COTA SA’s social enterprise, The Plug-In, recently released its latest survey results on the experiences that older Australians had in 2022, with many outlining cost of living and access to quality healthcare services as the biggest challenges they faced.

The Plug-In is a specialist market insights operation that gives older people an influential voice to help industry, innovators and researchers better meet the future needs of the growing 50+ market.

Polling 184 people, the recent Mood Snapshot survey asked participants about their experiences during 2022 and how they are feeling about the year ahead in 2023.

When considering the biggest challenges facing older people coming into 2023, 63 percent mentioned issues relating to cost of living and finances.

Other important topics mentioned for 2023 were:

• Access to quality healthcare services (34 percent)
• Access to and quality of Aged Care and Home Care services (30 percent)
• Housing accessibility/affordability (25 percent)

While many people had mixed feelings about events or circumstances throughout 2022 (62 percent), 67 percent felt positive when reflecting on their life at the end of 2022 (ratings of 7+ on a 10-point scale).

This is the same level of positivity seen from those who took the Plug-in Mood Snapshot survey in early 2022.

The most common positive experiences in 2022 were:

• Continued easing of COVID restrictions and opportunities to travel and socialise more freely (35 percent)
• Valued time with friends and family, and improved social connections (34 percent)
• Good health (22 percent)
• Changes to State and Federal Governments and satisfaction with policy changes (22 percent)

COTA SA Acting Chief Executive, Miranda Starke, found the results unsurprising and a reflection of current times.

“Many across the country are impacted by the rise of cost of living, an issue which is felt significantly amongst older South Australians. While many had mixed feelings about the year overall, we were pleased to see that many felt positive when reflecting on their life,” she said.

“COTA SA will use these results in our advocacy and voice of older people. We thank those who participated in the survey and encourage other older people to contribute to our market research into the future,” she concluded.

For further information, contact The Plug-in: