20 January 2025
Bilbao Campus
On January 14, the Pedro Fabro Association of Retired Persons of the University of Deusto held the fourth talk in its series of conferences on integral health, which on this occasion was given by Professor Pedro Fernández de Larrinoa, who spoke on the theme: “Prevention is better... not only at the biological level”. In his talk he stressed the importance of psychosocial care for health and the need to maintain the highest possible level of activity in adulthood in order to maintain autonomy and prevent disability.
In his opinion, prevention is proactive and develops throughout life. “It is true that at a certain age it begins to decline, but the slower decline is a function of our way of life, and we can modify and introduce changes in our way of life at any time”.
Pedro Fernández de Larrinoa believes that for aging to be successful we have to take “the reins of our life”. In this regard, he quoted Rowe and Kahn who in 1997 defined successful aging as multidimensional and stated that it consists of 3 components:
- A low probability of illness and disability. It is necessary to fight against the risk factors that can make us sick.
- High cognitive and physical functioning. Excellent functioning.
- A high commitment to life through intimate relationships with other people and the performance of productive activities that have a particular motivational meaning for people. Friendships and activities that are meaningful.
Although in some areas of our life things may not work well, the expert believes that they can in other areas.
Likewise, he referred to Fernández Ballesteros who indicated in 2009 the behavioral and psychological domains of successful and active aging. These are:
- Good behavioral health and physical adjustment
- High participation and social behavior
- Optimal cognitive functioning
- Multifunctional emotional self-regulation
In his opinion, healthy habits should be seen as predictive determinants of successful aging. The objective is to reduce risk factors and increase protective factors. The positive effects of behavioral health intervention programs carried out in old age should also be taken into account. “What people do or what the environment provides, for example, are proactive attitudes: doing physical exercise, not smoking, not drinking too much, taking care of excess weight and going to the doctor. Only 12% of older people exercise. We need to have an image of how we want to grow old”.
The professor assures that there are daily activities that promote, optimize, compensate or palliate cognitive decline and deterioration. For example, the education received, since the stage of knowledge does not end in spite of age. Also physical exercise, challenges, volunteering, social and leisure activities (reading, singing, dancing).
On the other hand, social functioning and participation is, according to Dehi and Mohammadi (2020), fundamental. In this regard, they mention five social functioning activities that elicit positive emotions: community activities, interpersonal interactions, shared resources, active participation and individual satisfaction.
Likewise, emotional-motivational functioning is essential. And the following positive emotions are essential: emotional self-regulation, sense of control, self-efficacy and beliefs about one's own aging: coping and being an active subject. Life is 20% what happens and 80% how you take it. “You have to have positive feelings and thinking you have control is positive. If you are able to organize yourself, you can have strategies to age well. People who think badly about their own aging die earlier,” he stressed.
To conclude, the speaker recalled that science shows that we can promote positive feelings in our lives and learn to change our feelings about aging.
This year, the series of conferences, organized by the Pedro Fabro Association, presents a comprehensive vision, bringing together different areas of knowledge to seek a shared, integrated and collective perspective of what we call health. The talks are organized on various dates between October and May, always at 11:30 am in the Garate Hall, given by professionals, researchers and expert voices from different disciplines from both the University of Deusto and other universities.
