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.
Personal robots help reduce isolation, boost engagement during the pandemic and beyond by Marilynn Larkin, MA
On February 25, 2020, shortly before the COVID-19 pandemic became a global phenomenon, Irish consultancy Research and Markets produced a report, "Social Robots: Emotional Connection and Task Engagements," which covers the potential of this emerging market. Personal services, social companionship, medical support and entertainment are all part of this market, according to the report. Many active-aging organizations have moved quickly to take advantage of the social connection and functionality of social robots for older adults and staff. For Maplewood Senior Living, headquartered in Westport, Connecticut, the pandemic accelerated their introduction of "temi–The Personal Robot"--and expanded their use in some unexpected ways.
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Active-aging communities leverage rapid communications technologies to combat the pandemic
When the pandemic struck, active-aging organizations recognized that prompt, accurate communication to all stakeholders was key to ensuring compliance with directives from the government and health authorities, and managing expectations for all concerned. Two organizations in different locations and with different constituents responded by implementing different emergency-messaging technologies. Each had similar goals: to optimize community operations, ensure safety, and enable wellness programming and other activities to continue as much as possible, albeit in transformative ways. Marilynn Larkin, contributing editor to the Journal on Active Aging, recently talked with leaders at these organizations about how their use of communications technology is facilitating their response to pandemic requirements.
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Connect and communicate: Americare’s aggressive approach to technology by Jason Baxter, BBA
In early March 2020, when signs that the COVID-19 pandemic would have a much greater impact on our lives--including day-to-day activities--than anyone might have imagined, Americare decided to take action. Even while trying to deal with the impact on our own lives and livelihood, we made investments that have enabled our residents to stay connected with family and friends, staff and each other, once quarantine procedures were required. We started by making an extensive investment in equipment, training and learning for staff, residents and families. We also invested in tracking protocols. Our goal was to optimize operations, communication and engagement while staying ahead of potential pandemic-related issues across our communities.
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Embodied Labs creates immersive training for staff and caregivers by Marilynn Larkin, MA
As a teenager, Carrie Shaw embarked on a journey that would last more than 12 years: helping her family care for her mother, who was diagnosed at age 49 with early-onset Alzheimer's disease. At one point, Shaw recalls, she struggled to explain her mother's resulting visual impairment to professional caregivers. So, she let them experience it by modifying a pair of glasses, resulting in distorted vision and vision gaps. The caregivers understood immediately what her mother was experiencing--and Shaw understood she had hit upon a strategy that could be transformative for professionals working with individuals with dementia and other forms of cognitive and physical impairments. That strategy involved virtual reality (VR) technology. In 2016, motivated by her experiences, Shaw founded California-based Embodied Labs, headquartered in Los Angeles. She told the Journal on Active Aging, "Embodied Labs accelerates our ability to understand health conditions and life transitions that mainly affect older adults, so we can meaningfully connect and empathize."
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Healing practices: The evidence for Chinese medicine and healthy aging by Kelly Clady-Giramma, MS, LAc, Dipl OM
In China, long life and older adults are revered and aging embraced. Prior to the rising popularity of Western culture there over the past few decades, birthday celebrations were reserved for the very old. While everyone is young once, the thinking goes, it takes a lot of luck and talent to grow old-talent that deserves to be celebrated. Unsurprisingly, the Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) philosophy of longevity is not synonymous with the contemporary Western obsession with "anti-aging." Taoism, an ancient spiritual system that promotes living in harmony with nature and gave rise to TCM, encourages functionality and feeling young on the inside rather than simply looking young on the outside. TCM offers many tools and advice around longevity. It advocates balanced life in all its aspects. It promotes connection to nature and its cycles as well as respect for our circadian (daily) rhythms. TCM also encourages us to take personal responsibility for our health and be proactive. Many more people and physicians are turning to personalized integrative medicine today, focusing on healthy lifestyles and the best of various healing traditions. Integrative medicine combines treatments from conventional allopathic, or "Western", medicine with other evidence-based healing modalities from around the world, including TCM. For active-aging organizations, TCM's complementary approaches may open additional avenues to support clients in living longer, healthier lives.
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Wellness industry remains resilient during pandemic restrictions by Patricia Ryan, MS
No one has remained untouched by the lifestyle changes that rapidly emerged once the news of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) filled the airwaves. The awareness that this new virus was highly contagious and could lead to serious illness and death was immediately grasped by the professionals working with older adults. Actions to control the spread of the virus meant social distancing (keeping six feet of physical space between individuals), self-isolation once a "stay at home" emergency was declared, face masks and lots of handwashing. Yet, COVID-19 has not stopped the dedicated professionals of the wellness workforce. Armed with creativity and can-do attitudes, nearly 300 International Council on Active Aging® (ICAA) members shared in early April 2020 how the pandemic had impacted their work and workplaces, and what they were doing to deliver needed services. Their comments showcase the efforts the workforce has expended to foster quality of life among residents, members and staff alike during pandemic restrictions.
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