People who live in retirement communities overall are happier and sometimes healthier than older adults who haven’t moved into one, a recent study from ProMatura has found.
A total of 2,799 residents of member communities of the Associated Retirement Community Operators, the main body representing the retirement community sector in the United Kingdom, and 1,111 non-residents completed the survey.
A majority of retirement community residents (55%) agreed or strongly agreed that their quality of life was higher now than a year ago, whereas only 19% of nonresidents said the same, researchers found. In fact, more than a third (36%) of non-residents either disagreed or strongly disagreed that their quality of life had improved in the past year.
Most residents (61%) also indicated their health was about the same since they moved into the community, with 10% saying it had improved.
Retirement community residents also were two to five times more likely than nonresidents to participate in activities such as social events, trying new things, getting together with friends, eating with other people, exercising and spending more time with family than they had in the past.
