01/01/2026
Professor Kathy Eagar is Adjunct Professor in the Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of New South Wales and Adjunct Professor in the Faculty of Health, Queensland University of Technology. Professor Eagar has undertaken extensive work in the aged care system over the last two decades.
Following is an excerpt from one of her articles:
How we can develop a system to live with purpose and stay longer at home
Year by year the numbers of the aged increase. By 2050, 25 % of Australians will be 65 and older with the proportion of young people declining.
Whichever way the figures are structured, there are at least 3.5 million Australians over the age of 65 today, who do not access age care services and do not live in retirement villages; they live in their homes. What are their secrets? How could they be assisted in their determination to stay at home?
The large majority of the over-65s are managing in ways not yet known in any systematic study of “older” people. We need to know their living conditions, how they feed themselves, what are their health issues, how they use their time; do they work, volunteer, babysit? Who are their social contacts? Do they live in an age-friendly community? How do they move around? Do they feel safe? What is their life satisfaction? What help do they need? What are their concerns? Could they share their homes with a young person in exchange for practical help with cooking, shopping and getting to appointments? Would they tolerate an unfamiliar “carer” coming into their homes or being segregated in aged care accommodation?
Importantly, is there a dark world to be discovered where people are not managing at all?
From available relevant data we know the following. Forty-two percent still have face-to-face contact with family or friends and 93% say they can expect support in times of crisis. Many have children and grandchildren, and the lucky ones have daughters, but this is changing. Fewer children are being born; Australia’s replacement rate is now 1.5. Twenty six percent of households today are people living alone. The problem of isolation, feelings of loneliness and despair reported by the old and the young is growing and is a cause of social instability. This is the number one issue yet to be resolved in ageing policy.
Not much of the data available paints a picture of “dependency” or cause for alarm, but we need to break down the so-called “old” age group and look at those over 75 years and over 80 years separately to refine any sensible policy on ageing in Australia.
In an ideal world, we would structure lively intergenerational communities where the young and the old live alongside one another, where the experience of one generation can meet the needs of another through activities of mutual benefit, reducing the separation and isolation of older generations from youth, and changing community attitudes towards the whole process of ageing.
One model is home-sharing, an international movement which goes under the name of HANZA in Australia. This is an arrangement where two or more people share a living space. Typically, a householder offers accommodation at a low cost in exchange for companionship and support. This support may include assistance with chores, some cooking, social interaction, or simply providing a presence and company.
Don and I had our own private home share arrangement for two years. Piet was a final year engineering student and our grand-daughter’s boyfriend who lived with us at no cost to him. He would cook 3-4 times a week, do odd jobs and sometimes drive us to appointments. During those years, Piet completed his degree and applied successfully to a university in Belgium to do a PhD. We were able to help mentor him and refine his applications. He was good company, and we shared many thoughts about changes in society. If the right match can be found it is an ideal solution for some who have the space and the means.
Most of the aged, as well as needing social interaction, need help with technology to open up their world and help them take charge of their lives. We were middle-aged at the time tech boomed, and many have never learnt how to use a computer, email, order groceries online, do banking online, deal with all services — water, gas, electricity (finding the best rate) — deal with taxes, telephone, even hospital admission online.
Almost everything that needs to be done is now online with no friendly voice to be found there to help. It’s an alien world for many older people who are disadvantaged and hopelessly frustrated without the skills needed to live. Grandchildren are the go-to experts, if you have them, but they will be fewer in future as well.
The young are digital natives. They could be the mentors. If they would help an older person to master technology it would build competence, instil independence, reduce their isolation and give them control of their lives. As mentors, the young volunteers would derive great personal satisfaction as well. Idealistic? Maybe. But I have seen challenging things done when there is a will.
It would not be difficult to implement a national service-learning program or community-based education scheme involving hands-on community work with academic learning and reflection, through the school system, fostering civic responsibility in students – a program to bring the generations together in the interest of the old and the young.
Technical competence for the older group would facilitate their social interaction, help keep them in touch with friends and family, motivate activity and provide access to the range of entertainment and information now available.
We know from Time Use surveys that older people spend more time watching TV and less time using digital devices. That will, of course, change as digital natives join the elderly. Meanwhile, the viewing and listening options for this older audience are limited. This group could be taught how to use the remote, their mobile phones, how to access music and podcasts and take advantage of the wealth of material available that they don’t know about, but now have the time to listen to.
The older group averages the same 1.4 hours per day as younger people on exercise, sports and walking, but close to 70% do little or no outdoor activity, a vital contributor to health and well-being. This inactive lifestyle could be addressed through digital access to appropriate exercise programs already available, and cross-generational friendships could motivate activity for both groups.
There are already some programs addressing intergenerational and friendship connections. The program “I Wish I’d Asked” is a story-telling project aimed at preserving history, which also helped combat loneliness and depression by fostering conversations and skill-sharing between older residents in aged care facilities and secondary school students. It was set up in November 2017 by Eva Gruen and Danny Finley in Shepparton, Victoria, assisted by Rotary.
One of the interesting things which came out of this project was some boys finding the experience of making friends with an older person satisfying to the point where they thought they would consider working in age care. If we could bring young men into the caring services, it would be a bonus all round and fill a gap in the employment sector.
We know boys are falling behind in education. More girls are completing schooling at a higher level, getting more places in universities than boys, and going after the highly paid professional jobs. They are also dominating in the care sector which is the biggest driver of employment growth because it is labour-intensive. Men face no formal barriers to working in care, and many do, but deep-seated gender norms and social factors have slowed such a change. We need to correct the balance.
What if the tech companies, as part of their responsibility to the people they now exploit, decided to provide the internet, a computer and smartphone or watch, to all those over 70? They would learn a lot about this demographic and their needs of value for marketing purposes.
There is a program underway called Healthy@Home, developed by the NSW Smart Sensing Network, aimed at keeping ageing citizens healthy at home, out of hospital and aged care facilities by integrating sensor technology, alerts, telehealth and care models. They plan to help people and their carers take advantage of technology, checking on their well-being and looking into robotic solutions, such as robotic pets to help counter loneliness. AI will undoubtedly be employed.
Facilitating friendships, social contact and support systems is the single most important intervention needed now to live our post-working years productively. Potential solutions could assist the old and the young with their problems of isolation and loneliness. The government has an essential role to play here and should be bringing together thinkers and innovators across the disciplines, with technology companies, to rethink ageing for modern community life. Australia could be a leader in this field.
P.S. I would take a bet that the many experienced retirees who are writing for Pearls and Irritations and sharing their thinking, will likely live longer because of this engaging process.
From Age policy is a shambles. Where to from here? Part 1 & 2 | Pearls and Irritations.
Wherever you look, at residential aged care institutions, at retirement village life, at the home support package scheme, or talk to the people over 65 — called the old — living at home making no claim on the system, just coping by whatever means they can, this stage of life means grappling with...
