Significant numbers attribute their success in aging to staying involved in activities and engaging with people who bring meaning and support. Creative expression and spirituality are significant to many. Wellness represents balance among the environment, emotional, spiritual, social, physical and cultural aspects of the individual's life. Hence, health is a part of wellness. New definitions of successful aging are being created as research and practice with the older adult population develops.
Gerontologists continue to debate what factors lead to aging well.
Many concepts have been studied over the last half of the Twentieth Century. They observed that older persons naturally and voluntarily withdrew from society as they lost ability and interests while society simultaneously rejected them. Many positive studies have taken place since the growth of senior programs and policies following the White House Conference on Aging in 1961. Theories such as activity, continuity, consolidation, and busy ethic developed to describe the diversity of interests and tendency of older persons to remain active and engaged in different ways. Scientists have verified the wide diversity within populations and have taken different focuses to study older adults.