A world where ‘old’ is cool

Imagine a world where “old is cool”. Ray Glickman, chief executive of Western Australian aged care provider, Amana Living, set the scene for Aged & Community Services Australia (ACSA) conference delegates on the Gold Coast last week.

“Welcome to the extraordinary world of ‘Experientia Major’ – an amazing place where people just can’t wait to get old,” Mr Glickman began.

“Imagine this planet where, amazingly enough, old is cool and botox is illegal; where lying for hours on the beach with no sun protection is good and where grey is the new black.”

Mr Glickman’s keynote presentation, where he made continual reference to the fabricated world ‘Experientia Major’, urged delegates to question their “normal thought patterns” about ageing.

“We need to see what’s really important. Research shows older people are happier – and they are for a reason,” he claimed.

“It’s something about their life and experience. In old age, there is a death of ambition; and a birth of acceptance.”

Mr Glickman added older people had often created friendships which have lasted 30 years or more, describing the “great comfort” of knowing someone would always be there for them.

“Older people also know what they like; they don’t have to spend time doing the things they don’t particularly enjoy. They have the freedom and time to do what gives them pleasure,” he said.

According to Mr Glickman, we need to ask ourselves: “Are we missing the point when the aged care sector goes about its normal work?”

“We may be able to figure out a lot of things if we actually focus on making older people – our clients – happy.

“Obviously we talk about quality of care and look at the reports; but we don’t actually talk about whether older people are happy.”

Mr Glickman claimed older people want to be “respected for what they know”.

“How do we create communities and facilities that focus on respect for the wisdom and contribution of older people?”

He encouraged the sector to focus on “what’s happening on the inside” of an older person, rather than their exterior.

“These people already know something so we need to keep offering opportunities to help them contribute to their communities.

“These people are already happier – let’s work with it and use it. We need to talk up and tell our communities that these older people are skilled people and are still important in the life of the community.”