\u201cA lot of people say, for older adults, it\u2019s an inevitable decline until you are in disability, then death,\u201d said Esme Fuller-Thomson, one of the study’s co-authors.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThat was not our finding here. Many people who were struggling were able to reclaim optimal well-being,\u201d said Fuller-Thomson, who is also a professor and the director of the University of Toronto’s Institute for Life Course and Aging.<\/p>\n
The study followed more than 8,300 older Canadians with a variety of health issues \u2014 like psychological problems, physical ailments or chronic pain \u2014 over three years. They found that those who were physically active, socially connected and psychologically well were more likely to bounce back from a period of bad health or illness.<\/p>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/1760346968_224_default.jpg\")
Martens, 79, started powerlifting after a health scare last year. Now, the Winnipeg senior he says he feels better than he has in years. (Jeff Stapleton\/CBC)<\/p>\n
\u201cWe find it very encouraging as well as inspiring,\u201d said Mabel Ho, a research affiliate at the University of Toronto\u2019s Faculty of Social Work and one of the study’s co-authors.<\/p>\n
She says the study shows people can take action at any age to improve their health and quality of life.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cKeeping yourself physically active, not being obese, not smoking, having good sleep \u2014 those are things that we can all do,\u201d Ho said.<\/p>\n
And there’s a role for those around the person who’s recovering, too.<\/p>\n
WATCH | How exercise can benefit those recovering from colon cancer:![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/1757509628_431_default.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Study finds exercise improves life expectancy, decreases recurrence of colon cancer<\/p>\n
Patients recovering from colon cancer say exercise helped them to get better. Research shows it also decreases the risk of death and recurrence of cancer.The ‘epidemic’ of loneliness<\/p>\n
Another factor linked to how effectively older people recover from injury or illness is their psychological and social well-being, the researchers say.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo have someone to talk to, someone who loves you, someone to confide with you \u2014 that social connection is also very important,\u201d Ho said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/1760346969_953_default.jpg\")
Study co-author Mabel Ho says social and psychological well-being appear to be strongly linked to how well older adults bounce back from health issues. (Jennifer Yoon\/CBC)<\/p>\n
Study participants who didn’t have strong friendships or relationships fared poorly, with fewer than one in 10 recovering.<\/p>\n
\u201cLoneliness is an epidemic among older adults,\u201d said Fuller-Thomson. <\/p>\n
She\u2019s especially worried about two groups: those who have recently retired, and those who have been widowed.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe workplace, sometimes that\u2019s been your major location of social connections. And widows and widowers tend to struggle,” said Fuller-Thomson. “Because not only did they lose their best friend, sometimes they lost their social co-ordinator.\u201d<\/p>\n
Greg Karman, 63, is going through that grief right now. After his recent retirement, he lost his wife of 36 years in September. But less than a week after she died, he found himself back in the gym where they would lift weights together.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can tune out the rest of the feelings and work out for a few hours \u2014 it\u2019s a part of the [grieving] process,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/1760346970_601_default.jpg\")
Karman, 63, started lifting weights with his wife. A month after her death, he says coming back to the gym where they worked out together is helping him through his grief. (Jeff Stapleton\/CBC)<\/p>\n
The exercise helps, but so do the people, Karman says. <\/p>\n
Everybody at the gym knew his wife, Manny Martins-Karman. Now, he\u2019s making more of an effort to get to know her friends at the gym and hold on to that social network.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cEveryone here is very, very supportive.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Having access to psychological support can also help people recover from difficult periods, says Fuller-Thomson. <\/p>\n
Some studies have noted that psychological treatments such as cognitive behavioural therapy can be effective for older adults struggling with \u00a0depression, anxiety\u00a0<\/a>, or \u00a0even insomnia<\/a>. <\/p>\n WATCH | How predicting health decline can help seniors age well: Predicting health decline is key to helping seniors age well, advocate says<\/p>\n Susan Walsh, Newfoundland and Labrador\u2019s seniors\u2019 advocate, released a new report on Thursday called An Ounce of Prevention is Worth a Pound of Cure. Walsh says planning ahead before a person\u2019s decline in health is key in dictating their future.Checking in on loved ones<\/p>\n Dr. Samir Sinha, a geriatrician at Sinai Health in Toronto, says he sometimes hears pessimism from his patients when they realize how quickly they can lose function as they age.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople say, ‘Well, I\u2019m older, so I don\u2019t know if I can actually recover what I\u2019ve lost.’ It\u2019s incredibly demoralizing when people see how quickly they can lose function,\u201d said Samir, who was not involved with the study.\u00a0<\/p>\n This study reminds people they can be resilient in some way, no matter their age, Sinha says.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s amazing when you can help turn peoples\u2019 attitudes around and remind them there are many things they can do,” he said. “You can give people hope.\u201d<\/p>\n Sinha says Thanksgiving is a good time to check in on loved ones, offer support and remind older relatives that they’re not alone.<\/p>\n \u201cI think Thanksgiving is a great time where we get together, see how we are doing in person, and then really kind of [provide] encouragement and support to our loved ones.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ken Martens, 79, smears chalk all over his hands and gets ready for his workout. He deadlifts 230…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":196755,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[46],"tags":[6647,102,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-196754","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-fitness","8":"tag-fitness","9":"tag-health","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom","12":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/196754","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=196754"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/196754\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/196755"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=196754"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=196754"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=196754"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/1760346970_467_default.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"Man](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/1760346970_860_default.jpg\")
Dr. Samir Sinha, a geriatrician at Sinai Health in Toronto who specializes in treating older adults, hopes family members will check in on older relatives over Thanksgiving to make sure they’re well-supported. (Turgut Yeter\/CBC)<\/p>\n