|
The study also identifies a fifth group, Pessimists, representing
11% of the population.
The first two lifelong learning groups, Focused Mental Achievers
and Contented Recreational Learners, together represent 47% of
the 55+ population. These groups are characterized by extraordinarily
high levels of activity, high levels of formal education, and
high measures of optimism and life satisfaction. These two groups,
Elderhostel found, are the keys to understanding why lifelong
and later-life learning remain keys to healthy aging.
After identifying the five segments of the 55+ population in
general, Elderhostel then surveyed a second sample, this time
limited to Elderhostelers. Eighty four percent of Elderhostelers
fell into the top two categories, with 49% in the Focused Mental
Achiever group (more than in the top two groups combined in the
general sample) and an additional 35% in the Contented Recreational
Learner group.
“We’ve known since our founding that Elderhostelers
are different from other people,” explained Peter Spiers,
Elderhostel’s Vice President of Communications and Marketing
and the author of the study. “Elderhostelers are almost
impossibly hale, hearty, curious and tenacious, and often active
well into their eighties and nineties. They’ve redefined
what it means to be old in our society. As the Baby Boom generation
hits its sixties, we wanted to look for guidance on how to age
with equal success.”
Spiers added that while he expected Elderhostelers to score higher
than the rest of the 55+ population, he was nonetheless surprised
by the disparity of the results. “The general public widely
believes the notion of ‘use it or lose it’ in connection
with brain health. The idea is also gaining increased support
in the scientific community. We’re hoping that this study
can serve as a roadmap for healthy aging as people live longer
and fuller lives than ever before.”
Spiers offered one reason why Elderhostelers have remained so
mentally active for so long. “The Elderhostelers we surveyed
reported an astounding amount of physical and mental activity.
Many Elderhostelers combined physical and mental activity at once,
in hobbies like ballroom dancing. Educational travel also combines
both physical and mental activity, and that draws later-life learners
to our programs.”
Elderhostel’s study is available at http://www.elderhostel.org/research/lifelonglearning/lifelonglearning.asp
The document is in pdf format and highlights the methodologies
and mental activities Elderhostel used in compiling the research.
Elderhostel, founded in 1975, is the world’s largest not-for-profit
educational travel organization for adults. Approximately 160,000
participants enroll in Elderhostel’s nearly 8,000 programs
annually. Elderhostel provides exceptional learning adventures
throughout the United States and Canada and in more than 90 countries
around the world. In 2004, Elderhostel launched Road Scholar to
meet the needs of a new generation of independent educational
travelers. For more information, please visit www.elderhostel.org
or www.roadscholar.org.
|