In response to horror stories of abuse and neglect of aged care, quality and safety from the Royal Commission, the new Commonwealth Labor Government has made legislative changes. Enacted 10 years ago. But while the focus is still primarily on residential care homes, what about older Australians in the wider community?
Older Australians still live at home. How do our policies and cities support them?We are against the World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines for age-friendly cities across all three levels of the Australian Government. Published an analysis comparing 85 policy documents.
We found that these policies reflected an outdated view of old age. They neglect many important aspects that contribute to a happy and fulfilling life in old age.
The policy focus is overwhelmingly on care and support services. There is a declining level of interest in housing, transportation, walkability and most of all, cultural diversity.
Landscapes can help seniors and people with dementia lead active lives, both professionally and privately. Designwell director her Tara Graham-Cochrane advocates an age-friendly approach to transforming cities. https://t.co/K9Zrcnjwp7#IOTAGardenAU #community pic.twitter.com/LH3micQDHk
— IOTA Australia (@IOTA_Australia) July 22, 2022
WHO Guidance on Building Age-Friendly Cities
WHO first published Age-Friendly Cities in the World: A Guide in 2007 to support the 2002 Proactive Aging Policy Framework. For age-friendly policymaking around the world.
In 2010, WHO launched a global network of age-friendly cities and communities. The network aims to help governments and other organizations build age-friendly cities through evidence-based guidance and knowledge exchange. Australia’s members include two states, 34 local councils and one regional organization.
However, our research found little to no difference between Australian members and non-members in making direct policy references to these guides. South Australia (non-member) policy documents refer to more guidelines than Western Australia (member), as shown in .
There were also disagreements among the government hierarchies. State and territory governments were more likely than federal and local governments to accept such guidance.
A previous study in Canada attributed this to “minimal state powers of local governments.” In Australia, too, our coalition system leaves local councils with limited powers and resources.
An outdated view of old age
In analyzing 85 policy documents, we employed a “traffic light” system to highlight whether they were aware of challenges related to aging and to suggest corresponding actions.
Our analysis focuses on five policy areas:
- care and support services
- cultural diversity
- housing
- shipping
- Ease of walking.
These areas are largely aligned with WHO’s age-friendly areas.
A distorted policy focus is on care and support services. It reflects decades of aged care reform in Australia and adoption at all levels of government. It can also reveal a stereotypical view of old age as a time of frailty, decline, and lack of motivation.
In contrast, many Australian and international movements advocate positive aging. Their approach recognizes the important contributions people make later in life.
Our analysis also reveals a failure to recognize how diverse circumstances affect the aging process. As a result, the widespread support needs of older Australians are being ignored.
This was most evident in the failure of policies to recognize diverse cultural needs. We are almost completely blind to the effects on aging and other social determinants of health.
this is #older people day! #UNIDOP2022
Older people have shown resilience in the face of large-scale crises, which also shows that systemic change is still needed. #healthy aging.
📺 Let’s make the world a better place to age together: https://t.co/Fa9g3CeyO7 pic.twitter.com/fobGdhPukD
— United Nations 10 Years of Healthy Aging (2021-2030) (@UNDecadeAgeing) October 1, 2022
Mismatch of resources and services
In Australia’s three-level government system, each level has its own powers and resource capabilities. A previous Australian study found that local governments have limited capacity to procure the resources needed to design and implement policies and programs for their aging population, as WHO guidance intended. is shown.
Our analysis shows reliance on national programs instead. These may have nuances in addressing local needs and circumstances.
In a related study, our detailed spatial analysis also highlights the mismatch between Australia’s overall aging population growth and where aged care services are provided. This is largely due to unfair eligibility criteria. These effectively favor homeowners living in independent suburban homes over others, such as renters.
The latest proposals to revamp the no longer fit for purpose residential aged care sector must be applauded. Policies should aim to give these residents all the attention and dignity they deserve. However, as the population ages, there is a growing need to provide support in all areas to enable older people to live healthy and fulfilling lives.
Elderly care is not working, but we can create communities that support healthy aging https://t.co/AiXKxHzhcS @ConversationEDU pic.twitter.com/aLdSZjSrsA
—CHASS (@CHASS_Aus) October 29, 2020
People want age-friendly communities
We need to look to more older Australians living in our communities. This is an option our government has long encouraged. And that’s what most people prefer for themselves.
Local governments know their locals and their needs best. However, according to our analysis, they struggle to support the needs of older people in their communities.
Continuing reforms should aim to ensure that local councils have the necessary powers and resources to meet these needs. This will help, to some extent, to better meet the changing needs of Australians. Importantly, it also helps reframe the dialogue about aging from vulnerability and debilitation.
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Please read the original article.
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