Live Longer Better
  • Your journey
    • More About the Optimal Ageing Programme >
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    • Using the right words right; ageing, fitness, disease and beliefs >
      • Bad language about older people
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      • Some people got a better start than others
      • the impact of isolation is now recognised
      • The physical environment is the cause of many problems blamed on ageing
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      • what would a good life in your late 80s be likel
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  • Get physically better
    • Increase strength, stamina, suppleness and skill >
      • Strength
      • Stamina
      • Skill
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      • Work hard
      • Brisk walking >
        • Virtual Walking
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          • Restart swimming
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      • If you have difficulty walking briskly
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      • Find a Trainer
    • Reduce your risk of disease >
      • Eat Well
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      • We need a revolution
    • Look after your body >
      • Happy and Positive Birthday >
        • Sod 60!
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        • Sod It! Eat Well
        • Sod Sittin, Get Moving!
      • Skin maintenance
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      • Feet maintenance
      • Bone, joint and muscle maintenance
      • Bowel maintenance
      • Brain maintenance
      • Mind maintenance
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      • Waterworks maintenance for men
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      • See as clearly as possible
      • Keep your Hearing as acute as possible
    • If disease occurs - Optimise Your Healthcare >
      • Living with a common condition >
        • Arthritis
        • Cancer
        • COPD _ Bronchitis
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      • Making a big decision >
        • Should i have a hip replacement ?
      • Consequences of common conditions >
        • Loss of status
        • Disability and handicap
        • Isolation
        • Depression
        • Frailty
      • Look out for social as well as drug prescribing >
        • Enjoy Activity Therapy
      • What you can do to help the NHS even more
  • Think better
    • Train your brain ; we now know the brain can get fitter at any age
    • Understanding Dementia & Alzheimer's Disease
    • Reduce your risk of dementia >
      • Stimulate your brain more every year >
        • Learning new skills and build on your assets
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        • Air pollution and dementia
      • Keep the oxygen flowing
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    • Stay engaged and don't lose your sense of purpose
    • Feel even better by helping other people even more
    • Meet others like you
    • Optimise the Internet >
      • My Virtual Reality
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    • Feel better by visiting Great Places >
      • Visit the great Museums
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    • Feel better by learning new skills and ideas
    • Feel better by joining a club to play games and meet others >
      • Chess Club
      • Bingo club
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    • Feel better by supporting nature >
      • Visit the great gardens
    • Feeling Better by Going Down Memory Lane >
      • Sporting memories are powerful
  • Understand better
    • Ageing is a normal biological process
    • From 40 to 90 loss of fitness is serious
    • The effects of disease are often compounded by loss of fitness
    • Negative beliefs and attitudes have a huge impact
    • The importance of planning with purpose
    • The Ageing Brain and the Maturing Mind
    • Strength and Power can always be increased
    • Skill and co-ordination can be improved at any age
    • Stamina can be improved by brisk walking
    • Suppleness can always be improved and stiffness always reduced
    • Activity Therapy is of vital importance

Nature Watch

ENJOY AND SUPPORT NATURE 

 
Nature is of vital importance for two reasons.

NATURE COUNTERS GLOBAL WARMING 

The first is that nature provides the only effective measure against global warming.  It may be that we will use less carbon in future but with the increase in the total number of people on the planet even a 10% reduction in carbon use by individuals will be offset by the increased number of people driving cars, using electricity and using the internet, an unrecognised consumer of energy and producer of carbon.  The Amazon fires of the summer 2019 brought this issue to public attention as never before but we must do what we can to preserve and increase the greenery of our planet.

This is of vital importance for those who will be occupying the planet in twenty, thirty or forty years namely the children, grand-children and great-grandchildren of people in their sixties, seventies and eighties so it is very important for people in their sixties and beyond to campaign and raise funds for nature. The science is clearly described in the Oxford Textbook of Nature and Public Health

One project designed to tackle this is the NHS Forest which aims to plan 1.4 million trees, one for everyone who is working in the NHS.  They need money and voluntary help and you can find out more about the NHS Forest on their website, www.nhsforest.org/   


NATURE HAS THERAPEUTIC EFFECTS - IT HELPS PEOPLE FEEL BETTER 
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The second reason why nature is important because it has a direct beneficial effect on health.  In cities green roofs and green spaces consume pollution and even the humble moss which we have all scraped away from garden paths has been shown to be a major consumer of pollutants in cities, with green panels of moss now starting to feature in all cities.

The Japanese call it Shinrin-Yoku or Forest bathing and it is beautifully described in the book of that name by Dr Qing Li

However it is the mental health effects of greenery that are also receiving increasing attention and people who get treatment in a place surrounded by greenery or even where they can see trees report a better result than people in some impersonal building with no greenery within sight.  
 
For people who are housebound the wonders of the internet and virtual reality offers an experience which is not as good as standing and smelling a forest glade but to watch nature change and to develop an attachment to a particular piece of nature for example a bird’s nest or a rabbit burrow or a hedge row is good for health.
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