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- By Casey Costello, Minister of Customs, Seniors
There is much discussion around the health of our older New Zealanders and how we can age well.
In reality, the delivery of health services accounts for only a relatively small percentage of
health outcomes as we age.
Significantly dry warm housing, nutrition, exercise, social connection, and personal safety are equally important contributors to aging well.
On this basis, how we live, how we connect to our neighbours and community, is critically
important.
Franklin is a wonderful place to live because of our strong, connected and engaged
communities. But the challenges faced are very real. The closure of the Franklin Memorial
Hospital is one such challenge.
It is important that we strengthen our local communities in terms of the services that we can provide where it is needed and make sure our funding systems are sustainable.
We also need to recognise the significant contribution of our older Kiwis. This contribution,
often unpaid, keeps our charities, support groups, sports clubs and local services operating
and making our communities the great places they are to live.
New Zealand First understands how important it is to drive for an overarching investment in living strong so that we can age well in the place we choose to live.
As I travel the country, I see great examples of housing, health, social service and community engagement that deliver practical solutions that support aging well initiatives.
I am working to ensure that these initiatives can be more easily adopted and we can deliver more practical solutions.
One such practical solution is New Zealand First’s coalition commitment to making it
possible to build subsidiary dwellings up to 70m2.
This will support multi-generational living, optimising land use and increase housing
security.
In addition to housing, we need to invest more energy in living strong much earlier in life.
Living stronger can include the benefits of exercise to bone health and social engagement;
benefits of nutrition in preventing stroke and diabetes, or even the benefits of knowing more about technology to navigate changing systems to connect with others.
Yes, I will continue to strive to repair and improve our health system and importantly make
sure we strengthen our communities to give the greatest choices in where and how we choose to live as we age.
