Age UK have recently published results of their “Wellbeing Index” and found that age isn’t a barrier to living well and that being “creative” and “open” boosts wellbeing in later life. The Wellbeing in Later Life Index, developed by Age UK and the University of Southampton, analysed data from 15,000 people aged 60 and over to measure the wellbeing of the UK’s older population. It looked at how people were doing in different aspects of their lives under five key areas – social, personal, health, financial and environmental. Overall it showed there is no ‘magic bullet’ for positive wellbeing in later life and that instead, a whole host of factors under each of the key areas play a part in contributing to a person’s overall sense of wellbeing. Factors which were found to have a bigger influence in improving peoples’ wellbeing than many people might suppose included: having an open personality and being willing to try out new things; being physically active; having a good memory and thinking skills; and a good social network and lots of warm relationships around you. Interestingly however, the Index found that taking part in ‘creative activities’ such as the arts had the most direct influence in improving a person’s wellbeing in later life.
The activities that older people took part in included dancing, playing a musical instrument, visiting museums, photography, singing, painting and writing. Caroline Abrahams, Charity Director at Age UK, said: ‘The good news from our Index is that age need not be a barrier to wellbeing and that there are things we can all do to make life better for individual older people, for our older population as a whole and indeed for ourselves as we age. Being positive and open, willing to try out new things, and engaged with what’s going on around us turns out to be incredibly important in sustaining our wellbeing as we get older. Things like playing the piano, singing or dancing all seem to do a lot to help. To some extent we can all act on messages like these but we also need to be realistic and recognise that it is a lot easier to be positive, outgoing and involved if you are in good mental and physical health, financially secure, and well supported by family and friends than if none of these things are in place. More generally, an overall wellbeing score of just over fifty per cent across our entire older population is a cause for concern – we think we should be doing a lot better.’
Do ask your local Age UK branch for details of creative activities you can get involved in locally. We also have a very creative bunch on the Home & Company team, from writers and photographers, to artists, musicians and singers. If you would like to know more about getting creative with one of our team just give us a ring.