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- Innovator awards
The Generational Resource Center: taking eldercare services to the community
Silicon Valley, situated in Santa Clara County, California, is associated in many minds with innovation, industry and the Internet. Notable companies in the area include Apple, Google, Intel, eBay and Yahoo to name a few, while younger entrepreneurs and employees abound. However, Santa Clara County is also home to 260,000 people over 60, as well as about 200,000 caregivers of older adults, according to the Council on Aging Silicon Valley. The Council’s mission “is to assist seniors, adults with disabilities, family members and caregivers to achieve independence and to improve quality of life as they age in place or care for those older family members,” says Mary Vadakkan, who is responsible for the Council’s community outreach.
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Two Sunnyside programs promote wellness participation
Located on more than 100 acres in the scenic Shenandoah Valley, Sunnyside continuing care retirement community (CCRC) in Harrisonburg, Virginia, boasts views of the Blue Ridge Mountains and a long history of service. This not-for-profit CCRC, which has been in existence since 1955, is one of three campuses belonging to parent company Sunnyside Retirement Communities, an organization that has provided retirement living since 1912.
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Holiday Retirement's volunteer program enriches the lives of residents
Headquartered in Salem, Oregon, Holiday Retirement is a leading provider of independent-living retirement facilities in Canada and the United States—and a two-time winner of the ICAA Industry Innovator Award. Holiday supports enriching, stimulating lifestyles for the 35,000 older adults who live in its 300 communities, providing an array of amenities and activities for residents.
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Kinesis: training movement with resistance
Sleek, versatile and nonintimidating, Kinesis offers active-aging organizations a new option for building functional fitness in clients. The Kinesis system trains muscular strength and endurance, while helping to improve balance and flexibility. Users can perform movements that mimic everyday activities, moving freely through all planes of motion without compromising the resistance load or natural path of motion. This modular system also serves multiple levels of function. All four Kinesis stations are wheelchair accessible, and each offers a different starting position and facilitates a breadth of movements. In addition, Technogym has hidden the weight stacks and inner works of Kinesis behind elegant wood panels, minimizing the intimidation older adults typically feel with resistance training equipment.
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AARP's Web-based programs motivate age 50-plus adults to get active
With 39 million members, AARP is a leading nonprofit organization dedicated to serving Americans 50-plus—and an organization with considerable power to reach, inform and influence this group. AARP strives to help adults 50 and over “have independence, choice and control in ways that are beneficial and affordable to them and society as a whole.” Healthy, active aging is one key focus.
Through various avenues, AARP promotes physical activity to men and women 50-plus. Efforts to educate and support AARP members include resources such as the Physical Activities Workbook, a booklet (also available in Spanish) that outlines how people can add physical activity into their daily lives, and an information-rich website. In 2004, after successful pilot projects, AARP expanded its website into a delivery mechanism for two physical activity initiatives, which thousands of 50-plus adults use today. These programs, Get Fit on Route 66 and Step Up to Better Health, integrate the motivational appeal of tracking devices with the fun of virtual adventure, encouraging users to increase their physical activity.
Innovator awards
Project Enhance: evidence-based programs succeed in communities
Developed in the mid-1990s by Seattle-based Senior Services in partnership with the University of Washington and Group Health Cooperative, Project Enhance (formerly known as the Senior Wellness Project) provides community health promotion programs for older adults. This initiative offers two nationally recognized evidence-based programs:
• EnhanceFitness, a low-cost, adaptable exercise program that offers levels challenging enough for active older adults and safe enough for unfit or near-frail elders
• EnhanceWellness, a motivational behavior-change intervention that encourages older adults with chronic conditions to take on health challenges and maintain control of their lives
