Accessibility key as we age

When I have conversations with older persons the topic often turns to matters of accessibility.

One dimension that often relates to both ageing and accessibility seems to be that as we age we may well become less mobile.

This then led me to do a bit of research into mobility in general, and apparently (according to Statistics New Zealand) 22 per cent of people in the Wellington region have some form of impairment.

Mobility was the most common, followed by hearing and agility.

Added to this disabilities are more common in the over 65-year-olds with Pacific peoples seeing the biggest increases.

New Zealand-wide about 24 per cent of us will have a disability, but that increases to 59 per cent for the over 65-year-olds.

Physical limitations are the most common form of disability. Over the whole of New Zealand evidently 1.1 million of us fall into the “disabled” category.

Given the above, it is hardly surprising that my conversations with older people do frequently turn to “accessibility.”

It is often said that as we age we need to keep as fit as we possibly can, but I would add that getting out and about is part of the “keeping fit” process.

So — what might limit older persons when they do get “out and about.” As a person whose mobility has become somewhat impaired I find that the state of our footpaths can be a bit hazardous.

In order to increase my stability I use a pair of “walking poles” — the ones I used to always take with me when I went “tramping” in our backcountry and in our mountains too.

And — yes — I have done many of our “Great Walks” and loved every minute of those walks.

As I have already mentioned, I am now somewhat “mobility impaired” but I’d also add that it isn’t until something happens to bring about this sort of change to our physical capability that we really begin to understand what this implies.

This then brings me to another point — do things once, and do them right. Just for starters, this attitude is very much more “cost effective” and many of us do want to save money.

This is where being “Age Friendly” in our approach to living becomes very relevant — and may I suggest that we can use the World Health Organisation’s ‘Checklist of Essential features of Age Friendly Cities and Communities’ as a useful set of guidelines that will help with this process.