RESEARCHERS at Southern Cross University are calling on people over 60 to participate in a focus group as part of a new study on the health and well-being of older Australians.

The study aims to discover whether older people are aware of the official health recommendations for their age group, and if they know where to access that information.

"We don't want just those people who are physically active, in fact, if there are people who are not particularly physically active we are interested to hear from them too," said Dr Sonya Brownie from SCU's School of Health and Human Sciences.

"Getting a wide range of views will help us better understand the factors that influence older people's engagement with healthy aging lifestyles."

Dr Brownie said anecdotal evidence suggested older people weren't particularly aware of current health guidelines and were surprised when told about some of the recommendations relevant to them.

These included advice for older people to be do more weight-resistance exercise to maintain muscle mass and reduce the likelihood of falls.

"We believe there is a real problem for older people in accessing knowledge that is useful for them," said Dr Brownie.

She said the Federal Government is investing "millions of dollars" in promoting its guidelines for diet and physical activity for older people, but the message may not be getting through.

"If people aren't getting it from their doctor, and they're not hearing it on TV or radio, it's no surprise that across the board they don't know about them."

"(But) we know that physically active lifestyles later in life confer huge benefits to the individual, and by extension alleviate the pressure on the health system," She said.

Those interested in participating are asked to contact Natasha Maslen on 6626 9585.