The century club
As life expectancy increases and New Zealand gets ever greyer, Deena Coster looks at what life is like for people who make it into the century club.
With perfectly coiffed hair offset by her dainty lace collar, Lola de la Haye sits in a comfy chair as the sun streams through the window of her small room.
This is her domain, and at 108 she’s living a life longer than she ever imagined.
‘‘My mother would have never thought I’d live to this age,’’ she says.
Her 100 plus 8 years makes her a minor celebrity at the Molly Ryan rest home in New Plymouth where she has been interviewed by her local newspaper every year since she turned 100 and has enough birthday cards from the Queen, the Governor General and the Prime Minister that it’s not unlikely they know her address by heart.
But as far as she is aware there is no secret recipe for her longevity.
‘‘I don’t know, I’ve just gone on and on.’’
The mother-of-two is part of a select club, made up of members who are aged 100 plus. But it’s a group of people that is only going to get bigger over time.
New Zealanders are progressively living longer. And while women are living longer than men, death rates are continuing to decline across all ages and lives are getting longer and longer.
National population projections show life expectancy rates, for some, are expected to hit 96 years by 2068.
At this rate, New Zealand’s population that year would be around 6.4 million. The 65 plus age group would be close to 2 million and those aged 85 or older would number about 600,000.
University of Auckland Professor Ngaire Kerse has researched extensively on the topic of ageing and says more and more people will be celebrating their 100th birthdays and beyond in 50 years time as well.
Of those, half will be living independently, while the other half will be residential care.
Kerse says about 20 to 30 per cent would suffer some type of cognitive or memory problem while mobility, arthritis or cardiovascular issues might also be on their list of ailments.
But the main physical disabilities will be related to the degradation of the senses, in particular hearing and vision, she says.
It’s not all bad news though. On the whole Kerse says research shows quality of life of those living in their 100s tends to be good.
The older people get, the more content they seem to be with their lives, she says.
How happy you are at 100 or beyond depends heavily on the level of support you have around you, either in the form of family or caregivers. A person’s immediate environment therefore becomes increasingly important in their twilight years, Kerse says.
Because of this towns and cities around the country need to do more to become age-friendly, she says, and be ready to embrace the potential dividends on offer through taking a more inclusive approach to its oldest members.
That could start with everyone simply beginning to value the older Who is NZ’s oldest person?
Upper Hutt’s Madeline Anderson celebrated her 111th birthday in early May.
Florence Finch, who died in 2007, is recorded as the longest-living New Zealander after reaching the age of 113 years and 109 days. generations just that little bit more.
In his 2010 doctoral thesis on Ma¯ ori ageing, Dr Will Edwards highlights how tangata whenua are leading the way in that regard.
He says Ma¯ ori have always aspired to age well as evidenced through whakataukı¯, or proverbs, which date back centuries within the culture.
However he says the fact that there is still a gap between Ma¯ ori and non-Ma¯ ori life expectancy rates is unacceptable. As it stands, non-Ma¯ ori outlive Ma¯ ori by about
7.1 years.
Ma¯ ori females live to approximately 77.1 years, when compared to non-Ma¯ ori females at
83.9 years. Ma¯ ori male life expectancy is even lower at 73 years when compared to non-Ma¯ ori men at 80.3 years.
Edwards says a person’s life course is always paramount when you consider their experience of ageing.
Social change and an increasing recognition of the importance of Ma¯ ori culture and language, the growing power of iwi and the possibilities on offer, thanks to treaty settlements, mean Ma¯ ori born in 2018 are likely to have a very different experience to those born 100 years ago, he says.
Edwards hopes they will be thriving, having moved beyond survival mode to becoming active citizens.
Consequently, it should also see Ma¯ ori life expectancy rates continue to increase sharply, with more reaching the age of 100 and beyond.
Capturing the stories and experiences of the nation’s centenarians has been the focus of a soon to be published book by Nelson-based author Renee Hollis. As part of the project, she has interviewed 120 centenarians from all around New Zealand. One of the common factors shared across the group was their desire to keep active, both physically and mentally. She says they try to keep fit, stay positive and ensure they were plugged into what was going on around them.
Hollis says for some, it hadn’t really occurred to them that they were old. ‘‘Some of them said it just kind of crept up on them.’’
