The Older people and Living Project (OPAL):

Caroline Howe.
School of Behavioural and Community Health Sciences
Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Sydney

In 2003 unpublished research was conducted in Australia on the experience of ageing. This was a cross generational study that asked people about the experience of ageing and the concept of being ?old?. Very few people wanted to define what ?old? was but what was common to all participants, was that ?old? was a point that would be reached and it was always older than your current age. More importantly, the study highlighted the energy, passion and enthusiasm participants of all ages had for ?living?, something that is often forgotten by governments and policy makers who insist on looking at an ageing population with negativity.

Retiring and getting older is not a fabulous experience for all. Current research does show small trends in people who find retirement a difficult transition. For some people the experience of retiring is distressing and leads them to feel depressed, anxious and stressed. As the population ages we can expect these small percentages to grow and number in the hundreds of thousands of people who do not transition well into retirement. This will have a great impact, not only on government policy but also on the general feelings of well being at a community level.

Retirement was originally a concept bought in by governments to assist in the changing labor market of that time. Retiring is now translated in some countries as an expected event, almost a right of passage. Some people look forward to retiring for many years and plan accordingly, for some the changes that occur during retirement can be unexpected and difficult. Due to changing world demographics and the psychological issues that arise for some people in retirement we need to start asking, is retirement as a concept one that needs to be better thought through?

The OPAL projects current research focus looks firstly at the experience of retirement on an international level. Secondly the research embraces the voice of the participants for the purposes of further research and for the future development of policy and change. The findings will help to determine what health professionals, policy makers and governments can learn from the wisdom of people within our communities. The research results will then be translated into tangible concepts for future policy change in changing the negativity around beliefs about an ageing population.

The Older People and Living project is currently collecting data on the personal experiences of retirement. The internet based survey has been designed to capture an international population from all walks of life and in all rural and regional areas. Data is currently being collected from all around the world for the Older People and Living Project. The richness of the data very much depends on each participant. If you are interested in contributing to the current study then please go to:

http://www2.fhs.usyd.edu.au/arow/opal/

Surveys can also be downloaded and printed from: http://www2.fhs.usyd.edu.au/arow/opal/ and sent directly to the researcher.

The current online studies findings will be presented at various conferences and will contribute to the award of a PhD for Caroline Howe. The OPAL project is dedicated to the concept of ?living?. If we as a human population are ?living longer? then this should be embraced and celebrated. Data will be collected until December 2006. Preliminary findings will be presented at various conferences in November 2006.

For further information participants are welcome to email Caroline Howe at the University of Sydney at c.howe@fhs.usyd.edu.au
Further information is also available at the OPAL website.  http://www2.fhs.usyd.edu.au/arow/opal/