By Rachel Curry
“As the baby boomers age, I think they will drive a different attitude to ageing.”
Despite living in a society that cherishes youth above all else, Dr Chris McGowan is optimistic about getting older.
The Catholic father-of-three is the CEO of Silver Chain, one of the largest providers of health and aged care in the country, and said the experience had helped him form a positive outlook of the years to come.
“One of my favourite sayings is, ‘I’m looking forward to getting old; I’d much rather that than the alternative’,” he said with a smile.
All joking aside, Dr McGowan is passionate about valuing the contributions of older people, something which has been brought to the forefront of Catholic thinking with the release of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference’s 2016-2017 Social Justice Statement, A Place at the Table: Social Justice in an Ageing Society.
The statement, which is available to download from the Australian Catholic Social Justice Council website, highlights the ageing of our population, which will see the number of Australians aged 65 and over more than double to 8.9 million, by the middle of the century.
Rightfully described as ‘the great success story of human development’, the lengthening of our lives also presents a threefold challenge, the Bishops state in the document.
They call on Australians to work for an inclusive society that brings older people into the community; to ensure the dignity and care of people who are frail and most vulnerable to neglect or abuse; and to foster solidarity among all generations, recognising the special affinity that exists between young and old.
Reflecting on the statement, Dr McGowan said he could not deny the problems raised by the bishops, such as homelessness, unemployment, elder abuse, limited retirement savings – especially for women – and the social and economic disadvantage faced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples.
However, he said there was also reason to hope for a better future for older Australians.
“I think there’s a very deep ageist culture in our society. I think it will change though,” he said.
“As the baby boomers age, I think they will drive a different attitude to ageing: about the way we treat them, the way they want to be seen. It’s going to be very, very interesting.”
The baby boomers’ status as a large, highly educated and wealthy demographic means they will be able to make demands as they age, Dr McGowan said, and be taken seriously by government.
He also believes technology, such as driverless cars and video conferencing, will play a big role in the coming decades in keeping older people connected to and participating in their communities.
“I’m not worried about ageing in general in the future, but what this document does and it’s very important, is recognise there’s a group of people who, as they age, are disadvantaged – who won’t have the wealth, who aren’t necessarily strong advocates for their own welfare, who might not have housing. This will leave them very vulnerable in terms of their accommodation,” he said.
“We need to make sure that they’re cared for and the large body of voting, empowered, engaged baby boomers don’t turn away from the needs of the vulnerable few, who will be in this group.”
Dr McGowan’s passion for ensuring no one gets left behind as society changes is something that stems from his Catholic upbringing.
The son of strong practising Catholics, it was almost inevitable that he would spend time in a seminary, which he did for a year when he was 20.
He decided not to continue on the path to become a priest, but the experience undoubtedly had an impact on him.
“While I didn’t want to carry on with a religious life, it did set my mind that I wanted to spend my life doing something more than making money for stockholders,” he said.
“For me, the thing that Jesus said that is most important to me was that you don’t exist for your physical, temporal needs. Contributing to a world that relieves suffering, builds happiness and builds humanity is what we’ve been called to do.”
Dr McGowan carries out that ethos in his daily work for Silver Chain, and in particular through the organisation’s efforts to grant the wish of the majority of people facing a predictable death – such as patients in the advanced stages of cancer – to die at home.
This commitment has led to a 70 per cent rate of people with predictable deaths dying at home in Western Australia, compared to 15 or 20 per cent in the rest of the country.
Ultimately, whether it’s in providing palliative care or helping people manage various health conditions, Dr McGowan said the best thing about his work at Silver Chain was interacting with the people they serve.
“They’re pretty much invariably fantastic people whom it’s a privilege to care for. And I get to live a life where I’m doing something that’s really meaningful,” he said.
From pages 18 and 19 from Issue 5: ‘Christmas 2016 – Looking forward to the Birth of Christ & Reflecting back on the Year 2016?’ of The Record Magazine