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.
Biodex: stepping into older adult wellness
When Biodex Medical Systems, Inc., first entered the wellness field several years ago, it raised a few eyebrows in the medical industry. After all, the wellness area is extremely competitive, with a flood of new entrants from the fitness field aiming to modify their products, shift gears and make a name in this growing market.
moreBusiness profiles
An inventory of tools to measure wellness in elders
How effective is your wellness program at improving the lives of older adults?
To evaluate a schedule of activities and instructors, you can use a variety of methods to get feedback from your participants. Examples include conversations, comment boxes, instructor observations and activity surveys. However, these methods are less effective at determining how program offerings affect participants’ quality of life, functional levels and health status. Does the program help people become more well?
Assessment
Transforming walking into the highlight of each day By Ward Luthi and Christine Schnitzer
Which will motivate your clients more? The remembrance of a beautiful sunrise walk, where the flight of a bird, the glimpse of a red fox or the blossoming of a daffodil lifts their spirits and reminds them of their connection with nature…or the logging of minutes, pace and heart rate?
morePhysical wellness
The challenge of change by Terry Ferebee Eckmann, PhD
In this world, change is inevitable and happens at incredible speed. It’s the process of making something or somebody different; it’s what happens when something is replaced, exchanged or substituted. Essentially, change is an alteration or modification.
Twenty years ago, when I started to work with older adults, I researched programs for this age group in countries around the world. The majority of people working with this population emphasized that older adults do not like change. Observing the process of change and older adults, I have found that the stereotype seems not to hold true: Attitudes about change vary greatly among these individuals. Response to change varies, too.
Motivation
Emergency preparedness: planning, communication & cooperation are key by Marilynn Larkin, MA
Each year, anywhere from 30 to 60 or more natural disasters and/or major emergencies affect the United States and its territories “with such devastation that they exceed local capacity to respond,” according to the US Administration on Aging. And although state and federal organizations are in place to help, their responses may also fall short.
moreSafety
Marketing successfully to age 40-plus women by Colin Milner
In September 2002, 43-year-old actress Jamie Lee Curtis chose to shake that very foundation on which Hollywood and much of marketing is built: “the illusion of perfection.” In a cover story for MORE, a magazine that celebrates women in midlife, she showed the real Jamie Lee to the world. Curtis (whose films include the 1985 movie Perfect) was photographed in a sports bra and briefs, without flattering lights and professional makeup, and with no retouching. The picture revealed what she called “not great thighs” and a “soft, fatty little tummy.”1 Placed beside this photo of the unadorned Curtis was a more familiar image of the movie star—beautified, styled and retouched. Perfection.
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