While wellness for older adults is essential all year long, August is recognized as National Wellness Month. It’s a time to focus on the habits that support you in feeling your best. Wellness for older adults goes beyond physical health and prevention of illness. During the Golden Years the key elements of wellness include: 

• Emotional Fulfillment and Social Connection
• Mental Stimulation 
• Physical Movement

Let’s take a closer look at each of these; then, check-out our tips to help you create a wellness routine in older adulthood.

• Emotional Fulfillment and Social Connection

Having opportunities to connect socially is directly related to feeling emotionally fulfilled. These two areas of wellness intersect, and both are vital to older adult well-being. You don’t need to be a socially butterfly, but you do need to have outlets to connect with others as these engagements help combat loneliness, depression, anxiety, and support overall healthy aging. 

How an older adult defines emotional fulfillment, and the extent of their social connections will vary for each person. At Everbrook Senior Living, we offer programs that support older adults as they explore activities and engagements that creates a sense of purpose and brings more meaning to their lives.

• Mental Stimulation 

An active mind promotes brain health and protects against cognitive decline. This means your better able to focus, concentrate, recall information, and engage in problem-solving. Now, you don’t have to solve calculus problems as a hobby to keep an active mind! Daily mental stimulation through games, puzzles, art and music, travel, book clubs, volunteering, or nurturing an existing or new hobby are all great ways to support brain health.

• Physical Movement

Keeping physically active as an older adult is essential for your mobility, balance and coordination, muscle strength and stamina, heart health, and brain health, too! Whether you walk, swim, practice yoga, hike or garden, movement on a daily basis protects against diabetes, heart disease, and cancer. Exercise routines tailored to older adults helps older adults maintain their independent longer, too. 

Never too Late for Wellness in Older Adulthood 

Transitioning from the busy, working adult years into active older adulthood brings about many changes. If you’ve had the benefit of planning ahead for your emotional, mental, and physical wellbeing in older adulthood—good for you! If you haven’t—or if you’re struggling now to find balance in these essential areas of wellness, it’s not too late to get started.

Here are three easy ways to begin:

1. Prioritize Self-Care. Self-care means putting first the things that matter most to sustain your health and vitality. This includes healthy nourishment, sufficient sleep, adequate water intake, taking medicines as prescribed, tending to preventive health screenings, drinking in moderation, avoiding nicotine, caffeine and processed foods, and making time for family and friends. If you’re struggling to prioritize self-care, consider talking to a health coach who specializes in older adult wellness.
2. Manage Stress. Yes, managing stress is a part of self-care, but it’s so important to mental and physical health (at every age) that it gets special attention. For older adults, chronic stress can make existing health conditions worse and trigger new health problems. Stress is linked to illnesses such as autoimmune conditions, heart disease, cancer, dementia, and anxiety and depression. One of the best and simplest ways to manage stress is to spend time in nature. Also consider yoga, mindfulness meditation, and learning deep breathing techniques.
3. Create a Daily Routine. You might need to look at your daily routine to identify where you are wasting energy and time on things that don’t matter and don’t support health. Routines create stability, reduce stress, and even promote happiness. Change is not always easy, but it doesn’t have to be hard. Start small and stay consistent. Consider telling one close friend or family member what you’re wanting to accomplish and ask them to be your accountability partner. You’ll have a greater likelihood of success with social support! 

The communities at Everbrook Senior Living provide every resident with opportunities to participate in physical activities, social engagements, creative outlets, and much more. Our dedicated and compassionate staff will support you in establishing routines that mesh with your unique needs, interests, and goals—in all the key areas of older adult wellness. If you’re curious about what life could have in store for you in the Golden Years... come visit Everbook Senior Living and discover the possibilities for a healthy, active and vibrant life – the life you deserve.