How a positive mental attitude can help you live better for longer
Being positive can have a major impact on your health. A study by Johns Hopkins School of Medicine Faculty showed that those with a family history of heart disease and had a positive attitude were 30% less likely to have a heart attack than those who had a negative attitude. Even those with the most risk factors for coronary artery disease were still 13% less likely to suffer a heart attack.
Taking the heat out of stress
The science behind a positive mental attitude (PMA) is becoming clearer, as studies investigate the strong link between being positive and your overall health. As the Johns Hopkins article explained:
“Researchers suspect that people who are more positive may be better protected against the inflammatory damage of stress. Another possibility is that hope and positivity help people make better health and life decisions and focus more on long-term goals.”
Reframing: changing the way we view life
One of the team’s recommendations to building a PMA is to practice reframing any given situation by giving it a positive spin. For example, standing in a long line at the supermarket isn’t necessarily a frustrating waste of time but a chance to chat to someone new in the queue, catch up with some news on your smartphone, or just to remind yourself how lucky we are in Canada to have access to fresh, healthy food often produced here in our own country.
It also works in reframing larger life challenges. As you age, your mobility may restrict your movements and you spend more time inside, but when reframed, that’s just an opportunity to listen to music, read a book, call a friend, and not feel guilty about someone else shovelling all that snow!
Reframing home care
When concerned adult children talk to us about home care for their loved one, they often say that their aging parents see their declining ability to look after themselves as embarrassing, a failure, the beginning of a slippery slope downwards.
Instead we suggest reframing home care as enabling their parents to lead better lives and add life to their years. With the burdens of everyday life shared or handed over to the caregiver, from personal care to laundry, seniors can have time and energy to do what they actually enjoy doing! Our home care team can also take care of other chores and jobs through our hand-picked local partners, from transport to medical appointments to sidewalk snow clearance.
That also means that you as adult children can relax and enjoy your own lives more, with the reassurance that someone is taking very good care of Mom or Dad (or both).
Building on your strengths
A paper in Nature pointed to a possible reason why seniors may have problems maintaining a positive attitude in later life:
“Most of the interventions aimed at improving the health and quality of life of older adults have adopted a problem-oriented or weakness-focused approach. However, a positive or strengths-focused approach can also have a virtuous but more effective capacity to contribute to the well-being and life satisfaction of older adults.“
In the research, one half of the research groups had weekly 90 mins sessions of “Positive thinking training through written homework for reflection, group discussion, and media.” The results showed improved resilience and life satisfaction in those older adults who underwent the training.
Improving life satisfaction with Vytality at Home
This isn’t a big surprise for us here at Vytality at Home. Our caregivers provide our clients with companionship, compassionate care and cognitive stimulation, all in a minimum 2 hour visit. Our approach is always to enable and boost enjoyment, not to just ‘do the necessaries’. Our caregivers are recruited as much for their positive approach and ‘can do’ attitude as for their exceptional caring and practical skills.
Positive home care in Calgary
For more information on our home care services here in Calgary, or to book a consultation for you or a loved one, just get in contact.
