It’s a privilege to age, but you don’t have to become old: podcast

While you can't stop birthdays from happening, you only grow old when you stop learning, Healthy Ageing Professor Laurie Buys from the Australian Catholic University says.

"We start as children and, as we go about our lives, we go through different transitions," she says.

"Older age is just another transition – yes, you might lose some things but you're also bringing new aspects, such as wisdom.

"We need to empower people to pivot so they can build on their strengths and achieve purpose and belonging."

She says there needs to be a conversation within society about balancing dignity and risk for older people in residential aged care.

"We need to allow people to have dignity of risk throughout their whole life so that when people are in aged care, it doesn't become a place that is so confining and so restricted that we remove all of their rights of being an adult."

Join Aged Care Insite in a conversation with Laurie on how aged care homes can promote healthy and active ageing for its residents.

Do you have an idea for a story?
Email [email protected]