Creating healthy habits at any age.

Why seniors are never too old to reap the benefits of healthy behavior change.

There’s still time to take control of senior health and make positive changes. After all, older adults aren’t done learning and growing. Behavior change is possible at any age; it may just require a different approach to help Medicare-age seniors succeed. It’s true that seniors tend to have entrenched lifestyle habits that may make it harder to initiate change. In fact, there’s sound evidence that older adults lead more routine and less varied lives than young adults, which means they’re not always as open to change. But surprisingly, researchers have found that adopting new habits isn’t any harder for a Baby Boomer than it is for a teenager.

Once they do form a new habit, the Medicare-age population is actually more likely to maintain any changes and stick to a routine that they find effective. Medication adherence, for example, is better among older adults than middle-aged adults, attributed in part to those stable daily routines. And psychotherapy efficacy is as good with adults between the ages of 61 and 90 as with their younger counterparts ages 21 to 59. So, what can motivate them to change? More time with their families.