Aging is part of life and can sometimes pose challenges. The good news is that regardless of age or health conditions, we can all live life more fully by embracing active aging. Active aging is a concept that applies to any stage of life – not just when one is “old”.
The World Health Organization (WHO) defines active aging as “Optimizing opportunities for health, participation and security in order to enhance quality of life as people age. The word “active” refers to continuing participation in social, economic, cultural, spiritual, and civic affairs. Active aging aims to extend healthy life expectancy and quality of life for all people as they age.”
According to studies on successful aging, genetics impacts only one-third of how well we age; two-thirds is based on what we can control – our personal lifestyle choices. Maintaining good emotional health, engaging in mental stimulation, being active and participating in the world around us, are the key factors for not only longevity, but also the quality of life. See below for some ideas and start optimizing opportunities for your health today!
- Think positive. Having a positive mindset towards yourself and others is important in ensuring you make positive life choices and taking better care of yourself.
- Exercise your brain. Trivia, puzzles, learning a new language, or picking up an instrument are all examples of exercising your mental capacity to extend your brain’s fitness. This can increase creativity, open-mindedness and inquisitiveness, all traits linked to healthier aging.
- Don’t worry, be happy. Find and engage in activities, people, and experiences that bring you happiness as happiness is a boost to the immune system, alleviates stress, and is linked to longevity as it reduces heart disease, obesity, diabetes, dementia and depression.
- Move it. Have you heard of the saying “move it, or lose it”? Well, research has shown that those who exercise regularly decrease their risk of cardiovascular diseases, dementia, diabetes, depression, obesity, and osteoarthritis. Any type of movement is all it takes.
- Connect socially. Those who have an active social life and participate in society tend to have overall better mental and physical well-being, live longer, and have a lower risk of developing dementia.
- Successful environment. Tune into your environment to make sure it is setting you up for success. That could simply mean making sure healthy foods are in the house for good nutrition. Also, an age-friendly and accessible environment is important to support the changing physical needs as one ages to remain independent and active.
Being proactive, educating yourself on age-related conditions, taking a holistic approach to achieve active and healthy aging are important ways to empower yourself and make better lifestyle decisions. PHP offers an online health risk assessment (HRA) to our members, just log in to your account and select Wellness Tools from the menu. This would be a great place to start and assess your well-being today.
