industry & policy
Ita Buttrose believes getting older is not the end of
the world but a time to embrace life to the fullest.
Ita Buttrose interviewed by Dallas Bastian
T
wenty years ago, Ita Buttrose would have described
herself as a rarity for speaking publicly about getting older.
Buttrose says the messages about ageing were grim back
then. Now, she says, that has changed and she no longer feels
quite so rare.
“I think there’s a bit more awareness now that getting older is
not the end of the world,” Buttrose says. “If you heed the messages
about health and you think really seriously about how you want
to spend your older years, then you can feel quite confident that
there’s lots of things you can do to have a fantastic life.”
To mark our 100th edition, Aged Care Insite sits down with
Buttrose who, as well as being a patron of the Macular Disease
Foundation and an emeritus director of Arthritis Australia,
continues to raise awareness about living with dementia as national
ambassador for Alzheimer’s Australia.
Here, Buttrose discusses the ways in which perceptions of ageing
and dementia have changed in the years since she first started
lending her voice to the issues older adults face and how the
milestones have shaped aged care in Australia.
ACI: From 2008 when you joined Alzheimer’s Australia to
now, what do you think have been the biggest milestones or
developments in regard to dementia care in Australia?
The
living
trend
IB: I think the biggest change is there is more awareness about
d