Pool table hire could have a significant role in helping older people stay fit, now that “old age has been cancelled”.
Aske Juul Lassen at the University of Copenhagen’s Center for Healthy Aging has published a PhD thesis called Active Ageing and the Unmaking of Old Age, which has been making headlines in recent weeks.
Significantly, he says the perceptions of old age have changed – and far from expecting to be sedentary in retirement, people are now expected to stay fit and healthy “until the day we die, in good health, at the age of 90”.
One way to help people to do this could be through pool table hire, and the study focused on one group of men aged up to 95 who meet four times a week to play billiards.
“Billiards is, first of all, an activity that these men thoroughly enjoy and that enhances their quality of life while immersing them in their local community and keeping them socially active,” Mr Lassen said.
He went on to outline how the stop-start nature of playing a game of billiards allows for regular rest and recovery – something that is also true of pool and snooker.
We recently supplied a pool table to a retirement home near Wigan and were delighted to hear how it has significantly improved the residents’ lives. The evenings that were previously taken up with watching TV now have the alternative of a game of pool. Then, the money that the residents earn from the profit share is spent on providing drinks and food for Saturday night’s killer pool competition and loud music. Not your average retirement home!
So your pub pool table could be doing more than just bringing in young enthusiasts for the game; it could be helping your older patrons stay healthy for longer into their retirement years too.