Aboriginal ageing
HEALTH INFORMATION
Researching how Australian Aboriginal people age
KOORI GROWING OLD WELL STUDY
What is it that helps one person to age successfully and cause another to develop age-related diseases like dementia? Scientifically, we know too little about normal ageing and what factors influence some people and not others to develop diseases that affect the brain.
Please note, these pages may contain the names and images of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people now deceased.
Only by studying healthy elderly people, as well as those with problems, can we know what normal ageing looks like. We can also learn what activities, lifestyles and other factors are important for staying healthy as we age.
Very little is currently known about how Australian Aboriginal people age. What we do know is that rates of dementia in Aboriginal Australians living in remote and rural areas are up to five times higher than the rest of the Australian population. Almost nothing is known about the prevalence of dementia in urban Aboriginal communities.
Through the Koori Growing Old Well Study we are exploring healthy ageing and cognition in urban Aboriginal communities in New South Wales, in particular looking at how life events affect healthy ageing.
