Your bones continuously renew themselves by breaking down and rebuilding bone tissue throughout your life, but as you get older, more bone is broken down than is rebuilt. That means, that as you get older, your bones naturally become weaker and less dense. As they get weaker over time, bones may get damaged or break even from small injuries, such as a minor fall.

Bone health is impacted by the foods you eat, medical conditions and the medicines you take.

You can improve bone health by:

• Eating healthy foods and keeping active

• Including weight-bearing exercises into your daily routines

• reducing or stopping smoking

• drinking alcohol in moderation

• getting enough vitamin D from sunlight and calcium from food sources

Government Subsidised Aged Care Services

Are you wondering if you can get some help with day-to-day tasks around the house? Maybe you need some respite care while your family or carer is away? Or perhaps it’s time to look into aged care homes. There are many services that can help you maintain a good quality of life as you get older.

The first stage is to find out if you are eligible for subsidised aged care. This involves a two-part assessment process that understands your needs and what services could help you. It starts with a simple eligibility check which you can do online or over the phone followed by an in-person assessment.

You may be eligible if you have: 

• noticed a change in what you can do or remember

• been diagnosed with a medical condition or reduced mobility

• experienced a change in family care arrangements, or

• experienced a recent fall or hospital admission.

The Australian Government manages the assessment process through My Aged Care, an online portal which provides a range of information about the types of care, the assessment process and an eligibility check.