Aging With Power: Filling The Gaps. Advocating For Your Health.

Aging with power. Not grace. Power. What does that mean for you? And how do we do it? In this podcast episode on Midlife Unfiltered, Anita explores what it means for women in midlife to age with power. Taking back our agency, advocating for health.Because there are GAPS.Lifespan - Health span = 10-15 year Gap: We may be living longer but we are not living well, longer. Statistically (Australian statistics) if like me, you’re a white woman born in 1967 you may potentially live to be about 85 years old (lifespan). Maybe up in the late 80’s. Your Health span (how long you are healthy) is potentially going to decline (with obvious symptoms) in your mid 70’s. That’s a GAP of 10-15 years! Statistically speaking.What do you think those years look like?Lived experience - Anita talks about how she’s seen these numbers become reality, in the care home her Dad was in for the last 6 months of his life (with stage 4 cancer and dementia). Around 90% of the people in that very caring home were women. With multiple chronic conditions that were being managed for them. Most with mobility issues, some with mental health conditions. Many were lonely. They were receiving good care. Most were existing.Women’s Health Research Gaps: About 30 years ago (in 1993) the US mandated women be included in clinical medical research. In Australia it was ‘best efforts’. That’s about to change. In 2026 Australia firms up its inclusion of females in clinical research where evidence of inclusion needs to be demonstrated to qualify for funding. Anita talks about that is more detail in the podcast chat.30 years may seem a long time but in the context of clinical research it’s not. For good reason, it takes time. So research findings including women are now becoming more available for us to read and talk about. But in the scheme of things, it’s just the beginning. We have a long way to go, but we are moving in the right direction.Education System Gaps: Underpinned by research gaps, Anita talks about the gaps in our tertiary and secondary education systems. The lack of information and knowledge in texts, resources and curricula, which means there are gaps in what our health team members know about us. Why in secondary schools is it not mandatory to teach children about how their body systems work? The basics. Beyond sex education and the reproductive system. Maybe some schools do. Hats off to them, that’s great. But the majority don’t.It seems one mimics the other?Health System Gaps - Specialty Silos: Modern medicine is brilliant at acute practices that save lives, that extend how long we live. Treatments for symptom management of chronic conditions that do work. But in saving lives, extending them, a gap appears. The likelihood that more of us will be living with those chronic conditions, increases.The Specialist. We have specialists with their deeper knowledge and experience to help us manage those chronic conditions like arthritis, cardiovascular problems, diabetes, dementia (the #1 cause of death in Australia for women)…the list goes on. The focus of care is typically short term - 1,2,3 maybe 5 years but what then?What does your Health Span Road Map look like for Future you? More gaps to fill. Each specialty represents a silo. We go from one to another to treat each specific condition. That’s great, but it promotes gaps. Gaps between silos that must be filled if we are to get a complete, a better picture of our overall health. Who fills the gaps between Silos? Lived Experience: Anita talks about her own specialist experience and how she filled that gap, advocating for her bone health. The Old Way Vs The New Way: We are the Transition generation, living in the Digital Age where the pace of change, the volume of information at our finger tips is mind blowing. But how do we know what’s true? Anita talks about how this puts a greater importance on the relationships we have with our health team members.She talks about the ‘old way’ where we believed our GP’s knew it all. To the ‘new way’ were we appreciate now there are gaps. A partnership approach. Looking out for Red Flags and Green Flags (thanks Dr Sara Szal for that framework). The relationship Red Flags where we don’t feel comfortable asking questions, feel dismissed and don’t receive the right outcomes.Lived Experience - Anita’s relationship with her GP is mostly Green Flags. She talks about a specific conversation with her GP where green flags were flying high and proud. A Prevention Mindset: Showing up each day for you and your health. For Future You. A prevention mindset means honing awareness, seeking information and knowledge and taking action to fill the gaps. Anita talks about how she believes this to be perhaps the most effective way to reduce the gap between living longer and living longer well. Talking about epigenetics and lifestyle pillars, daily choices around sleep, nutrition, exercise, reducing toxins, connection and joy. Choices that help define our long haul road map. It’s up to us to Advocate for our health. Assemble your health A Team, ask questions, have those green flag conversation. Proactively fill those gaps with a prevention mindset. To Age with Power.p.s.What Anita didn’t include in the podcast chat that she meant to. It’s a biggie!Knowing Your Body & Listen To Its Love Language: It’s one thing to gather information and knowledge from the outside. It’s quite another to gather it from within.Our body’s are incredible. Loyal allies doing their best to keep us keeping on, well. What we tend not to do so well, is respect them enough to listen to their messages. Their clues that things are different and we need to act to address them. Address them before they become obvious symptoms that become more difficult to manage. A chronic condition. How good are you at listening to your body’s messages. The subtle clues?Thank you to everyone who tuned into my live podcast video! Join me for my next live video in the app next week. If you are watching and reading after the live, thank you too! I hope you find it helpful. To aging with power!Anita xxOh! If you’d like to subscribe to Anita’s Midlife Mojo long format newsletter it’s not on Substack (yet). It’s over in her Sequins and Sand land, her online business for the past 17 years. A business in transition, just like she is :) Here is the link to where you can subscribe. It looks a bit like what you’re not expecting, but it is the place to do that. Become a VIP and that email will land in your inbox each week. Be sure to add the address to your contacts so that it doesn’t vanish into spam land. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit midlifeunfiltered.substack.com