Couples connected in sickness and health.

• Position: YOUR LIFE - Brief article

As the world's population of older adults increases, so do conversations around successful aging--including seniors' physical, mental, and social well-being. A variety of factors can impact aging adults' quality of life. Two big ones, according to research from the University of Arizona, Tucson, are the health and cognitive functioning of a person's spouse. The findings have implications for how to address most effectively quality-of-life issues in people's later years.

"When we think about quality of life for older adults, and improving quality of life, it seems like targeting the individual is only part of the story, and our findings suggest that, for older adults, a larger part of individual well-being is defined by our partner's health and cognitive functioning as well,"...