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ICAA Activities in 2013

As the year draws to an end, it’s useful to take a few minutes to reflect on how the staff and members of ICAA have worked to advance the message of active aging, and the professions and organizations that serve older adults.

ICAA website relaunched. A major change to the association’s communications platform occurred with the revamping of the ICAA website. Our advisors and members let us know that they valued ICAA resources, but it took too long to find them. Launched early in 2013, the complete reorganization collects all articles, research, videos and products within topic areas, raising to the top the most-requested information and making searches for the information you need a breeze.Visit www.icaa.cc

New Marketer Membership was announced. A new Marketer Membership was created for marketing and salespeople who desire access to ICAA’s focused materials in those disciples. This new membership category came about with the integration of the Mature Marketing Association into International Council on Active Aging.

Nine Principles of Active Aging released. ICAA created its Nine Principles of Active Aging to guide governments, product and service providers, employers, and the healthcare industry in how they respond to population aging. The principles have been presented at multiple conferences internationally, as well as in articles in the Journal on Active Aging and other publications. Access the Nine Principles of Active Aging on the ICAA website: http://www.icaa.cc/activeagingandwellness/activeaging.htm

The “what is wellness” question answered. Inside and outside of the active-aging industry people request background on wellness and the approaches to implementing a wellness culture. On the revamped ICAA website, the new section “Active aging and wellness” is home to descriptions of the Seven Dimensions of Wellness, the Nine Principles of Active Aging and ICAA Functional Levels.

Major research report released. “Growth of the active-aging industry in the United States and Canada-2014” is ICAA’s report on the state of the active-aging industry, along with trends and forward-thinking perspectives. This publication is widely used by strategic planners in the industry as well as by other government and non-governmental organizations. This report, along with ICAA’s other research, is described on the website: http://www.icaa.cc/business/research.htm

Extending ICAA’s message globally. Colin has spent considerable time speaking in Europe, Asia, Canada and the United States to advance the active aging message, as well as developing strategies and policy statement as a member of the World Economic Forum's Global Agenda Council on an Aging Society.

Examining the connections between wellness and healthcare. At the ICAA Forum meeting in December 2012, advisors introduced the topic of the potential for age-qualified communities with independent and assisted levels of living to help hospitals reduce preventable readmissions. This topic was the focus of the May 2013 ICAA Forum, an invitation-only meeting of ICAA 100 organizations. The consensus was that there is a business opportunity for wellness providers to become the bridge between older adults and the medical world. However, the medical model is still in a phase of readjustment and wellness/prevention providers will need to closely examine their resources, outcomes reporting and messaging to effectively connect with healthcare providers.

Active Aging Week remains a large and growing annual health promotion event. The Active Aging Week toolkit is one of the most popular locations for visits to the ICAA website. The 2013 theme of “Discover your community” was used by many of the organizations that participated, reaching thousands of older adults, their families and friends. Hosts reported a particular outreach of events to people who have physical limitations, reflecting their dedication to the purpose of the week.

Continuous improvement through advisors and members. ICAA convened meetings and work groups this year to explore the opportunities for ICAA’s programs in 2014. To that end, ICAA staff:

· Hosted meetings of the ICAA Advisory Board and the Supplier Advisory Board.

· Formed a work group to write a white paper explaining wellness and presenting a framework for effective wellness programs, due for release early in 2014.

· Formed an advisory board to finalize an industry Career Path for Wellness Professionals, due for release in 2014.

· Hosted focus groups to solicit input on the ICAA/ProMatura Wellness Benchmarks prior to an update.

· Hosted a focus group on ICAA’s publications for qualitative input.

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