Does having choices help you live longer?

In 1976, a study took place in a care home to see whether being given control over aspects of their lives would affect the residents.  

Residents on two floors of the 360 bed care home were given plants and film shows.  Residents on one of these floors were able to control these events - choosing the plant and looking after it themselves, and choosing which night of the week to view the film.

Eighteen months later, the psychologists discovered that twice as many of the elderly residents in the group which had been given choice were alive compared with those on the other floor who had been told which night they could watch the film and had not been able to tend to the plants themselves.  It appeared that taking control made you live longer.

The BBC Radio 4 series Mind Changers will be revisiting the care home Arden House and will take another look at the investigation and its findings and will be considering the implications for today's care of the elderly.

The programme will be aired on Monday 17th August at 11am on Radio 4