news
COTA seeks fulltime longevity minister
Productivity, age discrimination among issues for official to address.
Seniors advocate COTA Australia has called on the Coalition to match Labor’ s promise to appoint a new minister of ageing and longevity if the party forms government following the next federal election.
Ian Yates, chief executive of COTA, said a dedicated minister was needed to oversee the issues that will arise from Australia’ s increasingly older population.
“ By 2031, almost 1 in 5 Australians will be older than 65, as we
live longer and are healthier than ever before. It’ s an incredible achievement,” Yates said.“ A dedicated minister for ageing and longevity will help us remove barriers to increased productivity and economic growth from an older population, including policies that will tackle age discrimination and keep older people working through their 50s and 60s, and well into their 70s, if they choose to, make the most of the experience and knowledge of older Australians, and meet the challenges that ageing will present to our health and aged-care systems.
“ A minister for ageing and longevity will perhaps finally help government seriously address vital issues such as a comprehensive and equitable retirement incomes policy, affordable and appropriate housing policy and planning for livable age-friendly communities.”
Federal Labor announced its intention to“ appoint a dedicated minister for ageing and longevity to oversee a whole-of-government approach to longevity policy” in a paper titled Growing Together: Labor’ s Agenda for Tackling Inequality. The document outlines how a Labor government would consider reinstating a fulltime age-disability discrimination commissioner, implement a set of policies to improve employment and education conditions for carers, and strengthen and secure retirement incomes, among many other things.
Meanwhile, COTA is calling on older Australians to sign up for its 2016 election panel.“ You can participate in a national survey; a local focus group discussion; and other actions as the election approaches,” COTA said. n
Study finds cancer patients who spend their final days outside of hospital live longer.
Home until the end
Cancer patients choosing to die at home tend to live longer than those who die in hospital, a study has found.
Oncologists shouldn’ t hesitate to refer patients for home palliative care simply because less medical treatment may be provided, say the authors of the Japanese study published in the journal Cancer.
“ Dying in the preferred place is one of the most important factors for a good death,” they stated.“ More than half of all people would prefer to be cared for and die at home, and the quality of death and dying is actually superior at home versus a hospital.”
But dying at home is not often achieved in many countries or happens only at a late stage of the disease, for reasons including a concern that the quality of medical treatment will be inferior and that survival might be shortened.
The researchers analysed 1582 patients receiving hospital-based palliative care and 487 receiving home-based palliative care.
They found patients who died at home had a survival time similar to or longer than those of patients who died in hospital, even after adjusting for clinical and other factors. For people with a prognosis of days, the median survival time for those at home was 13 days, compared with nine in hospital. For people those with a prognosis of weeks, the figures were 36 and 29 days, respectively.
There was no significant difference for those with a prognosis of months – 59 versus 62 days.
“ Patients, families and clinicians should be reassured that good home hospice care does not shorten patient life, and even may achieve longer survival,” researcher Dr Jun Hamano said. n
4 agedcareinsite. com. au