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.
Ignite your passion with Active Aging Week
People may live fully-with verve, vigor and vitality-at any age and regardless of health conditions. That's the message and the reality that Active Aging Week highlights each year during the last full week of September. Led by the International Council on Active Aging with support from national sponsors, Active Aging Week celebrates the positivity of aging today and promotes healthy, active living in communities and neighborhoods across North America and beyond. The campaign reaches adults ages 50 and older where it especially counts-at the local level. All kinds of organizations serve as local hosts for the weeklong festival, offering activities and events that encourage people to try something new and perhaps embrace a wellness lifestyle. Why not plan to participate and host events in your area?
moreICAA initiatives
Enhancing wellness: Maximize use of indoor/outdoor environments by Marilynn Larkin, MA
A card table that sits vacant most of the day... long empty corridors ...a patch of land lying fallow outside a residence ... These are common sights in settings that serve older adults - yet, those unused and often unsightly indoor and outdoor spaces can be transformed into inviting venues that motivate members or residents to increase physical activity, socialization, and emotional and spiritual wellness. ... For industry professionals who seek to enhance older-adult wellness, exploring use of space is an avenue that can yield results.
moreCommunity design
Recognizing and addressing malnutrition in our communities by Alexandra Lewin-Zwerdling, PhD, MPA, Judy Simon, MS, RD, LDN, and Mary Walsh, MEd
Regular activity is fundamental to healthy aging. Yet so is our diet, and one that lacks key nutrients has an enormous effect on our ability to be active and remain independent. Many studies document the connection between diet and activity, underscoring that the two must work together for us to achieve a healthy lifestyle, especially as we age. Poor diets can increase bone loss, reduce cognitive function, delay recovery times and prolong periods of hospitalization; they can also accelerate loss of muscle mass. ... The state of being poorly nourished, commonly known as malnutrition, remains a prevalent public health problem particularly for older adults. Yet for many aging experts, it goes largely unnoticed.
moreHealth conditions
Lessons learned from benchmarking wellness by Patricia Ryan, MS, and Colin Milner
What can organizations dedicated to older-adult quality of life learn about the value of wellness programming from the 99 communities with independent and assisted levels of living, as well as 3,000 residents, who participate in the ICAA/ProMatura Wellness Benchmarks? The system aggregates data from resident survey responses and outcomes measures to reveal the impact of wellness programming from a business perspective. It also takes note of how participation affects quality of life for residents.
moreICAA initiatives
The National Benchmarks Report 2016: Executive Summary
What can organizations dedicated to older-adult quality of life learn about the value of wellness programming from the 99 communities with independent and assisted levels of living, as well as 3,000 residents, who participate in the ICAA/ProMatura Wellness Benchmarks? The system aggregates data from resident survey responses and outcomes measures to reveal the impact of wellness programming from a business perspective. It also takes note of how participation affects quality of life for residents.
moreICAA initiatives
The expectations gap: A new opportunity and a new challenge by Colin Milner
At the Massachusetts Institute of Technology AgeLab, the prospect of "Life Tomorrow" engages a multidisciplinary research team. "The MIT AgeLab focuses not on aging"- as might be expected - "but on the future of living," according to a video overview. Director Joseph F. Coughlin, PhD, founded the research program "to invent new ideas and creatively translate technologies into practical solutions that improve people's health and enable them to 'do things' throughout the life span." Of equal importance "is the belief that innovations in how products are designed, services are delivered, or policies are implemented are (critical) to our quality of life tomorrow."
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