If We are Lucky, We Grow Old – Tips to Doing it Well
It is important to remember aging gracefully isn’t about trying to look like a 20-something. It’s about living your best life and having the physical and mental health to enjoy it. Luckily, experts offer a few commonsense tips for helping us live healthier, more productive lives than our grandparents or even our parents did. Also, it is worth noting that mortality rates have increased from the average age of 47 for men and 48 for women in 1900 to older adults now reaching into their eighties, nineties and upward. Therefore, if we are going to live that much longer, we might as well do it as healthily as possible.
Linda Fried, dean of the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health and director of the Robert Butler Columbia Aging Center, says, “The idea that living longer necessarily means enduring significant declines in health has changed in the last two decades.” She adds, “It’s possible to increase your health span as long as your life span. Some decline in health and function is inevitable. But the image that older life is about decrepitude turns out not to be right.”
Rick Moody, an expert in the field of gerontology, reminds older adults that even if they are living with significant health challenges, they should remember there are opportunities to help them live a meaningful and positive life regardless of age. His advice is to find ways to compensate for your challenges as it will help you age more successfully. For example, at 76, Rick says his hearing is bad but he compensates by wearing a hearing aid.
Other easy suggestions for healthy aging are to wear sunscreen and protective clothing, and to get yearly skin checks. In addition, remember exercising doesn’t have to require a gym membership. Walking, swimming, biking and strength-resistance training are good ways for seniors to maintain balance and strength.
Another important tip is to not limit yourself by saying you are too old. A 2023 review of research suggests people who maintain a positive attitude about aging live longer and have an improved quality of life. This includes being open to learning new things, getting enough sleep, following a healthy diet and staying close to family and friends. If needed, use adaptive skills to compensate for things like short-term memory loss and a general slow-down of cognitive and physical abilities.
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