Abstract:

Recent decades have witnessed the emergence of a 'third age' between retirement (usually in the 60s) and the onset of a disability (typically late 70s) with sharp rises in the life expectancy of people who have already reached 60 years. The Australian and international research suggest that people who are over 70 years of age today commonly lead lives broadly as active as those of 60 year olds in their parents generations. Despite the generally positive outlook for the health of older people, some subgroups (single older men, older people of lower socioeconmic status and older persons from a non-english speaking background) are at high risk for poor outcomes such as depression and social isolation.