On Thursday the public lecture posed the question 'How can we age without getting old?’ to author Renata Singer and John Richards Centre researchers Irene Blackberry and Rachel Winterton.

Ms Singer, who interviewed 28 women aged between 85 and 102 for her book Older and Bolder, said a major challenge was in breaking down social constructs around ageing.

“The women I interviewed exploded the idea of the traditional grandma,” she said.

“One of them was the oldest person in Australia to get a PhD, she was 93 and it was on economic history at Sydney University.

“Her son was asked what they thought of her, and he said ‘We just can’t wait to see what she does next’.”

Ms Singer said older people had to “consciously throw out” stereotypes of their generation, though there were also barriers in superannuation and other laws.​

“One of the women had been volunteering at an op-shop but when she turned 90, she wasn’t allowed to be there alone,” she said.

“There’s a lot of bureaucracy that comes in that is well-meant, but it really puts up barriers against older people’s participation.”

Dr Blackberry said her PhD collecting information from 800 people across four countries found staying connected, keeping active and eating a plant-based diet were all supportive of healthy ageing.

“We talk about telehealth and technology – not everyone can come to a peer-support group, at the end of the day it’s about giving people more options to stay connected,” she said.

Dr Winterton said it was important to balance the old and the new.

“We need to be careful of a society routing everything that way,” she said.

“Living in a rural community where post offices and banks are closing, you’re running into people less, and we crave interaction.”

The differences for women and men ageing were also discussed, with women facing challenges in equality but dealing better with change.

“There’s certainly some evidence that men deal more poorly with loss, and struggle more with retirement, as they tend to do so abruptly without doing any planning,” Dr Winterton said. 

They importance of preparing for the later years of life came up regularly.

Dr Blackberry said the movement around advanced care planning was growing.

“I know it sounds negative thinking about your own death, but it is important to have that discussion – start early and think about how you want to life the rest of your life,” she said.

Ms Singer encouraged the audience to write their own rules.

“We have 30 more years now, it’s an incredible amount of time,” she said.

“There’s going to be more people over 65 than anybody else in the whole of this country.

“We’re living longer, we vote, we have to use our power.”