Several authors have suggested simple strategies for successful aging. The model(s), with modifications and reservations, can be beneficial for LGBT older adults too.
John W. Rowe and Robert L. Kahn, in their 1998 book Successful Aging[i], posited three strategies for aging successfully: engage in an active lifestyle, minimize the risk factors for disease and disability associated with aging, and maximize physical and mental activities. In 2002, Martha R. Crowther writing with four others in The Gerontologist[ii], added a fourth: positive spirituality.
In many ways, the advice seems like a no-brainer. It is also deceptively simple. Who wouldn't want to avoid illness and disability connected with aging? The means to arriving at that goal can be difficult; another case of 'easier said than done'. The same old advice pertains: Eat a balanced diet, exercise regularly, avoid risky behavior. Examples of these strategies include: Eat more fish, vegetables and whole grains and less meat; quit smoking; wear a seat belt; don't engage in unprotected sex; get out of your easy chair and start walking. Who wouldn't want to maintain an active lifestyle? But what do you do when the aches and pains of aging get in the way? What if the side effects, such as shortness of breath, of your life-prolonging medication hold you back? Adapt. For instance, walking slowly 10 minutes a day is far better than not moving at all.
Here's where positive spirituality comes in. Positive spirituality is not religion, per se, although it can include it. Many LGBT people have been hurt by organized religion. Spirituality, however, is personal and individualistic. "Positive spirituality involves a developing and internalized personal relation with the sacred or transcendent ... and promotes the wellness and welfare of self and others," according to Crowther[iii]. Positive spirituality directs the practitioner both in and out. It encourages personal growth (internal) while helping others (external).
Taken all together, changes suggested by the successful aging model may seem impossible. Taken one at a time, they are much more doable. The first step may be the hardest; each subsequent step can bring incremental improvement.
[i] New York: Pantheon/Random House
[ii] Vol. 42, No. 5, 613-620 |