Get fit, healthy for retirement

Developing an action plan for your health, fitness and wellbeing in the lead up to retirement is equally as important as talking to your accountant and super fund manager, South Australian researchers claim.

In a new study exploring people’s activity patterns post retirement, researchers at the University of South Australia believe the transition to retirement may bring about marked changes in activity levels, which can have broader health impacts.

Postdoctoral research fellow, Dr Carol Maher, says people don’t plan for living without the structure of work in their lives.

“A lot of retirees plan a holiday but beyond that, there is a lot of time to fill when they come home and back to the reality of life without work,” Dr Maher says.

“We believe daily activity patterns will have important consequences for wellbeing, not only for physical health but for cognitive function for sleep and continued socialisation,” she adds.

Dr Maher, her colleague Professor Tim Olds and their research team have begun a study which follows working people into retirement to 18 months post retirement, to track activity and lifestyle changes and develop some guidelines for planning for healthy lifestyles in retirement.

“We’re already turning up some interesting results that show people are not necessarily doing less, they are just doing different things in different ways,” Dr Maher says.

Early results show that after retirement, people spend more time doing chores almost an hour more indoors and 26 minutes outdoors. Retirees are also spending an hour more each day in front of a screen and most of that is on computers and the internet rather than television.

Time spent socialising at parties and talking to friends and family is up by about 40 minutes and there are an extra 25 minutes spent cooking and 23 minutes driving time.

“What is emerging is a pattern that shows people are pottering about after they retire, doing about as much but with less intensity – so they may do less moderate and intense physical activity, but they also do less sitting about and less lying on the couch after a hard day at work.”

Dr Maher adds people’s daily activity patterns change dramatically when they stop working.

“All those hours that were spent at work can be spent on something else, but the freedom to make those choices represents an opportunity and a risk for health,” she says.

According to Dr Maher, people who had physical jobs will lose activity when they stop work and most people will lose easy access to social interaction and cognitive challenges.

“These factors are at least as important to wellbeing as anything else, especially when considering neurological conditions such as Alzheimer’s.”

She says the adage – use it or lose it is – applies to the brain and body, and planning for physical, intellectual and cognitive stimulation in retirement is as important as making financial plans.

Dr Maher’s pre-retirement health hit list:

• Plan to be physically active every day.
• Plan ways to engage in social interaction – you can work part time, volunteer, join a community or social club.
• Set some cognitive challenges – for example, join a book club.
• Have a daily routine that gives structure to the day and keeps you busy.

The team is hoping to recruit more participants and is looking for people living in, or near Adelaide, who are retiring in the next one to six months.

The study will involve two appointments at UniSA and eight phone calls over an 18 month period.

Participants receive a free health screen (cholesterol, blood glucose, blood pressure etc) and $150 in appreciation of their time and effort.

Contact PhD candidate, Judy Sprod, on judy.sprod@unisa.edu.au or phone (08) 8302 1741 to register your interest in the study.