We age healthier together

We all want to age healthily and live out our old age as independently as possible without assistance. To achieve this, some people start early in life with a healthy lifestyle and daily exercises to help keep their bodies as supple and agile as possible. But that alone is not enough. A new study from Japan shows that community activities are of great importance for health.

The older we get, the lonelier we become on average. This is due to the fact that many social encounters are lost due to the loss of professional life, we may no longer want to or be able to pursue some hobbies, and friendships become somewhat looser because we can no longer do what we want. Many older people also find it increasingly difficult to make new contacts. Important people die and leave a big hole.

Japanese study on frailty

However, a new study from Japan, the country with the oldest average population in the world, has found that people who are not yet in need of care, or who need it only slightly, were able to reduce the risk of frailty by up to 40 percent through social activities in the community outside their own four walls. In this case, frailty means a decline in physical and mental abilities.

Prevention is the best weapon against it.

And prevention in this sense means joining a community, be it volunteering, working in a neighborhood service, meeting up frequently with friends or finding a hobby where you can interact with others. Dementia can also be significantly delayed if those affected have a lot of social interaction and also make connections in communities, according to a long-term study in London.

"It's not just social contacts that are very important for health. Social participation is also very important for health at all stages of life. For older people in particular, it is important to have a reason to get out of the house," says Cornelia Mahler, a nursing scientist at the University of Tübingen.