Later Life Preparation – Having heard some exciting news!
The Harvard Medical School for more than 20 years now, organizes and hosts seminars, that are also available online, focusing on various medical issues. One very important issue addressed recently, was active ageing. Entitled “The Art of Ageing Well” , the seminar posed contemporary questions such as “Is age just a number?… How will medical and technology advances redefine biological ageing? …what healthy ageing means? What discoveries could help to improve the experience of ageing?” and gave amazingly hopeful answers.
Reaction to these issues and contemplating or planning for later Life arrival is not uniform across European countries. But when is the right time to start? Is there such a thing as the right time? Where does one start from? Is there a fixed starting point?
SenQuality Project
The points emphasized before, are addressed by SenQuality, which is an Erasmus+ project implemented by various organizations from Germany, Greece, Spain, Italy, Cyprus, Slovenia, and Poland. The project is focused on raising public awareness of issues related to Later Life planning and on promoting the concept of active ageing providing corresponding information and experiences.
Practical Guide for Later Life preparation
The project’s partnership has already implemented relevant research which led to the production of a practical guide, made available through its website, to facilitate proactive adults preoccupied about the matter and promote and/or raise awareness to those who are interested, but do not know where from or when to start. A viewer of “The Art of Ageing Well” seminar commented: “… at 60, and I took care of my health ever since. Genes, diet, exercise, finance, and Internet played important roles. I can still drive my car, walk and think, although I’m getting more absent minded. I am 89 years old and still married.”
The research and study resulted in 9 different life’s domains, which are key factors when considering planning and preparing for Later Life, such as:
- Finances
- Emergencies and exceptional circumstances
- Mental and physical fitness
- Housing
- Looks and appearance
- Social relationships
- Health
- Leisure activities and lifestyle
- Work and employment
Each one of these domains, are accompanied by practical guidance on how to take well-weighed steps towards a fulfilled Later life, on top of some more general tips on planning and decision making. There is also an annex available, that is actually a summary of the research documented and shared results, in which 125 people participated, under the title: experiences regarding Later life preparation. To conclude, if you are interested in background information about demographic change in Europe, please view “Ageing in Europe” section.
Preparing and planning for Later life has no right or wrong time, a right or wrong starting point. It is mainly personal, and SenQuality project aims at giving everybody their own starting point at their own pace!!
For further information regarding the project and its activities, please follow the project’s Website and Facebook.
