Healthy Aging Study: Are you aged 65 or over? Do you want to take up a new activity?

“I’m contacting you from Heriot-Watt University as we’re currently running a study that I hope might be of interest to residents in your community.

Our study is exploring how taking up a new activity might benefit people’s thinking skills and wellbeing as they get older. We’re looking for people aged 65 and over in Edinburgh and the Lothians to take part. People who take part first complete some assessments at Heriot-Watt before being helped to take up a new activity in the community. The new activities might help them increase their social, physical or mental engagement. After following the new activity for about 10 weeks we will assess how that might be associated with changes in thinking skills, health and wellbeing.

We are asking for your help in raising awareness of the study in your local community. For example, we were hoping you could share details about the study at your next council meeting, or via your website/social media. I’ve included a brief overview below and have attached the poster/flyer. A Facebook post about the study can also be found at https://www.facebook.com/HWPsych/posts/2034691406751041. If you distribute a local newsletter and are willing to include a small item about the study this would also be a great help. When people get in contact with the research team they’ll get the full study information and can decide if they want to take part.

If you want to know more about the research we do you can find information at www.healthyageing.hw.ac.uk. If you have any questions you can email the research team at healthyageing@hw.ac.uk or call 0131 451 8009.

Thank you for your help”

Calum Marr

Are you aged 65 or over? Do you want to take up a new activity?

As we get older, some of us might experience changes in our thinking or memory skills. Research has suggested that taking up a new activity, especially one we’ve never done before, might help maintain our thinking skills.

We are a research team at Heriot-Watt University exploring how taking up a new activity might benefit our thinking skills and wellbeing. We are looking for people aged 65 and over in Edinburgh and the Lothians to take part.

If you or someone you know might be interested, or you would like some more information, please contact us on 0131 451 8009 or healthyageing@hw.ac.uk. We’ll give you full details about the study and answer any questions you might have.

You can also find some more information about the research at https://healthyageing.hw.ac.uk/contact.html

We look forward to hearing from you!