Canadian women live about 4 years longer than men, but women over 65 are more likely to develop dementia, osteoporosis, osteoarthritis, depression, stroke, and migraines. Greater awareness of these elevated risks enables older women to prevent or manage conditions such as dementia with personalized lifestyle prescriptions, and arthritis with range-of-motion exercises. Strengthening social connections can prevent or ease depression, and brisk daily walks can help keep bones strong.

Social isolation increases the risks of heart disease, infectious illness, anxiety, depression, and cognitive decline. Retirement living can contribute to a solution by offering seniors more daily opportunities to socialize with peers through recreational activities, themed social events, discussion groups and meals with friends. Socializing in a retirement community can improve health by strengthening the heart, reducing depression and anxiety, boosting brain health and immunity, and encouraging more physical activity.

Looking for ways to spend more time with your grandchildren this winter? Here are some great ideas for turning cold, snowy days (and nights) into an indoor winter fun-land!

Maintaining a healthy, stable weight can be challenging for older adults due to factors such as a slowing metabolism, reduced calorie needs and changes in sense of smell and taste. Eating frequent smaller meals, choosing nutrient-dense foods, and dining with others can increase the appetite of seniors trying to gain weight. Exercising regularly, shifting to healthier food choices, and reducing portion sizes can be helpful in reducing excess weight.

People often find it challenging to keep their New Year’s resolutions. But moving into a retirement community could be a catalyst and opportunity for you to realize and stick with your health resolutions. Easy access to recreational activities that increase mobility, endurance and flexibility, brain fitness and art enrichment programs, and tasty, nutritious meals with friends can help make your health goals doable and sustainable.

The holiday season is meant to be joyful, but it can be stressful too. Self-care is especially important for older adults to help manage disruptions in eating, exercise and sleeping schedules, and pressure to overdo social activities. By keeping physically active, practicing relaxation techniques, eating rich foods in moderation, and getting enough sleep, you can reduce stress, recharge, and stay healthy to fully enjoy your time with family and friends.

Looking for a way to boost your walking power that’s also joint friendly, gives you an upper-body and core workout, and helps your balance too? Welcome to Nordic pole walking, a fun—and senior friendly activity—that all people, including those with arthritis, shoulder problems, and Parkinson’s, may find enjoyable and helpful in managing their health.

Feeling gratitude and expressing appreciation have a positive impact on your physical and mental health because these emotions and attitudes lower stress, foster strong social connections, and encourage a healthy lifestyle. Studies show thankfulness strengthens and heals the heart, increases empathy, and eases depression. A grateful disposition also bolsters immunity, improves sleep, and promotes healthy habits.

Many factors contribute to healthy aging, including staying physically, mentally, and socially active, and nutritious eating. Retirement communities support healthy aging by offering residents opportunities to connect socially with peers, engage in mentally stimulating activities, and do physical activities that build or maintain endurance, strength, flexibility, and balance. Participation in the arts and volunteering also enhances and enriches the health and well-being of residents in their daily lives.

Regular physical activity helps to prevent chronic disease and promote brain health in older adults in multiple ways. Studies show that moderate-intensity aerobic exercise boosts episodic and short-memory, lifts mood, sharpens thinking, and improves decision-making. Engaging in various kinds of physical activity, including yoga and tai chi, also helps to ease stress and anxiety, increase deep sleep and sleep duration, and relieve chronic pain.

Older adults who do volunteer work to help others, such as mentoring children in need, aiding refugees or addressing climate change enjoy better health and find meaning and purpose in daily life. Doing good through formal or informal volunteering lifts mood, protects the heart, preserves memory, and reduces dementia risk. Volunteering also helps to ease stress, anxiety, and chronic pain, reduce disability risk, and add years to life.

If you‘ve fallen into believing your individual efforts to go green won’t make a difference, think about your grand- and great-grandchildren, and the kind of world they will inherit. Also consider that there are over seven million people over 65 in Canada today*; if every senior were to implement even one of the following eco-friendly suggestions, think of the difference it would make!