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'an optimistic message': study uncovers the secrets to aging successfully

according to university of toronto researchers, there are a lot of positives that come with greying hair, but is there a 'secret sauce' to thriving as we age?

by karen hawthorne
published dec 28, 2022
read time 6 minute read
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read time 6 minute read
join the conversation
is there a 'secret sauce' to aging well?
researchers found that older adults identified the ability to manage activities of daily living as a sign of excellent health. getty
there’s the perception that life is all downhill after a certain age and there’s not much to look forward to. in fact, declining health is mostly considered inevitable in our twilight years. however, while you may not be running marathons or skydiving at age 80, researchers at the university of toronto have found that you can still thrive physically, mentally and socially when you’re an octogenarian — and even beyond.
a team from the university’s institute for life course and aging has revealed some of the science behind aging gracefully. there are a lot of positives and life satisfaction that come with greying hair, and we have more influence over our health as we age than we might realize.
“you cannot change your age, and the older you are, the more likely you’re going to get ill. and you can’t change your genes, but we’ve identified quite a few things that we have some control over, and it’s an optimistic message,” says esme fuller-thomson, institute director and professor at the university’s factor-inwentash faculty of social work.
she has spent more than 25 years as a gerontologist, with the first 20 years looking mostly at people who were not doing well in terms of health from impacts. now she’s changed her focus to examine resilience in our aging population. “certainly we want to help out the people who aren’t doing well, but we also want to say, ‘hey, what’s the secret sauce of people who are thriving?’”
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fuller-thomson and her team conducted a study to compare aging among immigrants and canadian-born older adults, recently published in the international journal of environmental research and public health. they followed more than 7,000 middle-aged and older canadians for about three years to identify the factors linked to “successful” or optimal aging. the findings showed that “the prevalence of successful aging was significantly higher among canadian-born older adults compared to immigrant older adults, even though three-quarters of the immigrants in this study had migrated to canada four or more decades ago.” the authors suggest that financial aids, language programs, information and referral services would support immigrant older adults to age well.
the researchers also noted significant factors linked to successful aging that can help guide all older adults to achieve optimal health as they age. the guidelines that determined successful aging included the ability to accomplish daily living activities, the absence of mental illness, memory problems and disabling chronic pain, adequate social support and older adults’ self-reported happiness and a positive perception of physical health, mental health and the aging process.
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they also used the data from the canadian longitudinal study on aging that was launched in 2001 to follow more than 50,000 people between age 45 and 85 with the aim to understand and observe physical, social and psychological determinants of health over time and look at the genesis of age-related disorders in our aging population. (by 2036, nearly one in four canadians will be 65 or older, according to the canadian institutes of health research.)

married adults more likely to experience excellent health

the researchers identified among both immigrant and canadian-born older adults, that women, married adults and people who were physically active were more likely than their peers to experience excellent health over the three-year study period. they also found that people who never smoked, were not obese, had higher incomes, and those with no history of heart disease, insomnia and arthritis were also at a greater advantage and more likely to stay in excellent health throughout the study.
also interesting, these healthy people were less likely than others to develop physical, cognitive or emotional problems.
the team points out that participants selected for the study were in “excellent” health at the beginning of the three-year period. none of them had any signs of memory loss, chronic pain or disability, although they could be living with a chronic disease or common conditions that tend to develop with age, like high blood pressure. however, those challenges didn’t interfere with ability to take care of themselves on a daily basis.
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“we looked at reports on what older adults think of as being important,” fuller-thomson says of what characterized excellent health for the study from an older person’s perspective. “they identify being able to manage in their activities of daily living, feeding themselves, cooking, toileting, walking upstairs, walking — just daily activities that you need to do, and they wanted to continue to maintain that. and that was our standard.”
three-quarters of the respondents who were aged 55 to 64 at the start of the study period maintained excellent health throughout the study. among those aged 80 and older, about half remained in excellent health.
“we were delighted to see that so many people were doing well,” she says. “we normally think when you’re over 80, it’s a downward trajectory. eventually people are going to get ill, but to see that so many people were doing well gives us a lot of hope.”
while the observations of good habits like weight management, not smoking, physical activity and social connectedness are not surprising, the point is that people have the ability to stave off mental, cognitive and emotional decline.

a gap between what we know about healthy aging and what actually happens

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rebecca ganann, assistant professor in nursing at mcmaster university in hamilton, ontario and researcher with the mcmaster institute for research on aging, says the team’s observations underline the importance of understanding the perspectives on health from older adults themselves, and partnering with them to find out how society can best support people as they age.
“i think that that’s a big driver for me, really understanding what are the issues that people are really facing, and how do we work on them together,” she says. “there’s a lot that we know that can benefit people, but there’s a gap between what we know and what actually happens.”
her research through the institute’s aging, community and health research unit focuses on community-based interventions to improve access to health care and health-related quality of life for older adults.
“there’s a lot that’s known in terms of people should be physically active, people should eat well, it’s a benefit for them to be socially connected, but we know that that’s not easy in particular groups,” she says. “but if they don’t have social support, if they’re not satisfied with their life, life circumstances, if they’re managing pain and mental health conditions, it’s a lot harder for them to do this sort of successful aging.”
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so, how can we help older adults across the board?
ganann is leading the embolden study to connect older people for peer-to-peer learning and experiences in community hubs throughout hamilton that target neighbourhoods where there are higher proportions of older adults living there and a higher proportion of older adults living with a low income.
“the thinking was, how do we try to break down some of these barriers, whether they’re socioeconomic, related to ethnocultural communities or whether it’s meeting their basic needs. so how do we invest in those communities and create better connections?” she says, adding that the timing couldn’t be better for the initiative as we emerge from pandemic restrictions. “people want to connect with others who understand their context. and older adults come with a wealth of knowledge and life experience, so we really need to meet people where they are and celebrate those strengths.”
the approach is all about changing the focus on aging to strengths rather than deficits, she says, which is something that thomson-fuller also stresses.
“it’s a total paradigm shift,” she says. “i am so pleased to be looking at resilience instead of pathology. admittedly, getting people out of depression and anxiety and improving their physical health are all important, but if we could all be aging and doing well and enjoying life, it’s really a dividend. we have this incredible aging society dividend that we want to maximize.”
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karen hawthorne is a toronto-based writer.
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karen hawthorne
karen hawthorne

karen hawthorne worked for six years as a digital editor for the national post, contributing articles on health, business, culture and travel for affiliated newspapers across canada. she now writes from her home office in toronto and takes breaks to bounce with her son on the backyard trampoline and walk bingo, her bull terrier.

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