What is Modern Ageing?

Community members at the launch of the Global Centre for Modern Ageing.

Modern ageing is a worldwide movement which recognises the welcome phenomenon of people living longer and shatters the myths about older people being out of touch and incompetent.

It is a new narrative which says people have the opportunity - and the right - to live purposeful and productive lives on their own terms.

Thanks to the breakthroughs in medicine and science people are living far longer. But modern ageing says our lives should not only be longer. Our lives should be fuller and better.

In modern ageing, rather than working until retirement and then becoming “old”, our lives will play out in phases.

Each phase creates a new and different opportunity to contribute to society in a meaningful way - through work, learning, enterprise, leadership and community. The shape and direction of each phase will be determined by the individual on their own terms.

Historically, older people were respected, looked up to as the elders in the community, as the holders of wisdom and the sharers of knowledge and skills.

Somewhere along the way, we seem to have lost that framework where older people were valued as much as they should be and knew that they belonged and were respected.

Instead, too often, older people have become portrayed as out-of-touch, less important or less useful.

This has caused many in our community to feel marginalised. Modern ageing shatters this narrative.

Modern ageing is all about an inclusive future, a future that engages people throughout the whole of their lives. Essentially, Modern Ageing creates a series of phases of life.

Modern ageing challenges the so-called “burden” of ageing and reinvigorates people to live longer, healthier and happier lives while bringing benefits to communities and economies globally.