Latest news with #activeaging
CTV News
28-07-2025
- Health
- CTV News
Active Aging Week: Food for the brain, bones and overall health
Ottawa Watch We kick off active aging week and today we highlight all the food you should keep on your plate for brain and body health!
CNA
09-07-2025
- Business
- CNA
How Hong Kong's ageing population is reshaping society and its economy
HONG KONG: For retiree Cedric Lam, ageing is no excuse to slow down. Five months ago, the 66-year-old picked up airsoft shooting, an activity that demands quick reflexes and hand-eye coordination. It also gives him a chance to make new friends. 'Many experts say if you try something different and new, it will help a lot as it stimulates the brain, is good for your body and mind, and we won't regress,' said Lam, who is determined that his lifestyle will not be defined by his age. 'If you fall behind, it'll be bad, so I want to be more useful. I want to learn new things. After we retire, we still have another life, a new life to enjoy.' Hong Kong became a super aged society last year - a milestone marked by one in five residents being aged 65 or older. By 2043, this is projected to double to almost 40 per cent of the population, or one in three persons. SILVER POWER Lam said he believes that many seniors are not living up to their full potential. 'They have good health, they can work, they're still mobile. When they have good health, they should do more to stay active rather than sit idle,' he said. 'Here in Hong Kong, you see a lot of old people in the park playing chess. But there's a crowd of people doing nothing but just watching them play chess. I feel that's a waste of time.' While the demographic shift presents serious challenges including increased healthcare costs, observers said it also opens up unexpected opportunities. People aged 60 and above spent about HK$342 billion (US$43.8 billion) last year, accounting for 11 per cent of the city's gross domestic product, said officials. By 2046, that figure is projected to more than double to HK$700 billion as the silver generation becomes an even greater economic force, according to one estimate. Hong Kong is keen to tap into this silver economy - but challenges remain. Despite the growing senior population, Hong Kong's employment rate for those 65 and older remains low - just 13.6 per cent, compared to other regional economies such as Singapore, which is at 31.7 per cent. BETTER JOB MATCHING To unlock the full potential of the elderly market, boosting their employment rate is essential, said observers. 'Most of them demand for a more flexible contract, more flexible work arrangement, like working part time, working just a few hours per day and also accommodating to that lifestyle,' said Dicky Chow, head of healthcare and social innovation at think-tank Our Hong Kong Foundation. 'So we do believe that this kind of flexible work arrangement has to be put in place to improve the employment rate of elderly, to tap into their potential and boost their silver economy.' He emphasised the importance of better job matching by first understanding the skills older adults possess, and then aligning those skills with suitable job opportunities — not just restricting them to low-skilled roles. Another key challenge lies in the lack of targeted efforts by businesses to tap the growing potential of the elderly consumer market. 'A lot of times, you can understand that the business owners are very much wanting to be focused on direct returns,' said Jasmine Lee, managing partner at EY Hong Kong and Macau. 'So they've been very good at creating products and earning money from the millennials or the Z generation, from the younger people.' However, she noted that companies need to take a closer look at the preferences of people in Hong Kong, especially older citizens.
CTV News
27-06-2025
- Entertainment
- CTV News
Retirement home residents make Twain tribute video ahead of Calgary Stampede
This year's Calgary Stampede parade marshal has some dedicated—and active—fans at the Whitehorn Village Retirement Home. This year's Stampede parade marshal has some big fans at a Calgary retirement home. The ladies from Whitehorn Village Retirement Home created a reel of themselves dancing to Shania Twain's music while wearing their best western wear. They also showed off their moves for CTV News on Thursday. This year's Calgary Stampede parade marshal has some dedicated—and active—fans at the Whitehorn Village Retirement Home. This year's Calgary Stampede parade marshal has some dedicated—and active—fans at the Whitehorn Village Retirement Home. The women want the video to go viral—and maybe get Twain's attention. The idea came from the facility's recreation director to stay active and have fun. 'She just asked if we'd come and do this. We're doing it for Shania Twain, to her music, and she teaches us what to do, and we just have fun doing it,' said Sharon-Ann Miner. 'None of us are always the same direction or anything, and we know that, but we're just having fun and being active and being together.' This year's Calgary Stampede parade marshal has some dedicated—and active—fans at the Whitehorn Village Retirement Home. This year's Calgary Stampede parade marshal has some dedicated—and active—fans at the Whitehorn Village Retirement Home. You can find their video on Whitehorn Village by Origin's Facebook and Instagram pages.
Washington Post
18-06-2025
- Lifestyle
- Washington Post
AP lifestyles reporter explains the origins, benefits of chair yoga and its surge in popularity
WASHINGTON — Chair yoga modifies traditional yoga poses to suit older adults and those with physical limitations. But as AP Lifestyles Writer Leanne Italie explains, that doesn't mean it's any less of a workout. As older adults embrace active lifestyles, chair yoga has surged in popularity. In this episode of 'The Story Behind the AP Story,' Italie explains the origins of chair yoga, its benefits and how it works.
BBC News
18-06-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
The champion Sheffield couple who took up running in middle age
When Gordon Fiander took up running at the age of 60, it was to join his wife Jenni in a passion that had only begun when she herself was in middle the Sheffield couple are such keen runners that they are often the fastest finishers in the over-70s categories in the local events they are members of Valley Park Runners and have told the BBC that more retired people should follow in their footsteps and remain Fiander, 71, said: "I know people who basically retire and give up everything. They sit on the sofa and die within a couple of years. Older people ought to be still working hard. That's what bodies are designed for." The pair, who worked as lecturers at Sheffield College, were always keen on the outdoors, having met an an outward bound event in their Fiander loved caving, while his wife's hobbies were fencing and was when they moved to Grenoside that Mrs Fiander, then 48, discovered the joy of running."It was getting tricky to travel to orienteering events and we'd moved here to be near the woods, so I started to get out and run to destress from work - first in the day and then at night with a head torch," she joining Valley Park Runners, she placed first in races from over 50s to husband eventually came with her on short jogs before he started going to local Parkruns and got "hooked" on running."It's amazing, it's addictive when you start going, you meet this wonderful community."Jenni finds Parkrun too short but I love it. I'm faster than her at shorter distances, but on longer distances I can't keep up." The couple regularly compete in half-marathons and fell races, and encourage those around them to enjoy the club's women's captain, Jayne Grayson, called them "inspirational"."They are amazing. They never stop giving, time and effort. Nothing's too much, they are so enthusiastic and full of energy," she pair have had many injuries to recover from over the years, including a broken leg suffered on a ski trip for Mrs Fiander, and a sore back as a legacy of her husband's caving Fiander said: "We are not normal, our friends say that but we enjoy our retirement doing active things and making memories."Right from the outset of our marriage, we were determined to make it work. It's the same dogged determination that Jenni has powering up a hill. One foot in front of another we know we'll get there!" Listen to highlights from South Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North
