464 1
For just over a decade, he’s been hitting the gym regularly, sometimes six days a week.

‘Big deal,’ I hear you say. Plenty of people do that.

But how many of them are 77 years old and taking part in one of the most intense forms of exercise around – CrossFit?]]> https://www.ageconcernauckland.org.nz/media/website_posts/464/Screenshot-2026-08-06-165653.png url https://www.stuff.co.nz/health/361010103/fred-smashes-crossfit-six-days-week-fred-also-77-dont-call-him-inspiration 2026-08-06 04:52:52 463 1 From RNZ: An advocate for older people says recent cold temperatures combined with the cost of power and other goods have produced a crisis point, with many people forced to choose between food and heating.

Age Concern Canterbury chief executive Greta Bond told Morning Report older people on fixed incomes were having to make real choices every day about whether they will be warm or fed.

"Every week we're encountering people who are really struggling. Renters are in a particularly precarious position because they may be spending 60 or 70 percent of their pension on rent.

"It's actually a real crisis for people. I don't think people really understand or like to think that we have older people who are actively living in poverty in our country," Bond said.

Many people were resorting to spending most of their day in bed with negative consequences.

"They might get up ]]> https://www.ageconcernauckland.org.nz/media/website_posts/463/Screenshot-2026-08-06-164829.png url https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/weather/891605/older-kiwis-choosing-between-starving-or-heating-as-price-increases-bite 2026-08-06 04:49:56 462 1  From the Herald: Loneliness is common in seniors, and its grip on those feeling it can lead to declining health and elder abuse. Rafaella Melo reports for her The Years Ahead series.

When Mary’s* husband died, the support was everywhere.

Friends checked in, family rallied around. Meals were brought around, phone calls came in, comfort was offered.

But as the weeks turned into months, life slowly returned to normal for everyone elset.]]> https://www.ageconcernauckland.org.nz/media/website_posts/462/Screenshot-2026-08-05-183533.png url https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/the-years-ahead-when-home-becomes-too-quiet/GSDGRABY4JAUJMYLO5LBZQHDDA/ 2026-08-05 06:41:31 461 27 "poop walk." While the name might raise a smile, the idea behind it is backed by health experts. A short, gentle walk after eating can support digestion, help regulate blood sugar and contribute to your overall wellbeing.

The good news is that you don't need to walk far or fast. Just 10 minutes at a comfortable pace after a meal could make a meaningful difference, particularly as we get older. ]]> https://www.ageconcernauckland.org.nz/media/website_posts/461/blog-10-minute-walk.png page https://www.ageconcernauckland.org.nz/blog/could-a-10-minute-walk-after-dinner-improve-your-health/ 2026-08-03 04:50:54 460 1 From Psychology today:

Key points

  • AI “grief bots” trained on the dead person’s data promise to let mourners keep the conversation going.
  • Continuing bonds theory holds that carrying the dead within us is healthy—but the carrying is work.
  • Healing from loss and the business model point in opposite directions.
  • Outsourcing remembrance to an app risks the same fate as outsourcing navigation: the capacity fades.


I think of my mother every day. She’s there when I cook the food she used to cook for me, when I smell the flowers she loved, and when I face a tough decision at work. Her voice arrives unbidden, in moments of both strain and joy, and sometimes it feels like we talk more than we did when she was alive.

Psychologists have a name for this. They call it continuing bonds theory—the idea that a healthy relationship with someone we’ve lost doesn’t end at death. We continue to carry the dead with us after their passing: in memory, in ritual, in the inner dialogue that never quite stops. According to continuing bonds theory, this is a healthy and even necessary part of the grief process. ]]> https://www.ageconcernauckland.org.nz/media/website_posts/460/Screenshot-2026-08-03-150954.png url https://www.psychologytoday.com/nz/blog/code-conscience/202607/dont-let-ai-speak-for-the-dead 2026-08-03 03:12:49 459 1 From RNZ



"Groceries, power and petrol, which I guess are all the obvious ones."

