practical living
6 Invest in your wardrobe , good health and wellbeing . 7 Talk like a modern elder and resist the downsize chatter . 8 Get some financial advice so you can pay for your new good life . 9 Be health literate and act on it , without boring your friends to death . 10 And only then , find a provider who wants to deliver care on your terms .
These modern elders told us you don ’ t have to do all of this … but you do have to do some . We ’ ve been surprised to find how many modern elders aren ’ t doing any . And even if you ’ re not into thriving , but still want a good life , you would be wise to do some as protection against the unrelenting societal attack on modern elders : you will get separated from what matters to you . You will get put with lots of people who have lots wrong with them , and then get treated like you ’ re one of them . You will get made to wait for everything , including your own demise . You will be surrounded by messages and images that that make you believe that you are incapacitated , incompetent and of little value . You will be deprived and neglected , and even abused .
So , the first step to landing good frail lives will need to come from modern elders themselves , then down the track use this collectively to pressure governments and providers to honour their belief in the market providing you with what you want . Our sense is waiting for providers to move first might be a long time coming .
In fact , we asked aged care providers what they used as a definition for a good frail life so that they knew if they were being effective in their work . Generally , they use a combination of demand for their services , quality of the care ( not life ), numbers of lifestyle programs and client satisfaction / experience surveys . Criteria that rate quite well , win awards and are used with glowing prose and magnificent photos to demonstrate publicly that the mission of the provider has been well met .
Yet a stroll through any residential care facility , a day on the road with a home carer , or even a Meals on Wheels volunteer delivering to modern elders who aren ’ t clients of aged care suggests that providers might have got it seriously wrong . What we mostly see is very low levels of clients doing , participating , joying , even when ‘ care ’ is good , staff attentive and buildings grand . We know that research reports high isolation , depression and loneliness regardless of where modern elders live . Modern elders report substantial life-losses that they think are avoidable .
We were surprised that we couldn ’ t find anywhere a working definition of what a good frail life might be . We wondered who of community , government , providers , modern elders actually know what it is , or are we all being hoodwinked by what we have turned it into .
We extracted out of the top 10 tips for being a modern elder a ‘ working definition ’ of a good frail life . There needs to be some quality ( both in content and amount ) about : ∞ What you do . ∞ Who you spend time with . ∞ Where you live and other places you spend time .
“ Waiting for providers to move
first might be a long time coming .
∞ The messages conveyed about you , and that there is good care and nurturing that sits behind this and renders it possible .
Seems like the sort of criteria we would all use . The right amount of domestic and purposeful activity , leisure and growth . Families , friends , and those who care for and nurture us , people with common interests , co-workers , advocates . Places we love to live in and spend time in . Messages about us that open doors , create opportunity and make us feel good . The right service at the right time . The only difference for frail modern elders is that they want larger amounts of care and nurturing integrated into their good lives , backed by the new breed of compensating technologies .
But when we measured aged care using this working definition it revealed that clients don ’ t do much , spend most time with people who can ’ t meet their needs in institutional spaces that abolish roles and are never uplifting , and are surrounded with messages that clearly indicate you are not up to much .
The message for providers is that modern elders don ’ t want to be extracted out of their lifestyles and familiarities and have it replaced with
The Truman Show . Just give us care that lets our lifestyle continue , they say . Have a look at the six things important to modern elders in the ‘ Co-designing Aged Care in Strathalbyn ’ report – home not an institution , social connectedness , meaning and purpose , choice and control , valuing people , transitions . Care doesn ’ t actually rate a mention . It ’ s not something they aspire to . For modern elders , care is an important given but sits behind the way they want to live . Modern elders aren ’ t entirely aligned here with their families who favour good care over good lives – an unfortunate choice that aged care forces them into .
What really surprised us was what we found when we designed services using the working definition for a number of frail modern elders , some with varying degrees of dementia . It actually wasn ’ t hard to design these services . And they spelt out with surprising clarity where current aged care services are helpful and unhelpful . This would be as good a place as any to start the design of future aged care .
So , what would we have to do so that turning 81 transforms into this ‘ modern elder age-stage ’ we all want ? It ’ s not that complicated . Imagine ( with your friends , family and new affinity group ) your good frail life using the working definition . Get yourself ready by having some fun doing the modern elder top 10 tips . Write an advance life directive ( ALD ) that shapes the life you want to live and sign up your ‘ substitute ( take no prisoners ) lifestyle makers ’. Sell your ALD to a savvy provider who wants to get in front of the pack , and send your ALD to the Government so they might finally work out what you want and start procuring for it .
And have a cool 81st . ■
Mike Rungie is a member of a number of boards and committees including ACFA , Every Age Counts , Global Centre for Modern Ageing and GAP Productive Ageing Committee .
agedcareinsite . com . au 23