The process of developing and maintaining the functional ability that enables wellbeing in older age (WHO, 2020).
Cathleen Toomey discusses the upside of aging in her Tedx Piscataqua River talk, The Secret of Successful Aging.
The key? Don’t let loneliness take over your life.
Real conversations are the answer.
We’re social beings and need to stay connected to others.
She also suggests these 3 things:
Celebrate your age
Defy expectations
Grow friendships
Tips & Strategies to Promote Positive Aging
There are 5 places in the world where people live longer than anywhere else. Known as "The Blue Zones" they include:
Ikaria, Greece
Loma Linda, California
Sardinia, Italy
Okinawa, Japan
Nicoya, Costa Rica
Researchers, Gianni Pes, Anne Herm, and Michel Poulain (2013) discovered that Sardinia has the most male centenarians. They wrote about this for the Journal of Experimental Gerontology. Blue Zones founder, Dan Buettner, decided to see if there were other ‘hot spots’ like Sardinia.
In collaboration with demographers and researchers, Buettner (n.d.) identified specific lifestyle habits of the Blue Zones:
Move Naturally. People in the Blue Zones live in areas that push them to move without thinking much about it. Their exercise includes activities like gardening.
Purpose. Called ‘Ikigai‘ by the Okinawans, this is your reason for getting up in the morning. Find it and you’ll live about 7 years longer.
Down Shift. Learn how to manage stress. People in Blue Zones pray, remember their ancestors, take naps, or engage in happy hour.
80% Rule. Stop eating before you’re full. Eat your smallest meal in the late afternoon or early evening, and don’t eat anything else. This is how Blue Zone people live longer. They control their weight.
Plant Slant. Eat more beans. Some people in the Blue Zones eat pork, but not more than a handful of times in a month. Serving sizes are 3-4 oz.
Wine at 5. Buettner discovered that everyone in the Blue Zones except Adventists, drink alcohol. They drink 1-2 glasses/day with friends and/or with food. He suggests Sardinian Cannonau wine.
Belong. Most of the centenarians belonged to a faith-based community. Their research shows that attending services four times per month adds 4-14 year to your life.
Loved Ones First. Blue Zone people put family and their partners first. Aging parents and grandparents often live in the same home with their children, or nearby. This lowers disease and mortality rates of children in the home, according to Buettner’s team.
Right Tribe. Centenarians either chose their social circles or were born into them. Those circles supported healthy behaviors.
Disengagement Theory
Developed by Elaine Cumming and William E. Henry (1961).
Their theory is that as we age we remove ourselves from social roles and interactions.
We do this because we realize death is imminent.
Rather than have our reputation damaged due to the loss of skills, we retreat.
Cumming and Henry’s (1961) theory includes 9 beliefs:
Everyone expects death. Older adults accept that they’re losing abilities as they age, so they begin to leave their networks.
Fewer contacts create behavioral freedoms. This creates an “I can do whatever I want” approach to their behavior.
Men and women differ in their experience. Men have instrumental roles. Women don’t.
The ego evolves as it ages. The older adult steps aside so the younger person can take over in whatever role the elder leaves. The older person seeks out personal enjoyment.
Complete disengagement occurs when society is ready for it. Older adults can’t transition unless society is ready to let them.
Disengagement can occur if people lose their roles. Roles are gender-specific. Men do labor. Women handle domestic responsibilities. If they’re unable to fulfill their role, then disengagement happens.
Readiness equates to societal permission. When an older adult begins pondering their death, sense a loss of status, and lose “ego energy,” then society allows disengagement.
Relational rewards become more diverse. Societal rewards tend to include upward mobility. Disengagement creates horizontal rewards. People look to their remaining interpersonal relationships to fill the vertical reward void.
This theory is independent of culture. It takes on the norms of the person’s culture.
The entire process is mutual and acceptable between the person and society.
A person’s usefulness determines when they disengage.
A delay in disengagement happens if society still deems the person useful.
