Factors in producing a healthy old age

Speech given at the Flinders University School of Medicine 14th July, 1986 by Adam Graycar, Commissioner for the Ageing. This speech is made available under the CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/The population is ageing slowly and the implications of this for social security and health and social service provision have caused alarm in some government circles. Most of the "young-old" are of an age where people are usually physically healthy and mentally alert. Their main problems relate to adjusting to retirement, and in most cases the associated income reduction. Income maintenance and preventive health services are of great importance. 35 per cent of people over 65 are over 75, the "old-old", and thus are of an age where most people need more than average levels of support from the community. In addition to economic and social dependencies, physical limitations and disabilities become part of the lives of many people