Patricia Lavoie

They call them Blue Zones, the topic of a documentary series highlighting five cities around the world where residents live to the ripe old age of 100 years and more: Sardinia (Italy), Okinawa (Japan), Nicoya (Costa Rica), Icaria Greece and Loma Linda (California).

The common characteristics of these zones are an environment that incorporates physical activity into residents’ daily lives as opposed to a visit to the gym, healthy natural nutrition as opposed to dietary supplements, a sense of purpose, and most importantly a social support network of family and friends.

Could the Townships have Blue Zones? Benoît Savard, a resident of Eastman since 2010, has launched a research project to find out. Savard prefers the term “longevity project”, but his goal is to see if we can create Blue Zones right here.

His research is part of a Behavioural Sciences program at the University of Warwick in England. He enrolled in the program as a second career, after years of consulting in corporate training and organizational behaviour.

His research at Warwick involved a travel itinerary of ten universities worldwide in search of the answer to healthy longevity. He concentrated on public policies around home health care, community organizations such as seniors’ clubs and food banks that could contribute to longevity in their own way, more ‘official’ professionals in the healthcare system (osteopaths. doctors, nurses, naturopaths, pharmacists, acupuncturists etc.) and notably the citizens themselves. 

He has already visited Costa Rica and in the next few months will travel to Loma Linda, Sardinia, Icaria, Okinawa and perhaps Singapore, where residents have the longest lifespan in the world.

In his travels, Savard observed two basic concepts (among others) influencing longevity, including a positive mental attitude and a family structure that seems to ignore the term “intergenerational”. Family members of all ages are just that: family members who are always a part of whatever activities are going on.

His research was published two months ago and already, his ideas are gaining local traction.

His thesis? Rather than working in separate silos, how can all the ‘players’ in the immediate environment collaborate to enhance and support a healthy social lifestyle, to find new ideas? The municipality of Eastman had welcomed him warmly and he wanted to share his findings there first with potential interested parties.

The initial meeting involved presenting the concept to 25 active participants in the community. The next step is to create a strategy together. The response has been more than enthusiastic and the meeting is already on the books.

This is life-enhancing territory, and the advantage to healthcare costs is obvious. Recently interest in M. Savard’s research and practical approach to the longevity question has been expressed by several groups and communities. Promising? We shall see as this topic of inquiry grows!