RETIREMENT A diminishing life or new horizons? The Ageing Well and Gwanwyn initiatives. Linda Davies, Health Improvement Division, Welsh Assembly Government and Phil Thomas Gwanwyn Co-ordinator, Age Concern Cymru

Overview The importance of staying active in retirement The benefits of volunteering, and the Ageing Well initiative Gwanwyn: celebrating creativity in older age.

Retirement In Wales average life expectancy is 77 for men and 81 for women, but increasing. There is now no official retirement age, but in practice people tend to finish around state pension age: currently 65/60 Most life transitions are from one structure to another, e.g. education to work, but retirement is generally a move from structure to no structure. The transition can be hard to adjust to, especially for men, whose sense of self esteem tends to be more defined by their work.

Voluntary work Voluntary work provides a transition from full time paid employment to full retirement. It provides a similar structure to work in terms of time structure; social contact; social identity or status and regular activity. Typically volunteers feel rewarded by ‘giving something back’ to society. There is evidence that volunteering benefits the emotional and mental health of the volunteers as well as those they volunteer for.

The Ageing Well Initiative Developed by Age Concern England 1993 WAG funded Age Concern Cymru to take on co- ordination of the Welsh projects in Flexible model; but typically run by a local Age Concern. Paid co-ordinator working with local older volunteers, some of whom train as senior health mentors and/or activity leaders. Supported by training materials & a series of Ageing Well leaflets. Projects focus on a variety of health topic areas, but always include physical activity of some kind, and usually healthy eating.

‘As soon as I get my trainers on I feel like dancing…..’ An evaluation of Ageing Well was commissioned by WAG/ACE and published in (see Methodology included: focus groups and postal questionnaire survey of Co-ordinators; (n33) telephone interviews with senior health mentors (n101) face to face interviews with clients of projects.(n31)

Conclusion of study ‘The Ageing Well programme received an extremely enthusiastic response from everyone who took part in the evaluation. Involvement in Ageing Well was seen to have had a very positive impact on the mental and physical health of the majority of participants, in particular on social wellbeing. The evaluation identifies the valuable contribution that older volunteers make in promoting the health and wellbeing of people aged over 50 years and sustaining broader strategic public health objectives for active ageing.’

Benefits to clients Impact on health Improved a lot Improved a little Stayed the same Reduced a little Reduced a lot Knowledge of PA 55 %42300 Practice of PA Knowledge of HE Practice of HE My social circle Knowledge of home safety

Clients What do young people know about life? Its better to have a more mature person, to be our age group, so that exercise is appropriate for your needs. (82 yr old male) Aches and pains in the morning. Once I get here and do the exercise, I feel wonderful. (74 year old female) I have made a lot of friends through coming here and feel more active and happy. (72 year old male) For instance my grandson – it always used to be Cola, its water now. (73 year old female)

Volunteers Volunteers reported similar benefits to their health: Physically its improved, I now do Pilates, yoga and Tai Chi. It keeps me supple and improves flexibility, and its improved my balance. Psychologically it has (improved health) because its so much fun. Its lovely to go somewhere and people are looking forward to seeing you, it brightens your day. Its nice to be able to go out and help somebody else and see improvement in their health without any money being exchanged.

Gwanwyn : celebrating creativity in older age A collaborative initiative between WAG, ACC and Arts Council Wales, launched in Based on The increasing evidence of the beneficial effects of the arts on emotional health and wellbeing, in relation to the development of self expression and self esteem, reduction of symptoms of anxiety and depression, and provision of opportunities for social contact and social inclusion. Helps to challenge negative stereotypes of ageing – a commitment in the Assembly’s Strategy for Older People

GWANWYN Overview from Phil Thomas, + images Case studies: a Gwanwyn project from 2008, and a proposal for 2009 How you could get involved