Healthy Aging

Healthy aging looks different for everyone. Healthy aging to me consists of social engagement, the ability to be mobile, to have cognitive functioning, and physical fitness. The level of all of these  would obviously vary. We can see differences in cultures and environments. Some individuals may not have access to some of these things. Healthcare is a primary example. Not having healthcare could lead to some physical health conditions, or disease. In these cases, individuals could still be considered healthy. You might see individuals with a disease still participating in society, maintaining relationships, being mobile, and meeting basic needs. Also, some individuals may need a little more of these characteristics than others. For example, someone might not need a ton of social engagement to be considered healthy. Healthy aging also depends on biology and our genetic makeup.  The World Health Organization says that healthy aging involves functional ability, then they state that “functional ability is about having the capabilities that enable all people to be and do what they have reason to value.” (https://www.who.int/ageing/healthy-ageing/en/) This would mean meeting basic needs, the ability to learn and grow, to be mobile, to build and maintain relationships, and to contribute to society. 

I have learned a lot about healthy aging in the past year. I started learning about the topic in a biology class I took in the beginning of the year, it has expanded to a couple more classes. Everyone’s definition of healthy aging is different and I can definitely say that my idea of healthy aging has changed over the past year. I believe that aging is mostly portrayed in the media (movies, news, social networking) as scary with a bunch of declines in different functioning. This isn’t the case and there are steps you can take to make sure that you are aging in a healthier manner.