

Appropriateness: For older people appropriateness embodies a number of concepts:

• physical access especially for people with reduced mobility
• ease of maintenance
• suitability in terms of space, design and amenity of the accommodation
• location and access to friends, family, community and services
• privacy and security

Security of tenure: COTA is of the view that in old age, people should not need to worry about having a roof over their heads. They should be able to feel that they can stay in the one place for as long as they choose or until care needs make independent living impractical. 

Equity: COTA is of the view that there is a hierarchy of need for housing assistance for older people. The highest level of need occurs amongst those who are at risk of homelessness and/or those who are renting privately.

Residential care, retirement villages and ageing in place

COTA believes that as far as possible older people should be assisted to remain in their own homes or, otherwise, familiar communities but in a different form of housing – the concept of ageing in place. While exclusive domains for older people may have some merits, our work in South Australia in the Youth-Seniors project, points to serious problems emerging regarding older people who live only with other older people and are isolated from other age groups in the community.

In the Youth-Seniors Project, the young people involved felt that older people are cut off from the rest of the community by living in retirement villages with walls around them. There are also concerns that older people who live in residential care are not viewed as part of the community. Healthy ageing housing strategies should encourage sharing, co-location and integration between the generations not segregation. This will be even more important as more people find themselves living alone or choosing to.

Diverse communities encourage intergenerational respect and tolerance. Young people eventually grow old and their healthy ageing will depend on the promotion of a positive outlook on older people and the ageing process through continuous contact with older people in their local communities.

Needless to say, for people who eventually must go into residential care, where community care is no longer a viable option, high quality services and high standards are critical.

Social and cultural amenities

Older people need access to social and cultural amenities and participation in the life of the community. It is critical that the "social capital" of the community is developed to ensure that the potential for self-fulfillment and opportunities for active, stimulating engagement for people they age is maximised.

3. Supporting the role of older people in families

There is a much greater need for recognition of the unique role of older people in supporting families.

There are now more grandparents in the world than at any previous time in history. Grandparents are living to see their grandchildren grow into adulthood. Many more are becoming great-grandparents.

With high divorce rates, the extended family becomes an anchorage for both parents and children. With the growth of two-income families, grandparents now provide a significant proportion of child care in Australia. Supporting the role of grandparents is important as a measure to reduce family breakdown.

Families face many challenges including unemployment, sickness or lone-parenting. Support from the extended family, particularly the grandparents, can be invaluable and cost-effective in the long run. Suicide rates have climbed steadily in the past two decades as a result of work and life stress. Again, grandparents can provide stability to the life process.

Parents living in country areas suffer even more than city people from isolation, unemployment, financial difficulties and family stress. They need the support of their extended family.

In all these situations, grandparents have an important role to play in providing emotional security and stability for the extended family, and thus assist in preventing family breakdown.

COTA has argued that more can be done to help grandparents fulfil their roles by establishing a national grandparenting association on the model established by COTA (NSW).

At the same time, there needs to be understanding of the importance of families in maintaining the health and well-being of many older people. It is often family members who will have to find residential care for an ageing relative or assist when arrangements for remaining at home break down.

With increased longevity, care for elders needs to be firmly embedded in the family-friendly policies of workplaces. Other support mechanisms for assisting families in the care of older people need to be developed.

4. Access to information and information technology

In the information age, access to information and information technology will be vitally important in ensuring the social and economic participation of older Australians. The National Strategy for an Ageing Australia needs to develop clear pathways for older people's access to information and information technology. (This section of the report and all references in it is drawn from Scott (1999))

Information needs

Information enables older people, their families and their carers to make choices and remain independent. COTA's experience bears this out. Retirees face complex choices about a new life away from the workforce, whether they are self-funded, older workers who are made redundant, or pensioners. Understanding options for accommodation, services and assistance, and the consequences of choosing one over another, is vital.

However, there can be barriers to older people's access to information as Adamson (1994) notes:

Most of the information older people need is already provided by community or government based information systems and is theoretically publicly accessible. In practice finding it is usually either too time-consuming or too complicated for most people... many do not know the first port of call or even the nature of the assistance they might require".

Professionals like librarians and aged care workers need as much updating as consumers. Realistic information services need to be included as part of community care resources.

COTA's experience suggests that older people:

The following topics are approximately in order of priority according to information service statistics collected by COTAs.

