Older adults who keep a clean and orderly home tend to feel emotionally and physically better after tackling house chores, according to findings by a Case Western Reserve University school of nursing researcher.
That’s because of the exercise it takes to get the job done. "House cleaning kept them up and moving," said Kathy D. Wright, PhD, RN, CNS, a postdoctoral KL2 Scholar at the university's Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing.
"A clean environment is therapeutic." Wright and a research team set out to test a theory called House's Conceptual Framework for Understanding Social Inequalities in Health and Aging.
It's considered a blueprint for understanding how factors such as income, education, environment and health behaviors, like smoking and exercise, influence an older person's health.
The study's 337 participants, from 65 to 94 years old, had to have at least one chronic illness, be enrolled in both Medicare and Medicaid, have physical restrictions that prevented them from doing at least one basic daily task, such as bathing and dressing, and be unable to manage such responsibilities as taking medicines, handling finances or accessing transportation.
Source: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/04/1504...

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