Articles
The Journal on Active Aging brings articles of value to professionals dedicated to older-adult quality of life. Content sweeps across the active-aging landscape to focus on education and practice. Find articles of interest by searching the article archives in three ways: Enter a keyword in the articles search bar; click on search by topic; or type a keyword or phrase in the general search bar at the top of the page.
Topic- Program profiles
Atria's Culinary Educational Series provides a recipe for wellness
Organizations that promote active aging strive to nurture wellness in older adults with programs, services and environments to support this outcome. The word nurture, interestingly enough, comes from a Latin word that means “to nourish”—the same word from which the word nutrition also derives. Food, a foundation of good health, fuels both body and soul. Eating together is a vital part of our rituals and traditions, while preparing food is an elemental way in which we show love and hospitality to others. Atria Senior Living professionals recently highlighted these points in their presentation at the ICAA Conference 2012. “The need for nourishment and the need for other people are universal,” stressed Ronda Watson, RD, Atria’s senior vice president of culinary service and engage life, and Cynthia Lilly, MSW, the company’s national life guidance program director, agreed. The pair also described efforts to team programming and culinary services to enhance wellness for Atria residents. One example was the Culinary Educational Series at Atria Campana del Rio, a community that provides independent living, assisted living and memory care services to 225 older adults in Tucson, Arizona.
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NuStep showcases the 'Pinnacle' of programming
A vision to transform lives. That’s the driving force behind NuStep, Inc., an Ann Arbor, Michigan-based manufacturer of recumbent cross trainers and advocate for active living. Recognizing that active living promotes wellness, spirit and vigor, NuStep strives “to help individuals achieve the important balance of physical fitness and wellness in their daily life.” One platform the company uses to increase awareness is the NuStep Pinnacle Award. Established in 1998, NuStep’s annual awards program “salutes senior living communities and senior centers that best demonstrate a culture of whole-person wellness throughout their organizations.” Established in 1998, NuStep’s annual awards program “salutes senior living communities and senior centers that best demonstrate a culture of whole-person wellness throughout their organizations.”
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Growing a gardening program for older adults: case study and lessons learned by Barbara Denson, BA
Giving back to the larger community has long been part of the mission of the Bon Secours New York Health System. Therefore, a project proposed in 2006—to create a community garden at the organization’s Schervier Nursing Care Center in the Bronx, New York—was a natural. Funded by an internal grant from the Bon Secours Mission and brought to life under the guidance of Patricia Leo, who served as coordinator from 2006 to 2009, the garden’s mandate was to be multicultural, multifaith, intergenerational (though geared mainly to people 65 years and older) and 100% organic. Additional funding from a Douglas J. Schwartz Greenhouse Grant supported the construction of a greenhouse on the community garden site.
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Somerby Tail-Wagger Treats: Generations bake together to make a difference
Birmingham-based Somerby Senior Living offers seniors housing and retirement living communities in Alabama, Georgia and South Carolina—along with something more. “We call it ‘The Somerby Spark,’” says Executive Vice President Stovall Kendrick. By that, Kendrick explains, “we mean the attitude and approach that allows residents and staff to lead a more fulfilling life.” To ignite this “Spark,” Somerby communities strive to create an environment that frees individuals to pursue whatever lifts their spirits and makes them happy, states the company’s website.1
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The Mayflower's Live and Learn series enriches the lives of participants
The City of Winter Park, Florida, is primarily known as a desirable place to live, a center for arts and culture, and the home of one of America’s premier liberal arts colleges. Rollins College, founded in 1885, has topped the US News & World Report rankings of southern regional universities for the last eight years. Further, Rollins ranked second on the list for the previous 10 years. Since 2010, when the idea was proposed, this prestigious private institution has collaborated with The Mayflower continuing care retirement community, also in Winter Park, to deliver an “enrichment series” for residents.
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The Arts and Health Project: supporting healthy aging through the arts by Jenifer Milner
In the year 2000, as the world contemplated the potential of a new century, Gene D. Cohen, MD, PhD, contemplated the potential of aging. To this potential, as well as damaging myths of aging, Cohen drew the public’s attention in his then-new book The Creative Age: Awakening Human Potential in the Second Half of Life. He heralded “a new juncture” in the field of aging—“one in which we move beyond studies of what aging is to what is possible with aging.
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