A special case of the very old: Lifelong learners

Very old (80+) participants in a university-based lifelong learning program were studied in an attempt to identify and investigate a subgroup of the old old who deviate greatly from the negative stereotypes of illness and frailty in old-old age. The findings indicated that these elders had aged in their own homes and communities. They had continued the social contacts of their earlier lives whenever possible and, when necessary, established additional supportive associations for meeting their needs. In many ways, they lived rich lives as active adults, and as intellectuals. They did not live as “old people.” These old-old learners seemed more involved in the planning and directing of their own lives than in the routines of familial responsibility.