Researchers examined the potential impact of lifestyle activities on the cognitive health of more than 3,500 individuals aged 60 and older. They found that personality, using the Orchid-Dandelian metaphor of psychology, may be a determinant of how effectively ancillary programs perform.
Researchers at Simon Fraser University’s Circle Innovation examined the potential effects of lifestyle activities on the cognitive health of more than 3,500 adults aged 60+. They found that the Orchid-Dandelian metaphor of personality-use psychology may be a factor in how well ancillary programs work.
Their results, published this month in the journal Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience, make a case for policymakers to consider designing programs tailored to personality types rather than a one-size-fits-all approach. “These discoveries offer new possibilities to support aging adults and provide substantial evidence for new socially scheduled programs,” says Sylvain Moreno, CEO and scientific director of Circle Innovation.
Understanding how personality differences affect an aging population can help decision-makers provide solutions to older adults tailored to their individual needs. Those that may be considered ‘orchid adults’ grow best in ideal conditions, as they are more sensitive and biologically reactive, while ‘dandelion adults’ are known to be resilient and readily adapt to any environment. can be adapted to.
This means orchid individuals may need more nutritional solutions, the researchers say. “These older adults are more delicate, as they represent a delicate flower, and therefore are more likely to worry about ongoing health and housing problems, the economy or the global pandemic,” says study researcher Emma Rodrigues, SFU PhD student. Get ahead of the news.”
On the other hand, dandelion retirees are relatively less environmentally sensitive and more resilient to degradation in poor environmental conditions. The lesson here is that we must stop pigeonholing older adults into a segment of our population. These results demonstrate that trajectories of aging may vary depending on whether the environment affects an individual.
Also read: E-gaming can cause life-threatening cardiac arrhythmias in children: Study
According to the researchers, understanding how modifiable lifestyle factors can maintain or promote cognitive health could lead to a healthier aging population.