Healthy aging expert puts research to test

More than that, she lives it.

An associate faculty member in Royal Roads University’s School of Leadership Studies, the former Canada Research Chair in Healthy Aging recently completed a solo canoe race in the Pacific Ocean off Panama called Chasing the Pearl Islands. Alone in an OC1 — a single-person canoe with an outrigger — Young pushed off from Isla Contadora and paddled 11 km in the Pearl Island Archipelago in less than two hours.

And everything about the race — how she learned about it, trained for it and competed it — reflected what she sees as keys to healthy aging:

• Get regular exercise.
• Make sure it’s fun.
• Make it social.

And if it’s outside, all the better, says Young, who has found all three not only in Panama but back in Victoria, where she would regularly get on the water with the Fairway Gorge Paddling Club.

Long before that, she grew up in a canoeing family in Ontario’s Ottawa Valley, regularly paddling the Petawawa River in Algonquin Park, Lake Temagami and the Madawaska River, a tradition she carried on with her own sons, both of whom made their first canoe trips before their first birthdays.

Despite all her experience in canoes, Young says, “I’m not sure everybody was confident that I could do it.”

She was, however, and enjoyed the support of other Canadians in Panama, including Kim Ursu, Canada’s ambassador there and a Royal Roads Master of Arts in Global Leadership graduate. She also benefited from preparing and paddling with others of all ages at a club near her home in Panama.

“This couldn’t be better in terms of healthy aging because it’s so social and it’s outdoors and it’s physically active and it’s fun,” Young says.

“Whatever we do, if it’s fun, then it’s its own reward,” she adds.

That’s a good lesson for others contemplating staying active as they age but wondering if they can do it.

“Take little steps,” Young says, “which I think makes a big difference, and make it a priority. We all have many competing priorities… you don’t have to start by doing 65 km. You can start by taking more steps in the space that you have.

“You can start by walking around the block with a neighbour. If you’re not enjoying it then you’re not going to continue. The fun part is doing it with others.”

And that’s not just anecdotal evidence. While her own research is looking at ways people can make lifestyle changes to become more active and potentially fend off dementia and other age-related issues, it was in part prompted by a paper she read in the respected medical journal The Lancet six years ago. The paper found up to 35 per cent of dementia cases could be prevented or delayed if people are physically active, socialized and addressed risk factors (with further research, that number has since been updated to 40 per cent).

The fact this isn’t broadly known outside academia is “such a failure of knowledge translation because the evidence is there,” she says. “But how do you get people to make the changes that they need to make? And that, we know, is really, really difficult.”

What wasn’t excessively difficult was her 11 km Chasing the Pearl Islands journey because of the training, both in a canoe and on dry land, including Zumba classes, which helped with her cardio fitness.

Now, she’s looking at perhaps taking part in longer races — she has to do something to celebrate her 70th birthday.

We always want to hear stories about the people, programs and places that are the Royal Roads experience. Share yours via the RRU Story Exchange and it could be featured on our website and social media.