If you or someone you know is getting older every year, this is the blog for you!

Hi and welcome to my blog!

Almost every person I know, whether they are young or old, wants to live in their own home till the day they die. But how do we give ourselves the best chance of achieving this? There are so many factors that go into “living a good life” or as it is often called in academic research “healthy or successful ageing”. My goal is to write a blog each month about my experiences in research and life that help you or people you love to think about how you can live independently for life.

I’m going to start with three categories, but who knows where we will be in 5 years! These categories are:

1)      Physical activity

Why, because it is my greatest passion, has been a factor in so many experiences of my life and is critical for independent living. Have you ever thought about how you get on and off the toilet or how you will keep doing so when you are well into your 100s? I will talk about being physically active, which is different from exercise (which I will chat about occasionally too) but being active has so many benefits for living independently.

2)      Ageing

It’s the spice of life and deserves a more positive wrap than the media and society give it. Older people are smart, funny and wise and it is usually when we start to get older or when we are spending time with an older relative or friend that we really begin to think about getting older and what might happen to us. While we are alive, we are ageing, every-single-one-of-us, and we can do things to help ourselves to age well when we are young, middle aged and older. I’ll provide evidence of how to do this but hopefully in a way that most of you can relate to and might even try.

3)      Academic life

I’m currently an Associate Professor of healthy ageing and a full-time researcher and I love what I do! Funding research and researchers is a tough game and, in the years to come I may move into a teaching and research role. Who knows what we can learn from the next generation who will complete University and go out and save the world!! For more information about me, feel free to browse the rest of my website and read through the boring academic stuff!

As I said, my goal for this blog is to help you or someone you know to live independently for as long as you choose by giving you information and suggestions on how to achieve this. Some you will love, others you won’t be happy about, and yes there is always the outlier that drinks, smokes and lives forever, but how many outliers are there really in healthy ageing and are you willing to bet you’re the outlier!

Each month I will include a tip or something for you to consider doing to help you live independently. Small but frequent actions can compound positively over time, give it a go over the next month and see how you find it.

Getting up and down from a low chair is easy for some, not so for others. We all love to relax in our lounge chair and watch TV, stream our favourite shows, do crafts or read a book. But can we all get up off the couch without using our hands for support? 

During the ad breaks of your favourite show or the end of a chapter simply try this:

Stand up and sit down five times from the chair. Aim to do this without using your hands to get up and when sitting down each time do it slowly so you’re not falling into the chair. 

Five times, every 10 mins, for one hour per day is 210 sits-to-stands a week, around 840 a month and 10,080 a year. Imagine how strong you will be this time next year because you did this!

Live the good life!