Promoting Healthy Ageing in Australia Report

Prime Minister's Science, Engineering and Innovation Council (PMSEIC )
Details available at the PMSEIC web site.

This paper presents a vision for an additional 10 years of healthy and productive life expectancy by 2050. Research evidence indicates that there are effective actions that can be taken to enable people to live longer in good health, staying mentally and physically active and able to participate and enjoy life until they die at an advanced old age. The report also outlines a research agenda that would provide information to assist in achieving this vision.

SUMMARY OF RECOMMENDATIONS (see report for full summary)

Physical Activity

1a) That a national strategy be developed aimed at increasing levels of physical activity among older Australians, so that the health, social and economic benefits of physical activity are made available to all older Australians.

1b) That the national strategy be informed by well-designed intervention studies to examine the effectiveness of strategies to increase physical activity among people over 45 years, with a view to wider implementation of effective strategies.

Nutrition

2) That a major multi-disciplinary and multi-agency initiative be established to harness Australia's strengths in biotechnology, biomedical research, food sciences and behavioural sciences.

Work and the Social Environment

3) That a multi-disciplinary collaborative research program (involving economics, social and behavioural sciences, and health sciences) be established to explore the determinants of labour force participation and community and family contributions by older people, to build an evidence base to inform policy and practices that seek to increase participation and productivity.

The Built Environment

4) That a multi-disciplinary strategy be developed, to build a more age friendly built environment, supporting innovation in planning, design and technology to assist older Australians to maintain their independence at home with good quality of life.

A National Network for Healthy Ageing Research

5) That a National Network for Healthy Ageing Research be established, in order to: recommend priorities for the research agenda in healthy ageing, taking into account the discovery, translational and technology agendas identified in this report;

• facilitate collaboration between researchers from various disciplines; and
• develop strategies to consult with and disseminate findings to the policy, services, advocacy, industry, and education sectors.

Longitudinal Studies of Healthy and Productive Ageing

6a) That an Australian Longitudinal Study of Older People (ALSOP) be established

6b) That the NHMRC, ARC and relevant Government Departments develop a process for on-going funding of longitudinal studies of ageing, so that maximum value is obtained from the effort in establishing and maintaining new and existing cohorts.