HEALTHY AGING: MINDSET AND MOBILITY MATTER
Aging is often associated with inevitable physical and cognitive decline, but emerging evidence suggests many older adults maintain—or even improve—their function over time. A large longitudinal study published in Yale School of Public Health and reported in the journal Geriatrics found that more than 45% of adults age 65 and older demonstrated improvement in cognitive function, physical function, or both over more than a decade of follow-up.[1]
Researchers identified one major predictor of successful aging: positive beliefs about aging itself. Older adults with more optimistic attitudes toward aging were significantly more likely to improve in cognition and walking speed, a key geriatric “vital sign” strongly associated with disability, hospitalization, falls, and mortality.[1,2]
