Zest Creative: Living Life was established in 2015 and is based in Mount Barker in the Adelaide Hills of South Australia.
My name is Lia Parsons, and I am a qualified Occupational therapist (OT) and Art Therapist.
With over 25 years’ experience in the aged care sector initially as a nurse and for 16 years as occupational therapist in community health, I understand the opportunities and the challenges for people to age well at home and in the community.
After an enjoyable and successful career as an occupational therapist in Community Health Services I decided it was time for a change. I had a sense that there was more that I could do to support ‘older’ people to age well at home. What drives me is the belief that, ‘engaging in and doing with’ instead of ‘taking over and doing for’ the older person, delivers results and improves wellbeing.
When I ask an older person about their future goals around ageing well, most will say it is their wish to live and die in their own home and they are adamant that they do not want to end up in Residential Care. How can each person achieve this and what support can I provide to enable people to make that wish more realistic?
Ageing should be a positive experience and with the right energy and commitment we can bring about this change. However, it seems reasonable common for people to dodge talking about or thinking about getting older, possible future care needs or to make plans for their ageing future. There is a sense that ‘others’ or the governments will take care of this. Unfortunately, this is not always possible or enough. I believe as individuals and together with our peers and community we can think about, talk about, and make our preparations to ensure we do all we can to age well.
To support this process, I designed and tested in 2018 an ‘Ageing Well in your Community’ conversation series in partnership with The Australian Centre for Social Innovation. Over these last years, this program has been presented in various local South Australian communities.
At the start of the Covid pandemic, when the in-person conversations were not possible, I used the time to write a book: ‘Getting Older – let’s talk about it: a conversation guide to ageing well in your community’ Each chapter in this book is a conversation topic I explore in the face-to-face program.
For details of the ‘Ageing Well in your Community’ program, see under: ‘Ageing Well’ programs.
For details of the book: ‘Getting older – let’s talk about it’, see under Book.