Understanding What It Means To ‘Age Well’ In Australia

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Did you know Australia’s older population is growing? With more older Aussies, it is important we know how to support our population in later life. But, we don’t actually have a clear idea of what it means to “age well”.

So, as part of my PhD project I got insight from older Australians, to find out what ageing well means to them.

The findings showed that having autonomy, so being able to make choices for yourself, and purpose in life, were essential parts of ageing well.

So too are social contentedness and belonging, including having and engaging with community, independence like being able to manage day to day tasks, positive attitudes like enjoyment and appreciation of life, active life involvement including having hobbies and interests, and reasonable and manageable health, like being able to manage health concerns, and being mobile.

Someone who is ageing well, has a good balance of these seven components.

I hope these findings can help to inform policy and practice, so that we can better support Australians to age well.