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Increasing life expectancy has been one of the greatest successes of the modern era, but do the additional years of life mean extra years of morbidity and disability for older people? Is there evidence for interventions to prevent disability and maintain wellbeing to very high age?

In a public lecture at UWA on Tuesday 11 August, visiting scholar Professor Kaisu Pitkälä, MD, a specialist in geriatrics, will describe some examples of successful evidence based interventions that have improved wellbeing among older people

“Wellbeing and quality of life (QOL) consists of several dimensions. Besides health and disability, wellbeing includes cognitive functioning, psychological well-being, social activity, and having a good social network, meaningful roles and autonomy, material wellbeing and a safe environment,” notes Professor Pitkälä.

Her talk will discuss issues related to older people’s wellbeing, how it has developed over the last decades and how it can be influenced and improved.

Professor Pitkälä is a Professor of General Practice at the University of Helsinki and Chief physician at the Helsinki University Central Hospital. She previously held the roles of president of the Finnish Geriatrics Society, vice president of the Finnish Gerontological Society and vice president of the European Academy for Medicine of Ageing Society.

Professor Pitkälä is a 2015 IAS Short Stay Visiting Fellow. Her visit to UWA is supported by the Institute of Advanced Studies , the General Practice unit in the UWA School of Primary, Aboriginal and Rural Health Care (SPARHC), and the Western Australian Centre for Health & Ageing .

WHAT: Public lecture ‘Ageing and Wellbeing’

WHEN: 6pm, Tuesday 11 August 2015

VENUE: Theatre Auditorium, The University Club of Western Australia

COST: Free, but RSVP essential.

BOOKINGS: www.ias.uwa.edu.au/lectures/pitkala

Media references

Audrey Barton (Marketing and Communications Officer, UWA IAS)  (+61 8) 6488 4797