A FOOTSCRAY service provider is urging people to plan for their retirement and beyond to avoid difficult choices as they get older.
Annecto chief executive Estelle Fyffe says Seniors Week (until this Sunday) is a good time for people to start thinking about how they will protect what’s important to them in their senior years.
“Whether these roles are around their relationship, career, interests or sexuality, potentially any person is at the risk of losing control of who they are as they get older.”
Annecto president Dr Stephen Duns says people should seek an advocate who can confidently represent their preferences should the need arise. “A person’s identity can get lost once the need for support arises.”
Resident Maria, who has been with her partner Rhonda for 12 years, says she would like to continue to live in her own home but is aware things might not go to plan.
“It’s not so much the thought of having to seek support or be in supported accommodation as an older person, for example, that worries me. I am very unhappy at the prospect of not being able to live with my partner or not feel safe enough to acknowledge my sexuality.”
