Left Out of the Story: Re-centring Healthy Ageing Perspectives from New and Emerging CALD Communities
Som Sengmany

Date and Time

Friday, November 13, 2026, 9:30 AM - 9:45 AM

Theme / Track

Ageing well, longevity and social context

Presentation Format

Concurrent

Research on healthy ageing in Australia has predominantly centred on English-speaking, Anglo-Australian populations. Where culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) older adults are included, studies have focused on established communities with longer settlement histories, leaving older adults from new and emerging CALD communities largely absent from the evidence base. Indeed, many older adults from new and emerging communities have had limited opportunities to have their voices heard in formal research contexts. This represents a significant gap because aged care policy and digital design cannot adequately address the needs of populations who remain invisible. This presentation addresses this blind spot by outlining the findings from a research project on how older adults aged sixty-five and over from new and emerging CALD communities in Victoria understood healthy ageing and their information needs when accessing digital platforms like the LiveUp national healthy ageing website. Using narrative inquiry and life story interviews, this presentation recentres the perspectives of these underrepresented voices. We highlight how migration histories, cultural values and social relations shape understandings of healthy ageing. In doing so, we argue the central role played by cultural and relational contexts to how ageing well and its trajectories unfold and are experienced and negotiated. Within a practical context, our findings generate evidence-based recommendations for designing more culturally appropriate health ageing information and resources. This presentation will be relevant for organisations with older migrants, aged care providers and policymakers who want to effectively communicate healthy ageing information to older adults from new and emerging communities.

Keywords

CALD, Design, Intergenerational Care, Minority Groups, Refugees

Authors