The Activity Theory of Ageing

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Successful ageing can occur as a result of involvement in activities.

(McIntyre & Atwal, 2005)

The activity theory of ageing has the core idea that if a person is involved in activities they are more likely to age successfully. After studying the theory of succesful ageing and then this theory of activity it was becoming more clear to me that activity is crucial in order for a person to age well. The more active you are the less chance there is of  a person becoming ill. This further backed up my previous knowledge regarding how meaningful occupations can be to a person. I had already understood the importance of a person being occupied but I now see how older people often need extra help getting involved with society and that the older population are often overlooked in regards to their physical and social needs.

Active ageing is believed to "extend healthy life expectancy and quality of life for all people as they age" (WHO, 2011). As most occupations are associated with some physical or social aspect it became obvious to me that occupations like lawn bowls, tai chi and gardening may seem simple and unimportant, but these occupations can actually improve an older persons overall health. An example of this is weeding the garden which would improve mental health by stimulating the brain and provide them with a sense of satisfaction once all of the garden is tidy. As with lawn bowls, which gives the individual a chance to socialize with others, and get physically active. I think that occupational therapists are very aware of the fact that every person has a need to "do" and our unique occupational perspective can be used well with the older population to get them active and thus prevent them from acquiring further illness. Even if the occupation being used does not require a huge amount of physical effort it will still be beneficial  if it has meaning to the person as "even activities with little or no physical exertion have psychosocial and physiological benefits that reduce stress and positively influence the immune response in the older person ( Mackenzie & O' Toole, 2011, p.11).

References:

Mackenzie, L., & O'Toole, G. (2011). Occupation analysis in practice (pp. 11-15). Ames: IA: Blackwell Publishinging Ltd.

McIntyre, A., & Atwal, A. (2005). Introduction. In A. McIntyre & A. Atwal (Eds.), Occupational therapy and older people. (pp. 1-13). Oxford: Blackwell publishing Ltd.

WHO. (2011). What is active ageing?. In Aging and life course . Retrieved November 21, 2011, from http://www.who.int/healthinfo