Everyone should have the opportunity to live a long and healthy life aging on their terms. Healthy aging is about creating the opportunities to continue doing what you enjoy. In other words, nearly everyone can enjoy healthy aging.
Essential Functions to Healthy Aging
Functional Ability and Healthy Aging
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), healthy aging is the “process of developing and maintaining the functional abilities that enable wellbeing in older age.” This means that functional ability is all about what brings value to people’s lives. This includes a person’s ability to:
- Meet their basic needs
- Be mobile
- Learn and make decisions
- Build and maintain relationships
- Contribute to society
Functional ability entails the intrinsic capacity of the individual, important environmental characteristics, and the way the previous two interact.
Intrinsic Capacity
Intrinsic capacity means mental and physical abilities like walking, hearing, sight, and memory. These a person may rely on to complete certain tasks.
The level of intrinsic capacity is heavily influenced by a few different factors such as:
- Injuries
- Presences of disease
- Age-related changes
Environmental Characteristics
Environments can include many different places, though primarily they will be:
- Home
- Community
- Society at large
All the factors therein include these characteristics:
- Built environment
- People and their relationships
- Attitudes and values
- Health and social policies
- Systems of support
- Services available
Being able to live in environments that maintain and support one’s functional abilities and intrinsic capacities is vital to healthy aging.
Key Considerations of Aging on Your Terms
One thing to understand is that there is no such thing as a “typical” older adult. Some adults in their 80’s have mental and physical capacities that compare equally with persons in their 30’s. However, others in their 80’s may require more support and care to continue their basic daily activities. Healthy aging is largely dependent on the way you have maintained a healthy lifestyle early in life. To discover the secrets of staying mobile as you age, read this article.
If you want other helpful tips to keep you energized as you age, check out our FREE e-book Living and Aging the Way You Want. Inside you will find helpful bits of advice on living your best life. Download your PDF by clicking the icon below.
Confident Living is a continuing care at home membership program, focused on helping you remain active and independent as you age in your own home. We serve the greater Cincinnati area. For more information, contact us online or call (513) 719-3522.
