You’ve Earned It ran a Health and Wellness survey in March 2023 and we found the results very interesting.
Thank you to all those that were willing to share some really personal matters with us as well as some very sad stories of you and your families Health journeys. We will follow up and share some of these stories with our readers in the months to come.
Your valuable insights regarding your needs and wants are critical in informing YEI as to what products and services best meet your needs and how YEI can provide a more relevant service to South African 60-plussers.
We surveyed just under 300 respondents, between the ages of 60 and 87, with the majority of respondents from the Western Cape, Gauteng, KZN, Mpumalanga and the North West.
The survey revealed the following:
The majority of our readers said their health was Excellent, Very Good or Good with only 12.3% saying their health was fair and 1.59% saying their health was poor.
The following Health Issues affected S.A seniors the most, with High Blood pressure and Back pain topping the list.
A large proportion had thought about and done some planning with regards to Dementia, Alzheimers or Cognitive decline but a surprising 41,7% had not thought about it at all.
Some readers commented:
“Hoping that good genes will prevail!”
“Dementia care is very expensive so it is difficult to plan. We have thought extensively but economically it is a big challenge.”
“I have thought about it seriously for several years as my mother suffered from Alzheimer’s and died from complications. I have no family anywhere in the world and my friends are all aware that I have a living will and how it affects Alzheimer’s or dementia as well as physical problems. I have seen too many cases where family are desperately trying to look after a loved one at home or beggaring themselves paying for a good facility.”
“I have too many issues at the moment to worry about things I can’t control.”
South African seniors are very aware of their health and the challenges old age brings and are taking action to look after their health in the following ways:
58% of respondents said that they exercise multiple times a week. These exercises include everything from walking the dog, going to gym or a club such as bowls, hiking and cycling.
Many of you complained about the costs of joining a gym and indicated that if the fees were less or that there were incentives in place that you would join a gym if there was one in your area.
Prescription glasses are used by 72% of those that completed our survey while a further 19% bought over the counter glasses due to the high cost of prescription glasses.
And we received a resounding YES to more articles on Fitness and Health conditions affecting the elderly.
This was once again a very interesting survey with the results giving us insight into the needs and wants of the South African senior. Have a look at the results of several other surveys that we have run over the course of 2023 and keep an eye out for the rest of our series.
Thank you once again to JustSA for sponsoring this series.
The next survey is happening NOW, and related to Retirement villages and downsizing. We would really appreciate hearing your views – click here to complete
This is an extremely important survey, the results of which will be shared in due course.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE: Financial wellbeing: What is important to you in retirement and what can you do about it?
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE: An insight into certain lifestyle aspects of South African over-60s
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE: An insight into the Financial Planning of S.A seniors