Using an index of wellbeing for older people in small areas of Australia to assist identifying services required

For older people, place is crucial as it is where support networks, social relationships and family are. Older people develop a sense of belonging to their local community through participation and place is strongly linked to personal histories. For older people, ageing in their own home also allows for continuity of relationships and informal support networks in the area. While there are significant benefits of ageing in place, for older people with low wellbeing, the provision of services is going to be essential to allow them to age in place. Therefore, this article aims to identify areas where older people have low wellbeing using an index of wellbeing developed using a range of data; and to show how the domains and indicators can be used to identify why older people in an area have low wellbeing. This analysis can then be used to help to identify what types of services are required to improve wellbeing in an area of low wellbeing best.