Small steps, big changes: empowerment and inclusiveness needed for older Australians

Older people’s lives are rich and diverse, however, these experiences are often downplayed when they use aged care services. Despite the introduction of Consumer Directed Care, providers may not support older people’s choices and foster their participation and connection to local communities. Furthermore, older people and their allies lack the knowledge and skills to know how to use aged care services to support their connections to their local community.

The transition to more personalised and individualised funding provide significant opportunities for older people, their allies, and services that support them to think and act differently.  Rather than seeing ageing as a deficit, older people and their allies have assets and resources that can be used to change people’s lives. Some recent research projects and community initiatives with and by older people have shared the lived experiences of older people and their allies to challenge ageism and build connections in their local communities.

I explore different initiatives in my opinion piece for Aged Care Insite.