The Importance of Reading as You Grow Older

Reading is beneficial for all age groups, but there are definite reasons as to why it’s important to continue reading as you grow older. Here’s a list Heather Glen Senior Living has put together to show you how reading can keep your loved ones happy, healthy and social. 

Stimulates the Brain  

Just like with puzzles and certain brain games, reading does a lot to help stimulate your mind. Similar to physical activity, in order to keep your brain healthy, it needs exercise. By incorporating reading into your life, it is known to boost brain activity and cognitive health. With each passing year, it enables older adults to stay mentally active as well. Whether you enjoy romance novels, biographies or light magazine reading, they all play a part in helping the brain stay strong. 

Alleviates Stress

Sometimes stress is merely an annoying factor in our lives. At other times, it can be negatively affecting it. Stress can be a common issue among older adults, but one thing that helps alleviate stress is reading. Reading invites you into an entirely different world. Literature allows readers to completely let go of their current surroundings and by doing so, forget any stress they might have been feeling from their everyday lives.

Improves Memory 

Reading has also been known to be great for improving someone’s memory. The parts of your brain that are activated when using vision, language and associative learning all connect when you begin reading. When you start a new book, you learn about new characters, places and time periods. Each day you pick it back up again, your brain needs to remember everything that happened when you left off—essentially you’re training your brain to recall past events and people. 

Improves Decision Making

As we get older, our decision making ability tends to slow down, but consistently reading is one way to practice and improve upon that skill. When you are engaged in a book, you tend to ask questions. Why would the character choose that path? What is the author trying to portray in this chapter of the story? By asking questions and viewing different perspectives within a novel, older adults are able to carefully think through different problems or ideas before reaching their own conclusion. In this way, they are allowing their brain to think and grow in new ways. 

Increases Social Interactions

Reading can also be a great way to start conversations or build new friendships. Try visiting your local library or asking your neighbors to see if there are local book clubs available to join. Books are meant to be shared and discussed, and they are always a great way to keep in touch with those around you. 

At Heather Glen Senior Living, we strive to create a comfortable homelike community for your loved ones. No matter what, we want to make sure that our residents are happy, healthy and taken care of. Contact us or call 610-841-4478 to speak with our Admissions team to see if Heather Glen Senior Living is the right fit for your loved ones.