A long-term Yale study is challenging what we believe and take for granted about aging – namely that is is a steady decline in health and well-being. What the study found was that nearly half of adults over 65 actually improved physically, mentally, or both over time, despite that common belief. And what is more, researchers found that people with more positive attitudes about getting older were significantly more likely to show these gains.
The study drew on more than a decade of data from a large, nationally representative study of older Americans and its findings suggest that improvement in later life is far more common than most people realise.
“Many people equate aging with an inevitable and continuous loss of physical and cognitive abilities,” said Becca R. Levy, lead author of the study and professor of social and behavioural sciences at the Yale. “What we found is that improvement in later life is not rare, it’s common, and it should be included in our understanding of the aging process.”
Read the article in Science Daily, and download the full study for free in pdf, here.