How prepared do you feel for the later years of life?
When it comes to ageing, is your glass half full or half empty? And how has that affected your preparedness for later life?
Key points
- National Seniors has published a new research report about older people's preparedness for ageing and later life.
- The report showed people who feel there are positive aspects to ageing are 340% more likely to feel prepared for it.
- People's comments about ageing preparedness suggest older people need three kinds of support to prepare: structural change, good information, and emotional resilience.
New research from National Seniors has shown positive or negative attitudes to ageing are strongly associated with feeling prepared or unprepared for it.
Age, wealth and health also play a role.
The report is based on data from the 10th National Seniors Social Survey (NSSS-10), conducted in February 2022.
It asked more than 3,400 people aged 50 and over who reside in Australia how prepared they feel for the process of ageing, and if they feel there are positives to it or have concerns about it.
Just over two-thirds of survey respondents (68%) said they felt somewhat or very prepared for ageing. Around half the remainder felt somewhat or very unprepared, and half were neutral, feeling neither prepared nor unprepared.
Three in five people (62%) said they feel there are positive aspects to ageing but around the same number had concerns about ageing (57%).
Strikingly, people who felt there are positives were 340% more likely to feel prepared for ageing.
Conversely, people with concerns about ageing were 60% more likely to feel unprepared or neutral.
Feeling prepared for ageing was also more prevalent among older people and wealthier people, while those reporting poor health were nearly 30% less likely to feel prepared.
The survey invited respondents to write a comment elaborating on their preparedness for ageing and over 1,200 did so.
The research team read the comments with the goal of identifying overarching themes, or “domains of preparedness”, across respondents’ views and experiences.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the three most mentioned domains were preparing for changes in health and body abilities, preparing accommodation, and preparing finances.
Digging down deeper, within each domain the research team compiled a list of common “life-scripts” expressed by multiple commenters. The life-scripts represent particular narratives, experiences and/or attitudes related to preparedness within the domain.
For example, the two most prevalent life-scripts in the health domain were:
I knew ageing would happen, but my health decline is debilitating, and I dislike and fear it (expressed one way or another in 86 comments).
I know ageing is likely but I’m keeping active, fit and healthy as long as possible (82 comments).
The research team identified 28 life-scripts in total, and overlaid each onto the commenters’ indicated level of preparedness (e.g., very prepared, somewhat unprepared, etc).
More than half the life-scripts showed a clear pattern one way or the other – either being associated with increasing preparedness or with decreasing preparedness.
The most common life-scripts associated with increasing preparedness were:
I know ageing is likely but I’m keeping active, fit and healthy as long as possible.
We can’t avoid ageing but I’m preparing aspects of my life to cope with it.
I have renovated/downsized/moved to make ageing at home easier.
I worked hard to have enough money, I feel financially secure.
The most common life-scripts associated with decreasing preparedness were:
I knew ageing would happen, but my health decline is debilitating, and I dislike and fear it.
I was not prepared for the sudden declines or shock changes that occurred in my life.
Something is blocking access to the assistance I need to age at home.
I am renting and it is a source of worry.
Money is a worry, having enough is a concern for me, hard to plan without money.
Another life-script showed a clear pattern of association with uncertainty, of feeling neither prepared nor unprepared:
Health is key to good ageing so bad health is a big future fear, but it’s hard to plan for.
Taken together, the 28 life-scripts suggest older people in Australia need three kinds of support to feel able to prepare for ageing and later life:
Structural change. Some respondents cannot prepare adequately because a structural aspect of their life won’t allow them to, for example, they are renting or have insufficient money. Housing security, income security and quality care are essential enablers for later life planning.
Good information. Having access to quality knowledge and information about ageing preparedness is also essential so that people know what to expect from their ageing bodies, what changes they may need to consider to their lifestyles as they age, and how to negotiate social support systems in later life.
- Emotional resilience. The comments make it clear that fear of future health shocks, finance shocks, dependency or decline can incapacitate people, preventing them from taking steps to prepare for later life. It may be that some would benefit from psychological and emotional assistance to challenge their negative expectations of ageing and rewrite their own later life narrative.
To find out more, download the report here.
