Does where you live affect how you age?

Researchers at the Wicking Dementia Research and Education Centre and The University of Queensland recently published an interesting study on frailty.

Published on: 26 March 2026

Frailty is defined as the gradual decline in physical and mental reserves that leaves older people more vulnerable to illness. Earlier research had suggested frailty was more common in rural and socioeconomically disadvantaged areas, but these studies have not considered factors such as; age, gender, geographical location, income, life style choices, health behaviours, education etc. Many of the variables that ISLAND has captured over the last 5 years. This study looked at whether remoteness and disadvantage were linked to frailty, even after other contributing factors had been considered.

To carry out the study, researchers matched each participant's home postcode to data on how remote their area was and how socioeconomically advantaged or disadvantaged it was. They then analysed the results while accounting for other factors that might influence frailty, including age, gender, education, whether someone was retired, and whether they were born overseas.

The findings were striking. People living in rural towns and remote communities had notably higher levels of frailty than those living in regional centres. Similarly, people in more socioeconomically disadvantaged areas showed higher levels of frailty, and this gap grew larger as disadvantage increased. Geographically, frailty was highest in central and western Tasmania, parts of the state that tend to be more remote, and more socioeconomically disadvantaged.

For ISLAND participants, this research is directly relevant. The study is not simply an academic exercise; it reflects the lived reality of many people within this cohort. Having monitored some 5,740 participants over a five-year period, ISLAND is uniquely placed to go beyond a snapshot of where frailty is highest and begin to answer harder questions. Such as, what is driving frailty, how quickly does it progress, and, most importantly, what can individuals do to slow or reverse it? The researchers concluded that routinely assessing frailty as part of regional health planning could help identify those most at risk. Directing resources and services toward remote and disadvantaged communities, where frailty is shown to be highest, could support healthier ageing and ensure help reaches the people who need it most.

To read the full paper, please see the following link.

Regional and Socioeconomic Disparities in Frailty Across Tasmania: Evidence From Island Study Linking Ageing and Neurodegenerative Disease

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Personally identifiable information collected from you may be shared:

in response to requests for cooperation from law enforcement bodies or government authorities;
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to prevent, investigate or take action regarding illegal activities or suspected illegal activities, technical issues, or enforce the Terms & Conditions or Privacy Policy or any part thereof;
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Participants in the Courses may be provided with the ability to upload, submit, distribute or otherwise make available forum and discussion postings and certain other information including without limitation questions, examples, assignments, and feedback (“User Contributions”). By uploading, submitting, distributing or otherwise making available any User Contributions you represent and warrant that (a) the User Contribution does not infringe, misappropriate or violate the rights of any third party, and (b) you possess all rights, licences, permissions, clearances and consents necessary to reproduce, communicate, distribute and publish the User Contribution and to authorise UTAS and/or its affiliates and licensors and other Participants to use the User Contribution as provided in the licences granted by you below.

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Content that defames, harasses or threatens others;
Content that discusses illegal activities with the intent to commit such activities;
Content that infringes the intellectual property of another, including but not limited to copyright and trademarks;
Content which may breach obligations of confidentiality or fiduciary duties, or the privacy of any person;
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Reproduce (digitally or otherwise), sell, resell or exploit any portion of the Courses or Sites for any purposes including commercial purposes, other than as expressly permitted under these Terms and Conditions;
Access or attempt to access any other user’s profile;
Misrepresent or attempt to misrepresent your identity;
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Interfere with the display of the Sites in any way (including without limitation using frames, or placing pop-up windows on or over any part of the Sites’ pages);
Force headers or otherwise interfere with or manipulate identifiers in any way that disguises the origin of any communication transmitted through the Courses;
Interfere with or disrupt the operation of servers or networks connected to the Courses or Sites or breach any regulations, policies or procedures of networks connected to the Courses or Sites.

UTAS may remove offensive or disruptive material whether or not it is prohibited content or a prohibited activity, and may cancel a Participant’s participation, block a Visitor’s access and remove a User Profile at any time with or without notice.

Claims of copyright infringement

If you believe, in good faith, that your content or materials are available on the Sites in such a way that constitute a copyright infringement, or a breach of an agreed licence or contract, please notify us via the Copyright Infringement Notification Form or alternatively address your notification to:

University of Tasmania

Private Bag 25 HOBART TAS 7001

utas.copyright@utas.edu.au

Your notification must include (a) sufficient information to enable us to identify the copyrighted work that is the subject of the claimed infringement or, if multiple copyrighted works are involved, a representative list of such works, (b) information reasonably sufficient to permit us to locate and access such material, (c) information reasonably sufficient to permit us to contact you, such as your name, address, telephone number and email address, (d) an indication of whether you are the owner of the content, or if you are acting on their behalf (details of all parties must be supplied including the relationship between them), and (e) an indication of the name of the law (including country) you believe is being transgressed.

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To the extent permitted by law, UTAS provides no warranty with regard to the suitability of the Course Content for any particular purpose.

Limitation of liability

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Indemnity

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Termination rights

You agree that UTAS, in its sole discretion may terminate your participation in the Courses and/or use of the Sites for any reason or no reason and UTAS, its affiliates and/or licensors shall have no liability to you for any such action.

Rights transfer or assignment

UTAS reserves the right to transfer or assign, in whole or in part, its rights and to delegate its obligations under these Terms and Conditions. You agree that you will not delegate, transfer or assign, by operation of law or otherwise any portion of your obligations under these Terms and Conditions without prior written consent from UTAS.

Waiver and severance of terms

A provision of these Terms and Conditions or a right created under it may not be waived or varied except by agreement in writing by the parties. A failure of a party to exercise a right arising out of these Terms and Conditions does not constitute a waiver of that right or other rights existing under these Terms and Conditions. If any provision of these Terms and Conditions is void, voidable or unenforceable but would not be void, voidable or unenforceable if it were read down or is capable of being read down, it must be read down accordingly.

Jurisdiction

These Terms and Conditions are governed by the laws of Tasmania and each party submits to the non-exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of Tasmania.

Contacting UTAS

You may contact UTAS in relation to any of your personal information collected when using UTAS MOOC websites by sending an email to mooc@utas.edu.au

Last updated: Wed, 28 Aug 2019 15:40:00 +1000

Does where you live affect how you age?

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