He said he had other income streams as well as receiving NZ Super, which meant his household was more able to absorb the increases, but he could see why many could not. "I was really aware when doing supermarket shopping recently how much things had risen in cost."

He said, if his circumstances were different, he probably would have been looking to return to the workforce – if he could find a job.

Data from Stats NZ this week showed he isn't the only one feeling the pressure. Superannuitant households had the highest annual inflation rate of any household type, up 4.5% over a year, compared to 3.7% for beneficiaries and 3.2% for all households.

Westpac chief economist Kelly Eckhold said electricity, up 12%, and rates up 8.8%, were big drivers of the increase for pensioner households. Petrol was also a factor. ]]> https://www.ageconcernauckland.org.nz/media/website_posts/459/Screenshot-2026-07-31-110229.png url https://www.1news.co.nz/2026/07/30/why-pensioner-households-experienced-the-fastest-inflation/ 2026-07-30 23:08:57 458 1
Research shows that those who exercise regularly are less likely to succumb to premature death, and reduce their risk of developing conditions such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease, osteoporosis and mental health disorders. They’re also more likely to be able to keep doing the things they love - from hiking and hefting heavy objects to gardening and playing with the grandkids - for longer.

Sport physiologist and AUT professor Andrew Kilding helps debunk some of the most common myths surrounding exercise and ageing.]]> https://www.ageconcernauckland.org.nz/media/website_posts/458/Screenshot-2026-07-30-150318.png url https://www.stuff.co.nz/health/361011606/sports-professor-five-biggest-myths-about-exercise-and-ageing 2026-07-30 03:06:19 457 1 From RNZ: *Correction: This story has been updated to clarify comments by the minister

The government is set to make clear the future of residence options for parents of migrant New Zealanders.

The review of parent category resident visas was due to report back earlier this year.

A spokesperson for immigration minister Erica Stanford said an announcement was expected by the end of next month.

Any changes are expected to centre around the ballot system which picks who can apply for the visas, which are capped at 2500 a year.

Latest INZ figures showed 12,000 people had submitted an expression of interest in the previous two years and about half of them were couples.

Critics say the 'lucky draw' process is unfair for those who have waited many years to bring their parents to New Zealand, and want applications dealt with chronologically.

Some also want changes to income requirements for family sponsors, who are New Zealand citizens or residents, which is currently set to support one parent ($109,200 a year) and at least $145,600 a year for two.

It reopened in 2022 under new rules and the visa now costs $5810.]]> https://www.ageconcernauckland.org.nz/media/website_posts/457/Screenshot-2026-07-28-134612.png url https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/politics/773561/new-residence-rules-for-migrants-parents-around-the-corner 2026-07-28 01:47:50 456 1 From Scoop: Probus responds to WHO dementia prevention report, calling on older New Zealanders to act now

As the World Health Organization releases new guidelines identifying social isolation as one of the leading modifiable risk factors for dementia, one of New Zealand’s largest social network for retirees and semi-retirees is calling the findings a wake-up call – and a clear call to action.

Probus in New Zealand, which brings thousands of members together across the country, says the WHO report reinforces what it has known for 50 years: staying socially connected isn’t a nice-to-have in retirement. It’s a health imperative. ]]> https://www.ageconcernauckland.org.nz/media/website_posts/456/Screenshot-2026-07-28-124722.png url https://community.scoop.co.nz/2026/07/social-connection-reduces-dementia-risk-and-thousands-of-new-zealanders-are-already-doing-something-about-it/ 2026-07-28 00:50:44 455 1 Age Concern Auckland says older people are facing impossible choices as the surging cost of living crisis continues to bite.

Annual inflation had risen to 4.1 percent, the highest level in more than two years.

Power prices were up 12 percent annually and rates increased by 8.8 percent.

Age Concern Auckland's chief executive Kevin Lamb said a lot of older people were existing on superannuation alone.

