Promoting Healthy Ageing in Australia

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Promoting Healthy Ageing in Australia
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The team

• Professor Nick Saunders, Working Group Chair,
  NHMRC
• Professor Tony Broe, Prince of Wales Hospital
• Professor Wendy Brown, University of Queensland
• Professor Leon Earle, University of the Sunshine
  Coast
• Professor Bob Gregory, ANU
• Professor Richard Head, CSIRO
• Professor Hal Kendig, University of Sydney
• Professor Stephen Leeder, University of Sydney
• Professor Allan McLean, National Ageing Research
  Institute
• Professor Kerin ODea, Menzies School of Health
  Research
• Mr Ian Yates, COTA National Seniors

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Healthy ageing
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Key messages

• Ageing, an opportunity
• Adverse trends in risk factors
• Never too early, never too late
• Individual and population

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Key messages (contd)

• Healthy choices, easy choices
• Multidisciplinary collaboration
• Major research agenda

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The vision
An additional 10 years of healthy and productive
life expectancy by 2050

• More healthy years
• Increased participation
• Enhanced independence and autonomy

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Maintaining functional capacity
Mid Life
Older Life
Early Life
Age
Functional Capacity

Disability Threshold

Adapted from WHO, 2002
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Reducing heart attack in people with heart disease
Intervention Mediterranean diet Fish Oil Quit
smoking advice Statins Antihypertensives Aspirin
Risk reduction 72 35 32 25 21 18
Relative Cost 290 8240
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Diabetes Prevention Program
40
30
20
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Diet slide
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Australia has great strengths in food science and
nutrition

• New research platforms, biomarkers
• Nutrition and cardiovascular health
• Interventional studies, on older people
  especially
• Novel crops, foods, food technologies

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Physical activity
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Get Australia moving

• Physical activity in older people how much,
  what kind, will they do it?
• Physical activity in the whole population how
  to increase and sustain?

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• Pedometers for motivation
• Media campaign
• Support from health professionals
• Activities with others
• Walkable environments

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Use it or lose it

• Education and mental activity throughout life
  promotes mental capacity

• In early life, brain growth and development
• In adult life, brain growth still occurs
• And even in later life, cognitive training
  improves function

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Maintaining functional capacity
Mid Life
Older Life
Early Life
Age
Functional Capacity

Disability Threshold

Adapted from WHO, 2002
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The built environment

• Ageing at home
• Assistive technologies
• Activity friendly neighbourhoods
• Transport and urban planning

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Social and work environment
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GDP Outlook - Enhanced Older Participation
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Ageing an opportunity

• Participation in work and society
• Longitudinal studies
• Structural incentives (social support, taxation,
  superannuation)

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The vision
An additional 10 years of healthy and
productive life expectancy by 2050
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Ageing well, ageing productively

• Ageing, an opportunity
• Adverse trends in risk factors
• Never too early, never too late
• Individual and population
• Healthy choices, easy choices
• Multidisciplinary collaboration
• Major research agenda

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Physical activity and nutrition

• 1 A national strategy to increase physical
  activity in those aged 45 years and over
• 2 A multidisciplinary program to harness
  Australias strengths in biotechnology,
  biomedical and food sciences and behavioural
  sciences
• Intervention studies of physical activity and
  nutrition to improve health

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Social and built environment

• 3 A multidisciplinary research program to
  explore labour force and family/community
  contributions by older people
• 4 A multisectoral strategy to build a more
  age-friendly environment - planning, design,
  technology

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Enhancing research capacity

• 5 National Network for Healthy Ageing Research
• 6 Australian Longitudinal Study of Older People

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Ageing well, ageing productively