(Editor’s note: This content is provided by The John A. Hartford Foundation, a Next Avenue funder.) As you get older, your medical care can ripple across every aspect of your life. It might be a prescription that makes you too tired for dinner with the… Continue reading
(In 2008, National Geographic writer Dan Buettner published his bestselling book, The Blue Zones: 9 Lessons for Living Longer From the People Who’ve Lived the Longest, about the five “longevity pockets” around the world. For this weekly series, Next Av… Continue reading
Like any self-disrespecting woman, I’ve spent a lifetime of mirror scrutiny (and cash) on my thighs, hips, heart, back, post-baby belly, even my eyebrows. For all this investment, I’ve paid scant attention to the one irreplaceable body part that keeps … Continue reading
About two decades ago, Laura Gassner Otting was a successful, turbocharged executive recruiter for nonprofits. But, she writes in her new book Limitless, she felt “bored, unsatisfied and empty.” And, she told me in an interview, “I was stuck by the de… Continue reading
(This article appeared previously in Kaiser Health News.) For years, Dr. Linda Fried offered older patients who complained of being lonely what seemed to be sensible guidance. “Go out and find something that matters to you,” she would say. But her well… Continue reading
Mall stores are shuttering, and David Brown is shuddering to think what mall walkers can do when the malls close, too. By title, Brown is a behavioral scientist with the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) division of nutrition, … Continue reading
When I was asked to contribute to an international survey on “What is most important for well-being in later life?” my first response was: Oh, I can easily come up with an answer to that question. A few seconds after I said yes, I realized that I shoul… Continue reading
Every 10 years, my husband and I undertake a long-distance walk somewhere in the world. The year I turned 30, Barry and I spent three weeks walking the Muktinath Trail in the Himalayas. When I was 40, we walked the four-day Inca Trail, ending at Macchu… Continue reading
Resilience. Authenticity. Bliss. These are important words in Mary Pipher’s new book Women Rowing North: Navigating Life’s Currents and Flourishing as We Age. And then there’s schlimmbesserung, a German word that means “to be worsened by improvement.” … Continue reading
Like many of us approaching retirement age, just hearing the word retirement triggers my anxiety, particularly when I hear experts say how much boomers my age should be saving. The fortunate boomers have cushions of 401(k)s, pensions and real estate. T… Continue reading