Successful Aging
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It’s a fact that we’re all aging. And that some days we feel older than other days, which is usually acceptable. However, when our quality of life dips into the lows and we consistently feel older than our years, there’s definitely something going on, something that can be changed. None of us wants to feel older than we are. That makes the present a great time to initiate changes.

But what should we be doing exactly? In our information age, it can be difficult to sort out the pertinent facts from the wasting-your-time facts.

Luckily, there’s an excellent, informative, and truly helpful site developed in our own region called the Successful Aging Website, which describes itself as: a multi-partnered project at Lakehead University in Thunder Bay ON, Canada. Overseen by a team of researchers and health experts, we are dedicated to the prevention of disease and the promotion of health.

One of the most interesting items on site, is the free Successful Aging Quiz, which takes about 12 minutes to complete online. Once completed, you receive the results of how you place compared with average Canadians in categories that
include: body mass index, nutrition, alcohol and smoking, current health, social support activities (social, physical, sexual, and intellectual), memory and concentration, coping (social, problem, and financial) and health control, and happiness and depression.

The quiz offers you a great way to figure out which aspects of your life need the most improving. The site then gives you strategies to use, to help you feel and age better.

For an example of what to expect, here, minus the personal results, is the general information and recommendations for the Memory and Concentration category:

As people get older, they often blame aging for a supposed decline in memory and thinking. The evidence suggests otherwise. Although memory and thinking may deteriorate in the presence of neurological disease at any age, normal aging brings only minor losses until very advanced age. Also, people who report their memory and thinking to be in decline perform neither better nor worse on tests of memory and thinking than people without such fears. What often happens is that when older people forget something or get confused, they blame it on aging (e.g., that horrible term of a ‘senior’s moment). When younger people forget something or get confused, they blame it on their situation (e.g., stress).

There are some simple ways to improve memory and concentration at any age. Read the Memory and Cognition Program on this site to find out more about these skills, particularly if your answers to the survey indicated that you have some uncertainties.

Other information programs available at the Successful Aging site include:
• Stress Management
• Nutrition
• Memory and Thinking
• Physical Activity
• Self Esteem
• Sexuality
• Successful Retirement
• General Principles of Aging
• Dealing With Bereavement

The site also offers Lifestyle Tips, Health News, Editorial, Recipes, Humour, and webpages, as well as Ask a Question and Weight Track services.

A joke from the humour page:

An elderly woman went to her doctor with a problem. She bolted out of his office screaming. Concerned, the nurse went in to ask the doctor what had happened. “What did you say to that woman?” she inquired. “I told her she was pregnant,” said the doctor. “That’s strange,” said the nurse, “why would you do that?” “Well,” smiled the doctor, “it sure cured her hiccups in a hurry.”

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