Research to empower the UK to age well

The OU has launched a campaign to encourage people over 50 to sign up for a month of healthy habits aimed at ageing well.

The Take Five to Age Well campaign builds upon the Five Pillars of Ageing Well, devised by Dr. Jitka Vseteckova, Senior Lecturer in Health and Social Care at The Open University, and is one of The Open University’s Open Societal Challenges which looks to use the power of the University’s research to address complex issues affecting society.

With an ever-increasing demand on adult social care services and the NHS across the UK, The Open University will help people take proactive care across the month of September in five key areas of their lives.

Top tips from Take Five to Age Well include:

• Stand on one leg whilst brushing your teeth – this is great for balance that become more and more important to avoid falls.
• Drink a glass of water before every snack and meal – this will help you stay hydrated (our hirst response weakens with age due to cognitive changes and so you need to proactively drink water even if you don’t feel thirsty).
• Choose a new vegetable you wouldn’t normally buy from the supermarket and look up a recipe that uses it.
• Spend 5 minutes doing something creative: draw a picture, play an instrument, do an origami online tutorial.
• Offer to walk someone’s dog – spending time with animals is calming and walking in nature is good for the body and brain.
• Laugh and have fun – the dose of dopamine from laughing stimulates the synthesis of new proteins in the brain, it also reduces stress and boosts mood. The average four year old laughs 300 times a day, whereas the average 40 year old laughs only four times.

Dr Jitka Vseteckova said:

“This campaign tackles an urgent national health challenge; we have an ageing population in a landscape of overwhelmed social care and NHS services. Through the Take Five to Age Well pledge we hope to engage people across the UK with their health and wellbeing.

“This will support the sustainability of existing interventions and contribute to our understanding of how we can effectively change our health related behaviours. We want to build a healthy population for a happier society.”

A version of this story, written by Chris Leaman, originally appeared on OU News.

Find out more about Take 5 to Age Well.

OU’s Open Societal Challenges Programme

The OU’s Open Societal Challenges Programme aims to tackle some of the most important societal challenges of our time through impact-driven research. ​

The Programme’s focus on the themes of Tackling Inequalities, Living Well and Sustainability aligns well with the OU’s mission to be open to people, places, methods and ideas.  ​

The Programme’s aim is to apply excellent research by OU academics to some of the most pressing challenges facing people across the UK and worldwide to transform lives and drive societal change.  ​