Healthy Aging

Healthy Aging Articles

Regain your confidence

It’s common for older adults to lose confidence as their body changes and they face life-altering events, like retirement, health issues, and loss of loved ones. Lack of confidence can make them more withdrawn, less active, and more fearful about everyday events like driving and handling technology. Some ways older adults can regain confidence is to work on personal appearance, learn a new skill, set a physical challenge, focus on being more social, and see a therapist or counselor to explore obstacles that affect their confidence. More »

Spring cleaning: Why more people are uncluttering the mind for better health

Meditating counters the body’s stress response by triggering the relaxation response—a physiological change that can help lower blood pressure, heart rate, breathing rate, oxygen consumption, adrenaline levels, and levels of the stress hormone cortisol. The health benefits of meditation are so potent that the practice is used as a treatment or complementary therapy for many conditions, such as high stress, high blood pressure, and chronic pain. There are many forms of meditation, such as mindfulness, transcendental meditation, guided imagery meditation, and tai chi and yoga. (Locked) More »

Give yourself a health self-assessment

An annual self-assessment is a great way to gather the vital information that people need to measure their current situation, create goals, and establish strategies on how best to reach them. This can vary from something as simple as ensuring you can continue their independent living to something more ambitious like traveling more. A complete analysis should address five areas: physical, intellectual, social, financial, and spiritual. (Locked) More »

Lessons from the masters

Elite level older athletes still face the same fitness challenges as regular people, but have developed strategies to help them maintain their health and reach their goals. By following their advice and insight, older men can learn how to exercise smarter to maximize their workouts, how to overcome obstacles like health issues, and how to stay motivated after a setback or during lazy days. (Locked) More »

Retiring? What about your health?

It’s important to consider future health needs when it’s time to select a community for living out the golden years. Look for destinations with access to medical services, nonprofit health services like meal delivery, transportation services, affordable housing options, recreation opportunities, volunteering opportunities, and private-duty services. For example, walkable city centers are getting more consideration as retirement destinations, as are college towns that offer robust learning opportunities or entertainment. One shouldn’t overlook staying in an existing house and community if it meets future needs. More »

Your health through the decades

By age 60, all men tend to get thrown together into the so-called 60-and-older group, even though there are often significant differences between a man who is 65 and one who is 85. Certain lifestyle habits need to be maintained, no matter what a man’s age, such as adopting a heart-healthy diet, maintaining a healthy weight, and continuing a regular exercise routine to build strength, flexibility, and cardio fitness. Yet most men also need to place extra attention on certain aspects of their health depending on whether they are in their 60s, 70s, or 80s. (Locked) More »

The Art of Aging Well - Longwood Seminar

Is age just a number? How will medical and technology advances redefine biological aging? In this seminar, learn more about research led by scientists at Harvard Medical School about what healthy aging means, and explore discoveries that could help to improve the experience of aging. Each spring, Harvard Medical School's Office of Communications and External Relations organizes a series of four free "mini-med school" classes for the general public in the heart of Boston's Longwood Medical Area. At the end of the seminar series, participants who attend three out of the four sessions receive a certificate of completion. Topics are selected for their appeal to a lay audience and have included the human genome, nutrition, sleep dynamics and health care access. Faculty from Harvard Medical School and its affiliate hospitals volunteer their time to present these lectures to the community. More »

Are you functionally fit?

Exercise is important to maintain “functional” fitness, which is the ability of a person to perform regular daily activities, whether that means carrying laundry or playing with grandkids. A program to maintain functional fitness includes exercises that mimic daily activities, with motions that help the body get better at pushing, pulling, climbing, bending, lifting, reaching, turning, squatting, and rotating the trunk or shoulders. The exercises also train the muscles to work together. (Locked) More »

Staying connected can improve your health

Research shows that loneliness may have ill effects for health. Social bonds can fray as people age, particularly in times of stress such as after the loss of a partner or in cases of illness or disability. Taking steps to reconnect can not only help improve social life, but can also help protect health over the long term. More »