{"id":27905,"date":"2025-11-11T09:23:28","date_gmt":"2025-11-11T09:23:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/?p=27905"},"modified":"2025-11-11T09:23:28","modified_gmt":"2025-11-11T09:23:28","slug":"the-open-universitys-take-five-to-age-well-wins-national-self-care-award-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/education-languages-health\/health\/the-open-universitys-take-five-to-age-well-wins-national-self-care-award-2025\/","title":{"rendered":"The Open University\u2019s \u201cTake Five to Age Well\u201d Wins National Self Care Award 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">The Open University is celebrating national recognition after its Take Five to Age Well initiative was named winner of the 2025 Self Care Award by the Self-Care Forum. The award, announced ahead of National Self Care Week (17\u201323 November), recognises the project\u2019s innovative approach to helping older adults build lasting healthy habits and fostering community wellbeing.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">This year\u2019s theme, &#8220;Mind &amp; Body&#8221;, highlights the importance of nurturing both mental and physical health through small, sustainable actions, an approach that sits at the heart of Take Five to Age Well. The Open University-led project encourages individuals to focus on five simple daily habits: eat, drink, move, connect, and think.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Judges praised the initiative for its &#8220;exceptional impact and reach,&#8221; noting that 87% of participants maintained their new healthy habits nine months later and that the project\u2019s 500 community partners made it a &#8220;clear winner.&#8221; Developed through co-design with older adults, carers, clinicians, and charities, Take Five to Age Well combines research excellence with practical, accessible tools, both digital and offline, to support people of all backgrounds, including those who are digitally excluded.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Since its 2023 pilot and national rollout in 2025, the initiative has engaged over 5,000 participants and become a model for preventative health and healthy ageing across the UK.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Dr Jitka Vseteckova, Open University programme lead for Take Five to Age Well, said, &#8220;We\u2019re delighted to see Take Five recognised with this award. It\u2019s a testament to the strength of community partnerships and the power of small, daily actions to improve both mind and body. Our aim has always been to make healthy ageing achievable for everyone.&#8221;<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">The success of Take Five to Age Well also demonstrates the impact of The Open University\u2019s Open Societal Challenges programme, which brings together world-leading research and lived experiences to address some of the most urgent issues such as wellbeing, tackling inequalities and sustainability.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">This award is a fantastic endorsement of the Open University\u2019s research excellence and commitment to impactful research that improves lives.\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Open University is celebrating national recognition after its Take Five to Age Well initiative was named winner of the 2025 Self Care Award by the Self-Care Forum. The award, announced ahead of National Self Care Week (17\u201323 November), recognises the project\u2019s innovative approach to helping older adults build lasting healthy habits and fostering community [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":27024,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,22],"tags":[1525,1640,2403],"class_list":["post-27905","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health","category-university-news","tag-news-home","tag-ou-home","tag-wels"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27905","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27905"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27905\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27907,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27905\/revisions\/27907"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27024"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27905"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27905"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27905"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}