Your Health, your best “ASSET”
Published by the 1 of July of 2020 en Business environment, Leadership
Social distance due to COVID19 has made people focus on our own health. In the last weeks we have heard so much about taking care after vulnerable people with special health conditions. What actually we have in mind is elderly people, however COVID19 has not respect at all of age, social condition, etnic, and so on..
How can we become less vulnerable talking about our health?
In 1987, the scientists John Rowe and Robert Kanh developed “successful aging model” the most influential model of the last years which has been the framework for other researches later on.
The model has 3 fundamental elements all combined to get a successful elderly:
a) Maintain a low probability of illness or disable. This element is making us so vulnerable with COVID19. According to the model, this probability is directly linked to living styles during early ages more than genetics. Here prevention is the tool.
b) Maintain physically and mentally active. The first is liked to the capacity of elderly people to continue doing day to day activities easily and the second one is the capacity to maintain cognitive functions. Both are of high concern of elderly people. These both elements are linked since physical exercise makes the brain stimulates proper operation of the rest of the body, as well as the memory through the central nervous system.
c) Commitment with life. This third element is fundamental since it is related to personal relationships, love expression under daily basis for elderly and having activities to keep the busy, to give them the chance to earn money. Social distance has a huge impact on elderly on this matter.
However, the model also establish that since the 40´s (or before if possible), young adults start with prevention programmes about health care, cognitive development and physical exersice under daily basis at least 30 min. It is possible to be enrolled in just one of these programmes because of lack of time, other activities and life style. However, the ideal prevention programme includes a personal strategy to integrate all elements interrelated. Quarantine and social distance have demonstrated that technology helps a lot with videos, seminars, webinars, training, yoga and fitness, meditation and so on for free.
There are so much researches about this model to be able to support elderly people such as “Adultos en plenitud” programme at some universities and colleges and government programmes addressed to elderly such as community centers. However, COVID19 has demonstrated that we do not have to wait until we are 60´s to design personal prevention strategies for a healthy living style. We have to move from vulnerability since pandemics are not under our control, buy our living style is. I have already designed my personal strategy…what about you?