"These latest increases, and particularly at this time of year, when they're having to make those awful decisions of whether or not to heat their home or go and buy groceries, they are now living almost beyond their means where they simply can't make ends meet," he said.

Lamb said that, in the past year, Age Concern Auckland had seen a 20 to 30 percent increase in calls for help.

"We're dealing with potentially vulnerable older people who don't have support networks around them, they don't have a family to support them, they're living in loneliness and isolation," he said. ]]> https://www.ageconcernauckland.org.nz/media/website_posts/455/Screenshot-2026-07-23-175206.png url https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/business/763333/older-people-facing-impossible-choices-as-cost-of-living-continues-to-bite 2026-07-23 05:54:01 454 1 This from BBC: Sir Anthony Hopkins will release his first album next month featuring a collection of classical pieces he has worked on for six decades.

The Oscar-winning actor said he had been composing music "all my life", and that "music was my first desire, my first wish".

The first single from the 88-year-old's album, titled Life Is A Dream, was released on Friday, and was inspired by his childhood memories of Margam in south Wales.

The Port Talbot-born star, who won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his role as Hannibal Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs, has written his own music since childhood, and began playing the piano at the age of four. ]]> https://www.ageconcernauckland.org.nz/media/website_posts/454/Screenshot-2026-07-13-094802.png url https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cn4d5kg05d1o 2026-07-12 21:56:23 453 1
Astronomer Galileo Galilei, often called the “father of modern science”, completed his final masterpiece on the laws of motion while nearly blind, under house arrest and over 70.

Swimmer Diana Nyad swam 177km from Cuba to Florida when she was 64, after failing multiple times earlier in life.

Painter Joseph Turner produced some of his most ground-breaking and enduring works in his 60s.

If beauty is in the eye of the beholder, then new research shows healthy ageing could be in the mind.]]> https://www.ageconcernauckland.org.nz/media/website_posts/453/Screenshot-2026-07-09-170031.png url https://www.nzherald.co.nz/lifestyle/yale-study-finds-many-over-65s-grow-stronger-and-sharper-with-age/455BO2SBIZCRDA7JFI3HRJTOL4/ 2026-07-09 05:05:33 452 1 From one news: Les Mills, four-time Olympian, Commonwealth Games gold medallist, former Auckland mayor and founder of a fitness empire, has died. He was 91.

In a statement posted to Instagram, the Mills family confirmed his death, describing him as "an absolute legend" and "a Kiwi icon who blazed a trail in sport, business, politics and life".

"He laid the foundations for a movement that has inspired millions around the world to fall in love with fitness – a legacy that lives on in every workout."

Leslie Roy Mills MBE, CNZM was born in Auckland on November 1, 1934. The death of his father led him to find solace in fitness and he grew into an athlete that would represent New Zealand on the world stage for more than a decade. ]]> https://www.ageconcernauckland.org.nz/media/website_posts/452/Screenshot-2026-07-03-154430.png url https://www.1news.co.nz/2026/06/29/les-mills-former-auckland-mayor-and-fitness-pioneer-dies-at-91/ 2026-07-03 03:45:39 451 1 https://www.ageconcernauckland.org.nz/media/website_posts/451/Screenshot-2026-07-03-154133.png url https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/morningreport/audio/2019039746/age-concern-southland-trials-virtual-reality-headsets 2026-07-03 03:42:14 450 1

  • Today's woman aged 60-70 refuses to treat the next few decades as a slow fade rather than one of more freedom.
  • The change in us is more a shift than a vibe. Few of us planned any of it. We just never got the memo.
  • Confidence and visibility aren't things we are willing to surrender when we turn 60.

    • ]]>     https://www.ageconcernauckland.org.nz/media/website_posts/450/Screenshot-2026-06-25-091017.png url https://www.psychologytoday.com/nz/blog/raging-with-grace/202606/boomer-women-are-changing-the-time-worn-aging-script 2026-06-24 23:19:47     449 1 From Newsroom: I turn 84 today. Maybe that’s why I find myself thinking of the decision made by Maurice Gee, who published no adult fiction for his last 16 years. He stopped, as deliberately and absolutely as that.

