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.
How to create a customer-focused team by Debra J. Schmidt
In order to create a team of employees who are personally committed to service excellence, managers may need a fresh point of view. One of the great problems in customer service is the reluctance of managers to view service as a marketing strategy. Too many see it as after-sale service, something that relates back to a previous sale, rather than ahead to the next one. Studies prove that great service is more effective at increasing profits than marketing or advertising.
moreCustomer service
Using imagery to encourage good posture by Ken Baldwin, MEd
Improved posture and body alignment are important goals when designing exercise and post-rehabilitation programs for older adults. Not only does proper posture and body alignment provide comfort and ease of movement throughout a person’s lifetime, but good postural skills protect and strengthen the body.
morePhysical wellness
Engaging loneliness in older adults by Donald R. Koepke, MDiv, BCC
Loneliness. We all experience it; we all witness it. It’s an emotional state that results from isolation—a belief that no one understands or cares. Loneliness differs from aloneness, however. To be alone just means no one else is around at the moment. To be alone with one’s thoughts, feelings and beliefs can cleanse and strengthen individuals. But to be lonely is to want people and social contact, and feel unable, in one’s estimation, to get this contact.
moreSpiritual wellness
Practical ideas from Active Aging 2005
At the ICAA Active Aging 2005 conference, sessions covered topics from marketing and wellness center development to exercise and activity options. Following are brief reports from a few of the sessions, gathered from the presenter’s handouts and attendee notes.
moreICAA initiatives
Creating lasting legacies through life story writing by June C. Hussey
As the Baby Boomers age, interest in creating lasting legacies is heating up, spawning a boutique industry that offers you creative ways to help older individuals and groups share their life stories, as well as new avenues to expand your programming and business.
When people hear the word legacy, they often think of the work of world leaders. But individuals don’t have to be world leaders to have a story worth sharing; everybody has one. Nor is it necessary for them to go to the expense of hiring a professional biographer or to struggle from scratch to record life stories. Today, the tools and support needed to write and self-publish a life story are as close as a few clicks on the keyboard.
Social wellness
Exercise and chronic pain: opening the therapeutic window by Kim Dupree Jones, PhD and Janice Holt Hoffman
Acute pain is a vital, protective mechanism that permits us to live in an environment fraught with potential dangers. In contrast, chronic pain serves no such physiologic role. It is not a symptom, but a disease state.
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