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
Council on Aging Learning Advantages: helping older adults remain active and independent at home
When health and wellness professionals hear the term active aging, what do they picture? Older adults enjoying physically active lifestyles? Individuals engaging fully in life? People participating in whole-person wellness activities? Active aging is all of these things, and more.
The 2002 Active Aging policy framework from the World Health Organization focuses on both the opportunities and challenges of aging in today’s world. This framework not only champions opportunities for older adult participation and growth, but also encourages support—specifically the provision of “adequate protection, security and care when [older adults] require assistance.”
Innovator awards
Broome County programs support elders' independence
In upstate New York, participants in a pair of role-reversal programs learn skills that enhance self-esteem, build confidence and encourage independence. The older adults taking part in these programs were raised with strict gender roles and responsibilities, and they have never learned how to do tasks traditionally allocated to the opposite sex. As a result, these men and women are vulnerable in different ways when a spouse is no longer around or able to fulfill these responsibilities. To address this lack of knowledge, the Broome County Office for Aging developed Men Making Meals, an 8-week cooking course, and Tips for the Late-Blooming Handywoman, a 3-hour workshop on household repairs and maintenance.
moreInnovator awards
Holiday Retirement: marketing helps incentive program boost participation
Thinking outside the box. That phrase characterizes the innovative marketing and planning behind an annual exercise incentive program offered by Holiday Retirement Corp., a leading owner and operator of independent-living retirement facilities.
Holiday considers physical fitness critical to keeping its more than 34,000 residents healthy, happy and independent. The Salem, Oregon-based company provides an activity director, as well as exercise classes and age-friendly exercise equipment, at nearly all of its 285 communities. Some properties also feature fitness trails and swimming pools. Despite these services and amenities, Holiday faces that challenge shared by most aging organizations: how to increase physical activity participation by older adults.
Innovator awards
ICAA presents the 2005 Industry Innovators
“Great ideas grow in organizations with a vision, a mind-set devoted to innovation and continuous improvement—to finding a better way every day,” says author and speaker Chic Thompson, an expert in creative leadership. Every year the International Council on Active Aging (ICAA) honors the efforts of such organizations through its ICAA Industry Innovators Awards program. These awards recognize cutting-edge active aging programs, as well as the creativity and commitment to excellence of the organizations that originated them.
moreInnovator awards
Active Community Environments Grass-Roots: advancing active living in the community
Research shows that community design can either encourage or discourage active living. The Washington State Department of Health (DOH), based in Olympia, has embraced the potential of community design to increase physical activity, initiating the Active Community Environments Grass-Roots (ACEs) project. ACEs brings into focus older adult transportation and community design needs, and considers these needs in transportation policy decisions. Changing the environment to promote daily physical activity is intended to produce health benefits for individuals of all ages and abilities. DOH believes ACEs to be the first such project in the United States.
moreInnovator awards
Texercise: supporting healthy living across the life span
Recognizing that individuals vary in ability to engage in healthy behaviors, the Texas Department on Aging created the Texercise health and fitness program in 1998. Today, the thriving intergenerational initiative focuses on building and strengthening the capacity of local communities to develop fitness and nutrition activities.
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