Observations From a Doctor For The Over 65s
- 2 hours ago
- 2 min read
Claire Steves, professor of ageing and health at King’s College London and a consultant geriatrician at Guy’s and St Thomas’s Hospital, has some interesting thoughts about both young and old people.
Be Curious: This piece of advice is for the young. Steves says that your time and curiosity are the greatest gifts you can give to older people. “Every individual older person has a different story to tell. And sometimes older people are not really asked enough questions. Once you start to ask them about their life, you start to unpack this really interesting life experience." Adding that the life experience of older people is likely to provide helpful insights as they "will have found ways through all kinds of difficulties and problems. Sometimes I see younger people looking at older people and not realising that complexity. They could be more curious about them, because young people also face challenges.”
True Fulfillment: Human connection, whether via grandchildren, friends or family members, matters even more than you think. “A really important lesson I’ve learned from my patients is that we are most fulfilled when we are in service of others,” Steves says. “Those who have maintained really strong connections and have kept giving to others are more fulfilled, but also more resilient to challenges because they are also supported by that network.”
“I find their experience encapsulates that message of people being made happier by living for what they can give to society, rather than what they can get from it. Older people are often clear to me that it isn’t about what you’ve got when you get to the end of your life. We’re exposed to so much pressure to want things. And yet, actually, lots of what matters most is about what we can give."
Small Things: “When I ask older people what makes them happy, they advise, try not to worry, treasure the small things in life. Quite often, what’s most important to my most fragile older patients who are coming towards the end of their life, turns out to be something that an outsider might not see as valuable. It’s that sense of home and of being with family, or a pet or a hobby. A patient said to me the other day, a Warren’s Cornish pasty is my most important thing, and I recently looked after an old man with dementia who was a big Iron Maiden fan.”
