ABSTRACT
One of the greatest fears that most of us have as we age is that of losing our mental prowess, and for many years it has been assumed that, for many people, there has not been a great deal that we can do to prevent this occurring. But the message of this chapter is that ‘if you do not use it, you will lose it’, since it is now recognized that there is a lot that we can do to slow down the decline in our mental abilities. There is a great deal of research to demonstrate this – too much to include in this one chapter! It has also been argued that crystallized intelligence can still increase as we age for many, so long as we stay involved in the world. We began to explore this in Chapter 6 when we categorized older adults into three groups: the sages, the doers and the harmony seekers. We did, however, deliberately omit those who were mentally unwell. However, the distinction between the learners and the doers is rather crude, since there is evidence that keeping a healthy body helps generate a healthy mind as well, and this we shall explore further in the first section of the chapter. Thereafter, we shall examine the relationship between social involvement and mental fitness, then, look at research undertaken on mental fitness and, finally, we shall elaborate on empowering adults to assume responsibility and to be involved in their wider social context. In the concluding discussion we shall point to the need for a new category of therapist – the learning therapist – and suggest that all carers should become learning therapists.
