Professor Stoicescu, 77, Romania

“My guess is that the secret to staying active lies in the pleasure of working and doing things – in the pleasure of getting things done, achieving one’s goals. As long as you actually enjoy doing all that, stopping at the official retirement age might seem like a breaking point, a generator of confusion, and I’ve felt that myself.
“It’s very true that practicing medicine (a study I pursued while looking for an engineering position!) proved to be the right thing for me. My skills and abilities in a different field seemed to help a lot with my actual profession as a doctor. I strongly believe that medicine is unique in terms of professional satisfaction. To stop doing the things you desire and enjoy doing, while you’re still mentally healthy – well…it is sort of a handicap, a self-induced handicap.

“To me the offer to work in the private health system was a life saver. Although I had the right as a member of the Romanian Medical Academy to work indefinitely, competition is always an issue, even involving people I helped along professionally. This is to a certain extent how it should be: young people need room to develop. The best approach would probably be for elders to act as councillors for the young in a way that does not create conflict.”

Creating opportunities to stay active

“It was my choice to quit my job at the Institute (the “Marius Nasta” Institute of Pneumology). After 30 years, 15 of which leading the Institute, I felt like I was stepping on people’s toes. So one day I resigned. I had no certainty that I could find something else worth doing, and for close to a month I suffered a near breakdown. I was almost sick because I was not doing the things I used to do every day. It took a while for me to get used to changing my long-term habits related to work (waking up at a certain hour in the morning, going to the hospital, turning on the computer, seeing cases…), but now I feel very fortunate.

“I think this issue should be considered by those who deal with the problems of the elderly: creating opportunities for those who still want to and can be productive. Helping them stay active is good for the elderly themselves, as it significantly improves their health, and it is good for the national budget. For me it was luck – some private clinics opened and they invited me to work for them, at a time when I wanted to continue working as a doctor. Sometimes, these opportunities for the elderly involve creating more age-friendly conditions.”

Targeting the needs of older people

“Taking the elderly out of their familiar environment for hospital treatment is a struggle, a psychological trauma. And more often than not it is unnecessary. You don’t really need to hospitalize someone for a medical investigation that may last a few hours. It’s a fact that the system works on the wrong assumptions and principles.

“Of course, there are people who want to retire as soon as they can. But they are, in my opinion, those who never achieved satisfaction in their professions, who never liked to work, were never proud of what they achieved. They are a minority among the elderly in my opinion. Most people could remain active and productive until a very late stage in their lives. And their health largely depends on it. Elderly people become ill much easier when they decide to stay at home, in front of their TV sets, giving up exercise for the body and the mind. Alzheimer’s is waiting for them around the corner. Basically, staying active is my philosophy for a fulfilling life.”