    I also think of Harry Orsman, lexicographer, authority on English as spoken in New Zild, and one of my university tutors at what was then Victoria University of Wellington. Harry was talking to us one afternoon about Chaucer’s language and sources. He mentioned his own tutor, from the late 1940s it would have been. I can’t recall the guy’s name. But I do remember Harry pausing, smiling affectionately, and saying ”There’s not much left of him now, except a pair of bright blue eyes. But he’s still writing.” I knew instantly that I wouldn’t – couldn’t – forget that tribute.

    So there you are. One author who stopped; one who couldn’t. Pause here, to contemplate which category each of us may slip into. I know authors who stopped because they couldn’t face another rejection; others whose health or other outside-world circumstances meant they couldn’t keep going. I sympathise with them all. ]]>     https://www.ageconcernauckland.org.nz/media/website_posts/449/Screenshot-2026-06-25-090346.png url https://newsroom.co.nz/2026/06/24/mr-hill-84-today-contemplates-the-end-of-writing/ 2026-06-24 21:05:24     448 1 From the New Zealand Herald: A Rotorua iwi has launched a “world-first” aged care model designed to support kaumātua at home for as long as possible.

    Ngāti Whakaue unveiled the papakāinga model of care “designed by iwi, for iwi” at Te Puia in Rotorua on Friday.

    About 160 people attended the launch, including Health New Zealand Te Whatu Ora, Iwi Māori Partnership Boards and Ngāti Whakaue representatives.

    Ngāti Whakaue has been working with Te Rau Ora – the kaupapa Māori health workforce development organisation for Aotearoa – to address who will care for the iwi’s ageing population, and where. ]]>     https://www.ageconcernauckland.org.nz/media/website_posts/448/Screenshot-2026-06-25-085534.png url https://www.nzherald.co.nz/kahu/rotorua-ngati-whakaue-launches-world-first-papakainga-aged-care-model/L7FZ7YY6ZBAVHAWULJPVZMWAPE/ 2026-06-24 20:57:12     447 1 deepfakes - the relentless march of the digital age is enough to make anyone's head spin.

    For some older New Zealanders, it's leading to a loss of social connection and even limiting their access to essential services.

    New research out of the University of Auckland has found that "technostress" is causing many older people to feel shut out by the digital world.

    But not for 92-year-old Peter Singh and his top-of-the-line iPhone 17.

    "I do my emails, I do my banking," he said. "I can find my way in the car."

    A keen photographer, he's also got every app you can think of - he's even on TikTok.

    He said he knew nothing of computers when he first joined the Eden-Roskill branch of SeniorNet, a non-profit society helping people over 50 to learn or enhance their technology skills. ]]>     https://www.ageconcernauckland.org.nz/media/website_posts/447/Screenshot-2026-06-17-194411.png url https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/business/598287/technostress-causing-older-people-to-feel-shut-out-by-digital-world-research-finds 2026-06-17 07:47:47     446 1
    Research shows that those who exercise regularly are less likely to succumb to premature death, and reduce their risk of developing conditions such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease, osteoporosis and mental health disorders. ]]>     https://www.ageconcernauckland.org.nz/media/website_posts/446/Screenshot-2026-06-16-095429.png url https://www.stuff.co.nz/health/360984139/sports-professor-five-biggest-myths-about-exercise-and-aging 2026-06-15 21:56:34     445 1
    According to the latest report from the Retirement Commission, our savings by retirement age are up more than $8,000 than they were a year ago.

    Balances are growing across every demographic group, with 90% of Kiwis earning $50,000 or more (the annual minimum wage) now contributing to KiwiSaver.

