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Ageing Well
Ageing well in place means having the connections, confidence, and support to stay in your own home and community as you grow older. It’s about more than just where you live, it’s about how you live.
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When people remain socially connected, physically active, and engaged in local life, they experience better health, stronger purpose, and greater independence. These factors not only enhance wellbeing but can also delay the need for higher levels of care, allowing people to live longer, safer, and happier lives at home.
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By creating opportunities for connection, participation, and choice, communities like Clunes have been showing that ageing well in place isn’t just possible - it’s powerful. It keeps people where they most want to be: in their own homes, among familiar faces, living life on their own terms.
Living and Ageing Well in Hepburn: A Pioneering Approach
The Living and Ageing Well in Hepburn (LAWH) project was a pioneering initiative that showed what ageing well in place can truly look like. Led by Clunes Neighbourhood House in partnership with Central Highlands Rural Health and Attitude – Ageing Well in Clunes, the project was supported by Western Victoria Primary Health Network to test a new, community-based model for healthy ageing.
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Rather than focusing solely on services or care, LAWH created a vibrant network of opportunities that supported people to live well where they are - through social connection, meaningful activity, personal agency, and accessible local support.
The project established a Living and Ageing Well Hub in Clunes, later extending to Daylesford, Creswick, and Trentham, offering hundreds of activities each quarter and thousands of engagements. From exercise and art programs to digital inclusion, carer support, and community storytelling, LAWH proved that wellbeing grows when people have space (figuratively and literally) to connect, contribute, and make choices about their own lives,
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By taking a place-based, peer-led approach, LAWH demonstrated that ageing well in place isn’t just an idea, it’s a practical, scalable way to help people stay healthier and live longer at home, surrounded by community. It stands as a model for how small towns and rural communities can lead the way in reimagining what ageing looks like, not as decline, but as continued participation, purpose, and belonging.
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