Studies have identified specific gaps in older people's knowledge about aged care services and support. Looking nationally, Purdon (1993) lists respite care, Community Visitors, Domiciliary Care Nursing Benefit, home maintenance schemes, residential care eligibility and costs, Aged Care Assessment Teams, residents' rights and right to appeal against a decision to deny community based services. She notes that in 1993 there was little appreciation of the roles of the Commonwealth and the States in funding services or the existence of an Aged Care Program. This may have changed after the last two years' controversy over Commonwealth legislative changes to nursing home funding and entry charges, about which older people have been vociferous. There is now a federal Aged Care Hotline on 1800 500 853.

Schultz (1993) in South Australia, identifies complaints mechanism for retirement villages, rest homes, elder abuse, access to services (especially HACC), mental health issues, hospice care, public hospitals and counselling. The Seniors Information Service described below was set up to address this.

Older people with disabilities often do not know who/where to ask about furniture, aids and appliances. They sometimes make their own, develop their own routines or chance upon solutions like private services. Independent Living Centre services need wider advertising - frail older people know little about their excellent display, information and advisory services, which have been targeted more at health professionals or younger disabled people (Davison et al. 1993). Davison's study also identifies a need, borne out by COTA information services, for knowledge of where to go for home maintenance services, how to adapt gardens for increasing frailty, and recommends the establishment of council or local registers of reliable trades people.

There is often greater awareness of individual services and organisations that have been around for some time, such as Meals on Wheels, Domcare in SA, Blue Nurses in Queensland; Seniors Cards, health benefits and entitlements, health centre services. Such awareness is often greater in rural than city areas because community networks are better. The Department of Veterans' Affairs is regarded by its clients, as "the Rolls Royce of government departments" for its quick telephone service, clear and relevant publications and seminars.

Computer usage

Contrary to popular belief, seniors do embrace new technologies. More recent retirees have just left workplaces where computers are commonplace. Retirees have more time, and want to understand what their families/grandchildren are doing. Chronological age is often less significant to the utilisation of technology. More important is the presence or lack of technological skills, disability, infirmity and dependency.

Older people are likely to reject technological advances that decrease their opportunity to socialise or that tend to isolate them. They are attracted to products that enhance their capacity for independent living. Flinders University research (Irizarry & Downing 1997) shows that older people welcomed high tech products, including computer-controlled 'smart houses' of the future, but want clearer instructions on how to use them and controls which are easy to read and handle. Easier to use software has eliminated many of the barriers facing older computer users. Attitudes to technology are affected by the perceived benefits of using it, positive past experiences, quality of information about it, training and follow-up, hands-on experience, the extent to which it meets user needs, and users' enjoyment. Marketing potential depends on involving older people in the development process.

On seniors' use of computers and the Internet, the picture is fast-changing and less clear. Australian and European research to date has found that generally older people have negative attitudes towards computers, and very low rates of email or web use. However "recent studies suggest that people over 60 are logging on to the Internet in more numbers than any other demographic" (Gartner Group 1998 p239).

5. Developing a framework for lifelong learning

Lifelong learning aims to provide opportunities for adults throughout the life course to undertake education and skills upgrading. With an ageing population, there is an urgent need for an explicit focus on lifelong learning in Government policy.

Lifelong learning is important both in terms of the employment aspirations of people in their 50s and 60s as well as the lifestyle and participation aspirations of people who no longer wish to be part of the paid workforce.

There are several core reasons to develop a culture of lifelong learning in the context of an ageing population and ageing workforce.

  1. Labour force needs
    The ageing of the population means an ageing workforce. There will be a smaller pool of younger, recently educated people to recruit from, in the future. For this most prosaic of reasons, the skills of mature age people will need to be fostered and enhanced to meet workforce requirements in the future.
  2. Responding to economic and technological change
    The technological environment will continue to undergo profound and rapid change. A culture of lifelong learning will be needed if Australia is to be able to respond to these continuous changes. The costs to Australia of not developing a culture of lifelong learning may be very severe with respect to our rate of economic growth and our competitiveness in the global economy. Over the longer term this translates into a fall in our standard of living, further contributing to poor economic output. This will make it more difficult to manage the challenges of an ageing population.
  3. Maximising social and economic participation
    Opportunities for lifelong learning are also essential to maximise social and economic participation. The Welfare Reference Group identified a growing divide between "job rich" and "job poor" households which translates into households reliant primarily on a low social security income and those able to accumulate resources through paid employment. At the present time around 33 per cent of people between the ages of 50 and 64 are primarily reliant on some form of social security income and 46 per cent are not in paid employment.

    Education is an important conduit into paid employment and is an important form of social participation in its own right. Lifelong learning opportunities therefore can make an important contribution in narrowing the gaps between rich and poor households. This has important effects in terms of social cohesion and equity. An economically polarised society damages the fabric of society creating negative externalities for everyone.

  4. Managing change and complexity
    The 21st century will present a great many challenges across the globe – and in Australia. These challenges cross the environment, the society, family and the economy. The changing demographics are one of these challenges. It will be critical to the management of change and complexity that the society is well-equipped to respond in constructive and cohesive ways. Lifelong learning will empower individuals to develop constructive responses and will assist in nurturing Australia's democratic and peaceful traditions.
  5. Maximising the potential of Australia's older population
    COTA believes that continuing education has considerable beneficial effects for older Australians in maintaining their engagement in society and in terms of maintaining physical and mental health.

    With greatly extended life spans, the need for older people to maintain their engagement in the world around them is more and more important. Lifelong learning will be a critical link in achieving this objective.

Current education policy

Older adults with whom COTA has had contact report the following difficulties in pursuing educational goals:

Developing an Australian lifelong learning policy

Lifelong learning should, at the minimum, encompass the following characteristics:

6. Reinventing retirement

There is a strong expectation in society that if you are in your late fifties or sixties that you should be looking towards your retirement. There is also a persistent stereotype of a working life of some forty or so years followed immediately by a period of non-activity in retirement. It is important to understand how current generations approaching the traditional retirement age feel about these various expectations and stereotypes.

In 1999, COTA undertook focus group research with people in their fifties (Sheen 1999) about their employment and retirement aspirations. Retirement emerged as a redundant concept in the discussions and participants generally disliked the term as it implied a "do-nothing" state.

No-one indicated that they were prepared for retirement – "no such thing as retirement" was the unison message. For some people, especially in their early fifties, retirement was not even remotely in their thinking.

Most envisaged that there would be a flow on from paid employment to some other form of making a contribution to society and ongoing activity. All agreed that retirement should be a gradual evolving process. There was agreement that retirement should be a matter for individual choice dependent on health. Financial considerations were mentioned as being relevant.

The participants felt that we needed to turn around the idea of retirement as a period of non-activity. Retirement should be seen less as a cut off point than it has been in the past.

The groups contradicted the stereotypes and models that currently pertain to retirement. They indicate a disdain for the concept of retirement and wish to see it buried. This does not mean to say that they do not see a tapering off of economic activity but they do see ongoing participation and contribution as being vital to their well-being as they grow older.

With increased longevity, traditional notions of retirement are losing relevance. An individual aged 60 may look forward to another 25 or more years of healthy life. These years should be as meaningful for the individual and society as any other stage of life.

CONCLUSION

The National Strategy for an Ageing Australia needs to carefully conceptualise the issues that will create the framework for older Australians to live full and engaged lives now and in the future. This will mean attention to those issues which have been canvassed in this submission as well as those canvassed in COTA's earlier submissions.

Finally, Australia will need strong leadership in bringing issues of Australia's ageing population to public attention and to promote positive outlooks and mature responses to these issues. The National Strategy for an Ageing Australia presents an opportunity for such leadership.

References

Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (1999) Age Matters: A Discussion Paper on Age Discrimination, HREOC, Sydney

Industry Commission ( 1993) Public housing, Industry Commission, Canberra, AGPS

Johnson, P (19999) Ageing in the twenty-first century: implications for public policy

Madge A (2000) Long term aged care:: expenditure trends and projections, Productvity Commission Staff Research Paper, Canberra

Ruddock, P (2000) A sustainable population future for Australia, Speech to the Australian Population Association Biennial Conference

Scott, H (1999) Seniors in Cyberspace: older people and information, Strategic Ageing 8/1999, Council on the Ageing (Australia), Melbourne

Sheen, V (1999) Older Australians: working for the future, Strategic Ageing 9/99, Council on the Ageing (Australia), Melbourne

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Copyright © 2001 Council on the Ageing. All rights reserved.
Date: 13 March 2001
Revised: 30 October 2001

Council on the Ageing (Australia)
Level 2, 3 Bowen Crescent, Melbourne Vic 3004
Tel (03) 9820 2655 Fax (03) 9820 9886
email cota@cota.org.au