But growing older wasn’t without its challenges. Most of their friends had passed away, some had lost their ability to see or hear and others felt they had lost their independence after moving into a rest home, Hollis says.
But on the whole, her interviewees just spoke of getting on with life, a stoic attitude which Hollis, who is in her 30s, says continues to inspire her.
De la Haye’s daily life is certainly not without struggle. While in general good health, her hearing is failing and her sight has deteriorated.
This means she can’t read the newspaper or write anymore.
‘‘That was a big smack,’’ she says.
On the flip side, she only stopped driving at the age of 101 and the year before that she was called up for jury service. ‘‘We had some laughs over that,’’ de la Haye says.
The jury summons was one of the items on display at her 100th birthday celebrations, along with a photograph of her speeding in her car along Mangorei Rd. Snapped by a speed camera, the family decided to get a copy of the photograph.
‘‘There she was, sitting up like the Queen,’’ de la Haye’s daughter Jennifer Wolfe says.
Looking back, the matriarch of the de la Haye family seems to be quietly chuffed with how things have turned out. ‘‘I’ve had quite a good life really.’’
‘‘My mother would have never thought I’d live to this age.’’
Social change and investment made possible with treaty settlement cash means more Ma¯ ori will be thriving, rather than just surviving in 100 years’ time.
Academic Dr Will Edwards, of Taranaki, Nga¯ ruahine, Ta¯ ngahoe, Pakakohi and Nga¯ti Ruanui believed the tide was turning in terms of raising Ma¯ ori life expectancy rates, but also improving the positive ageing experiences of tangata whenua.
He said Ma¯ori had always aspired to age well, which is evidenced through whakataukı¯ or proverb which dated back centuries.
‘‘We see age as a great thing and something to be nurtured, something to be appreciated and something to be celebrated,’’ he said.
But historical traumas related to colonisation, cultural and language suppression through assimilation policies along with a move from rural to urban areas, which broke ties with iwi and hapu¯ , had all directly impacted on the length and quality of Ma¯ ori lives.
‘‘Everything around them was in turmoil,’’ Edwards said.
The flow-on effects ares still being felt as well, Edwards said, with some Ma¯ ori lacking in confidence or ability to fulfil cultural expectations placed on them as they got older, including taking on speaking roles at the marae.
Another sobering statistic is the gap between Ma¯ ori and non-Ma¯ ori life expectancy, which is about seven years. Life expectancy for Ma¯ ori females was 77.1 years, when compared to non-Ma¯ ori females at
83.9 years.
Ma¯ ori male life expectancy sat at
73 years, with non-Ma¯ ori men at 80.3 years.
‘‘And I ask, is that a just society, is that a society we can be proud of?’’
Edwards’ 2010 doctoral thesis, which took an indepth look at Ma¯ ori ageing, highlighted how older members were at the core of Te Ao Ma¯ ori, or the Ma¯ ori world, and were seen as the keepers of value and knowledge.
He argued roles undertaken by kauma¯ tua or kuia maintained the integrity of Ma¯ori society and helped distinguish it from other societies.
Looking to the future, Edwards was hopeful Ma¯ori born in 2018
would be increasingly able to reach their full potential across all spheres.
He said with more people embracing Ma¯ori culture and language, alongside the growing power of iwi and investment opportunities through treaty settlements, it provided a chance for tangata whenua to feel comfortable in their culture and thrive as active citizens.
While Edwards was conscious there was no, one Ma¯ ori reality, he said you cannot divorce social, cultural or economic influences from a person’s experience of ageing.
The factors which help Ma¯ ori age well were universal to everyone, he said.
Good health, financial security, staying connected with family, secure housing and access to supports all assisted to facilitate a positive ageing experience.
For Ma¯ ori, Edwards also pointed out six other principles – kaitiakitanga (caring for environment and people); whanaungatanga (connectedness); taketuku (sharing of values and knowledge); ta¯koha (contributing); takatu¯ (adaptability) and tino rangatiratanga (self determination).
He said everyone in society had a role to play too, in moving away from seeing older people as needy and reliant to appreciating them as taonga (prized treasures).
‘‘You can’t really change the world with a policy, it’s the attitude of a society.’’
‘‘We see age as a great thing and something to be nurtured, something to be appreciated and something to be celebrated.’’ Dr Will Edwards