Hello, my name is Jitka Vseteckova and I am Senior Lecturer in Health and Social care
in Faculty of Wellbeing, Education and Language Studies
at The Open University.
As part of the Ageing Well mini lectures,
we’ll be exploring how important it is, over our lifespan,
to maintain a well-balanced nutrition and hydration
as well as regular physical and social activity in the older age.
We explore how using this knowledge might facilitate selfmanagement
and delay the ageing processes
for as much as we can.
As we know we start ageing the moment we are born,
it demonstrates more significantly
when we reach a certain age, the usual benchmark being 65+, but
our ageing starts much much sooner,
and the way ageing demonstrates when we are over 65
depends a lot on decisions, we have been making over our life span.
Today we’ll focus on social stimulation.
Linking cognitive and physical stimulation
with social stimulation
has been shown to be very effective
in sharpening, protecting
and preserving our social, cognitive and physical skills.
Social stimulation enhances massively cognitive functions.
If we want to stay in good physical
and mental health for longer,
we need to engage with things, places, people the world around us,
together with keeping an eye as well on nutrition,
good hydration, physical and cognitive stimulation.
As we grow older it is very important to make
time for activities we have always enjoyed in our lives.
Continuing favourite activities can ensure the sustainability of cognitive stimulation
and keep the practical functional benefits
(skills and capacities we do not want to lose).
Adding some new cognitive and /or social challenges
is also great!
Trying new activities enhances the brain plasticity greatly
by requiring new learning or development of new cognitive strategies.
Music lessons, learning a new
language, new sports – aqua aerobics, dances etc.
brings about phenomenal cognitive stimulation but also a social aspect of it.
Meeting new people and keeping interest in people we have known for a long time
is very important
and besides this being hugely cognitively stimulating
it is also a chance for us to get out on fresh air,
meet someone over a coffee
with plenty of water on the side
(please remember the importance of being well hydrated).
Social engagements make us feel alive.
Even if we do not necessarily agree with everyone, we meet 😊
they are massively brain stimulating and usually require us to go
somewhere too (which brings about the physical activity).
For example, enjoying a good meal in a company
is great and very stimulating too.
If you like a challenge you can engage in cognitively or socially challenging activities
generating so called ‘mental sweat’
– things you have been doing forever and know inside out
will not stimulate your brain so much anymore,
so something new and challenging is a good alternative.
Different types of cognitive
and social activities have been for years now
associated with preserving good cognitive skills and delaying the physical and cognitive
decline usually associated with ageing.
Regular activities both cognitive and physical
are necessary for preserving our brain and body functions.
Meeting new people and keeping going sometimes because we have met
interesting people that make us feel emotion, laughter, sometimes anger, but foremost
making us feel alive,
maybe another reason why we will go on a walking tour with people
we know even if we don’t feel up to it and
would rather stay home, because it is cold a miserable outside…
• Whatever motivates you to go somewhere
and do something use it.
• Research has also shown that broader social
networks and engagement with people
have been associated with reduced Alzheimer disease risk.
• So, whatever it is that motivates you,
the main thing is that you keep doing it!
I hope these mini lectures were helpful
and the useful tips might help you to enjoy
your life fully and independently for longer.
Don’t forget that the GP is your good partner
in keeping you in a good physical and mental health and wellbeing state.
But only you can make the decisions about what you are going to do,
who you are going to meet,
how much water you
are going to drink today
and whether or not
you will go out instead of staying home and even worse, just stay sitting.
By not going out you are missing
a lot of what is happening and
some of it may even cheer you up.
So, on your way to pick up a glass of water get your coat too and,
on the way, to enjoy the world
say also hi to your neighbour 😊 … and thanks for watching!
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