    The average KiwiSaver balance across every age group now sits at $41,286, up from $37,079 a year earlier.]]>     https://www.ageconcernauckland.org.nz/media/website_posts/445/Screenshot-2026-06-02-094029.png url https://www.stuff.co.nz/money/360983658/average-kiwi-retires-77k-kiwisaver-many-women-its-far-less?fbclid=IwY2xjawSK2t9leHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETF4Vzl4OVFINmNvUnpseTgwc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQQMjIyMDM5MTc4ODIwMDg5MgABHsbo6J8u30HNNOzN7_BO2lngp4YudOUrYYnEal6RJTqeUcg1JG1 2026-06-01 21:42:12     444 1 Explainer - New Zealand celebrates King Charles' birthday with a public holiday Monday - even though his birthday isn't until November.

    Here's what you need to know about what will be open and closed, your employment rights if you are working and why we celebrate the monarch every June, regardless of when their birthday is.

    So is the King giving me a day off work?



    Pretty much.]]>     https://www.ageconcernauckland.org.nz/media/website_posts/444/Screenshot-2026-05-29-100400.png url https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/community/596658/king-s-birthday-2026-what-s-open-what-s-closed-and-how-it-s-decided-who-gets-honours 2026-05-28 22:55:43     443 1 https://www.ageconcernauckland.org.nz/media/website_posts/443/Screenshot-2026-05-28-143844.png url https://budget.govt.nz/budget/pdfs/releases/l18-costello-supergold-card-being-upgraded.pdf 2026-05-28 02:43:04 442 1
    One of the country's most loved entertainers, Dame Jools Topp, has died at the age of 68.

    She had breast cancer, a disease that she was first diagnosed with in 2006 before it returned in 2021.

    Jools died at home on Saturday with her twin sister Lynda, brother Bruce, close friends and "all her fur-babies by her side", a statement from the family confirmed on Monday. A celebration honouring Jools’ life will be announced shortly. ]]>     https://www.ageconcernauckland.org.nz/media/website_posts/442/Screenshot-2026-05-25-162622.png url https://www.rnz.co.nz/life/people/celebrity/topp-twin-and-comedy-icon-jools-topp-dies-at-age-68 2026-05-25 04:27:56     441 1 As the cost of living climbs and Trump's war on Iran drives fuel costs sky-high, how are Kiwis coping? What are they doing without? How are they saving money? An RNZ series examines the ways it's impacting different groups.

    The increasing cost of living is hurting most, but those on fixed incomes have even less room to move with some forced to forego coffee and meat.

    Petrol and oil prices have crept exponentially higher after the war in Iran, while statistics show pharmaceuticals and electricity also keep putting pressure on the wallet.

    Pensioners were just one group on fixed incomes struggling to make ends meet.

    As a single pensioner living alone - you'd get $555.15 a week.

    It's slightly less if that person was living in shared accommodation.

    Whereas a couple who were both eligible get $427.04 each a week.

    So when bills, insurance, petrol and other expenses add up, something has got to give.]]>     https://www.ageconcernauckland.org.nz/media/website_posts/441/Screenshot-2026-05-25-133405.png url https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/community/595623/how-kiwis-are-coping-pensioners-forgoing-coffee-meat-to-keep-budgets-low 2026-05-25 01:41:47     440 27 Coping well, finding purpose, and staying connected as we age

    If you've ever felt pressure to "stay positive," especially as you get older, you're not alone. There's a quiet assumption that we should be grateful, cheerful, and resilient all the time. But real life doesn't work like that.

    A more realistic and kinder goal isn't constant happiness. It's coping well through life's ups and downs, having a sense of purpose, and staying connected to people and places that make us feel we belong.

    This matters especially in later life, when change can come thick and fast: retirement, health shifts, grief, reduced independence, family changes, or simply the feeling that the world has sped up and left us behind.]]>     https://www.ageconcernauckland.org.nz/media/website_posts/440/A-Good-Life-Isnt-a-Perfectly-Happy-One-blog-image.png page https://www.ageconcernauckland.org.nz/blog/a-good-life-isnt-a-perfectly-happy-one/ 2026-05-21 23:48:04