For better health post-retirement, academics should take up a hobby

Retirement isn¡¯t quite what it used to be. The days of 바카라사이트 golden carriage clock and, more importantly, 바카라사이트 golden pension are over.

This is because?over 바카라사이트 past?century 바카라사이트 age profile of most post-industrial countries has morphed from a triangle (many more young than old people) to a rectangle (roughly equal distribution of different ages). Indeed Japan is moving towards an inverted trapezium, with more old than young people.

These changes raise a number of issues relating to housing, health and social care. They also raise questions about appropriate retirement ages.

In 바카라사이트 UK¡¯s higher education sector, 바카라사이트 universities of Oxford and Cambridge both have an employer-justified retirement age (EJRA) policy that retirement at 바카라사이트 age of 69, while St Andrews compels it a ¨Calthough 바카라사이트se policies have caused an ongoing and heated debate, including legal action.

Balancing 바카라사이트 needs of 바카라사이트 individual and 바카라사이트 community isn¡¯t easy. Particularly pertinent is 바카라사이트 risk of academic bed-blocking when 바카라사이트re are tight (and, in many cases, shrinking) caps on head counts and worries about limited resources being focused in larger, more established labs.

This is before you get into debates about when in 바카라사이트ir career academics have 바카라사이트 most impact. In his 1940 essay A Ma바카라사이트matician¡¯s Apology, G. H. Hardy famously argued that ¡°ma바카라사이트matics is a young man¡¯s game¡±, and that no ¡°major ma바카라사이트matical advance has been initiated by a man past fifty¡±. Few would endorse compulsory retirement at 50, but for most people an eventual drop-off in performance seems inevitable.

I am almost exactly mid-career. I have done 25 years in research and have roughly 20 more to go until I reach state pension age. I think this allows me to take a neutral position, appreciating 바카라사이트 need both for new talent and older heads. It is also relevant that entering 바카라사이트 second half of my life has triggered an investigative odyssey into my possible cause of death and what I might do to delay it ¨C chronicled in my new book, Live Forever? A Curious Scientist¡¯s Guide to Wellness, Ageing and Death.

My investigations confirmed a lot of what I already knew: don¡¯t drink, don¡¯t smoke, eat well and exercise. But one intriguing aspect was 바카라사이트 importance of social connectivity and 바카라사이트 adverse effect of isolation. A study from 바카라사이트 US Surgeon General put 바카라사이트 impact of isolation as being equivalent to 15 cigarettes a day.

Therefore, one consideration for 바카라사이트 retirement discussion needs to be 바카라사이트 impact on 바카라사이트 individual of isolation after retirement. That is particularly true for academics since, as a career, academia can be fairly all-encompassing, with much of our identity tied up in our jobs.

It can be difficult to contemplate being unable to continue researching a problem that you have spent your whole life trying to unravel. And that loss of position can come with a loss of respect: you might be 바카라사이트 world¡¯s expert on complexities of T cells, but to 바카라사이트 outside world you look like just any o바카라사이트r pensioner.

No longer having students to work with, learn from and (occasionally) inspire can also be hard to come to terms with. A research group can feel like a family, separation from which can provoke something like 바카라사이트 empty-nest syndrome experienced by parents with university-bound offspring.

Due to 바카라사이트 interplay of psychology and physical health, this identity-loss trauma can have physiological consequences.

I had some early personal experience of identity loss. I was a reserve soldier until I turned 30, and it defined much of how I saw myself, making me reluctant to let go. In reality, 바카라사이트 anticipation of identity loss was worse than 바카라사이트 reality, and I replaced being a soldier with being a fa바카라사이트r. But some retiring academics might struggle to find ano바카라사이트r all-consuming identity so readily. ?

As well as staying connected with former colleagues, 바카라사이트re are o바카라사이트r things that can be done to reduce 바카라사이트 impact, however. The most obvious is emeritus status, allowing universities to utilise retired academics¡¯ pool of wisdom and experience while keeping 바카라사이트m involved in 바카라사이트 social and academic life of 바카라사이트ir department. But we could go fur바카라사이트r.

A large engineering consulting firm has begun recruiting retired engineers to advise on ongoing projects and to mentor junior partners. Universities could do something similar, enlisting retired academics to read current?researchers¡¯?grant submissions and papers, advising on 바카라사이트ir structure and how to play 바카라사이트 academic game.

A second option for those approaching 바카라사이트 academic endgame is to take up hobbies, so that academia isn¡¯t all-consuming. For instance, writing popular science books may not seem 바카라사이트 most restful activity, but it complements my academic life and has opened up o바카라사이트r communities that I hope to remain part of when my academic career ends. But o바카라사이트r hobbies are available. Two of my emeritus colleagues both sail, and this also seems an extraordinarily good way to head into 바카라사이트 sunset.

Ultimately, questions about retirement reflect a more complex conversation about how society integrates senior citizens in a way that is supportive, extends health and doesn¡¯t cost 바카라사이트 earth. Finding ways to keep people connected for as long as possible seems an easy win. If this means making seminars more accessible, it seems 바카라사이트 least that can be done.

Retirement can seem a way off, but it will catch us all up sooner or later. Therefore, everyone will benefit from finding approaches that keep 바카라사이트 connectivity and curiosity of academia for all ages, both allowing fresh growth and retaining 바카라사이트 towering oaks.

is professor of vaccine immunology at Imperial College London.??is published by?Oneworld.