Cumming & Henry developed and published their theory in 1961. It’s outdated.
This theory also assumes that a family consists of a male and a female adult.
It doesn’t consider same-gender or single parent families.
The Life Course Perspective
This theory takes into consideration your previous life experiences including your family history.
It’s a proactive, connected approach. It encompasses social, emotional, and physical development throughout the life span.
Developed by Glen H. Elder, Jr.
This theory has 5 guiding principles. The following list is from Elder (n.d.):
Life-span development: Human development and aging are lifelong processes.
Agency: Individuals construct their own lives through the choices and actions they take within the opportunities and constraints of history and social circumstance.
Time and Place: The life course of individuals is embedded and shaped by the historical times and places they experience over their lifetime.
Timing: The developmental antecedents and consequences of life transitions, events, and behavioral patterns vary according to their timing in a person’s life.
Linked Lives: Lives are lived interdependently, and socio-historical influences are expressed through this network of shared relationships.
Getting to see yourself grow older when you were very recently a suicidal child is such a wondeful experience! I made it! I made it and it really does get better!! Does anybody know about this? We need to tell everyone!!!
I know, some of us here are afraid of getting older, along with dying. Gerascophobia is tied to Thanatophobia in many ways.
The article addresses more specific ways about how to age and stay positive, as well as the problems of ageism. I don’t personally fear aging, but I do fear losing my ability to be independent. I fear the decay of my body. The thought of living in a retirement home one day is fraught with unknowns We all hear terrible stories about what our most vulnerable are subjected to.
As with death anxiety, I think a part of how to work on this, is to talk about it more.
Talk about aging.
Talk about what comes with it.
Despite having three grandparents die, I don’t hear much about getting older or what happens.
My dad complains that he is “getting too old”, and I’ve tried to ask what that’s like, what that means, but he struggles to find the words. I read about it, to make it less of an unknown.
And I share that here, at times, as with this article.
These were the important suggestions from the article:
Stay physically active by doing at least 30 minutes of movement or exercise every day.
Exercise your brain by engaging in mentally challenging activities, and never stop learning new things.
Adopt an overall healthy lifestyle by eating healthfully, getting enough sleep, managing weight, and not drinking in excess or smoking.
Stay connected to other people by nurturing relationships with your spouse or partner, family, friends, neighbors, and others in your community, including young people.
Create positive emotions for yourself by practicing positive emotion exercises and learning to feel good about your age.
Don’t sweat the small stuff; accept what you cannot do, and ask for help when needed.
Set goals for yourself and take control of the steps needed to achieve them.
Minimize life stress; practice healthy coping techniques, and learn to relax and unwind.
Have regular medical check-ups, take advantage of health screenings, and engage in healthy preventive behaviors.
A lot of the things for dealing with anxiety and fear, overlap. I’ve suggested many if not all of these things on this blog, and I think it’s important to note the overlap. It means, in general, to help with many fears and anxieties, one of the starting points is to take care of yourself holistically -- exercise, eat well, interact socially with loved ones, meditate -- these show up time and time again -- and then the specifics come into play.
Like thinking about aging.
Getting older idols.
Yet the first steps always seem to be, take care of yourself “in general”, before confronting the problems.
Discover the power of positive aging and how it can transform your health and well-being. Embrace the golden years with grace and vitality.
Inspired by Mark Twain’s wisdom, this post explores how a positive mindset can redefine aging. It details practical strategies—from embracing lifelong learning and neuroplasticity to challenging ageism and fostering social connection—to help you navigate later years with vitality, purpose, and resilience, proving age truly can be a number.
Adult foster care in Harvard, Massachusetts, encourages social connections through structured group activities that bring residents together
Building meaningful friendships is essential for emotional well-being, especially in supportive living environments. Adult foster care in Harvard, Massachusetts, encourages social connections through structured group activities that bring residents together. Participating in shared experiences creates a sense of belonging and helps individuals feel more engaged in their daily lives.
