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- Health promotion
Active Aging Week 2006
ICAA host sites did a remarkable job of organizing dances and walks, lectures and exercise classes, health fairs and a fashion show as part of the weeklong campaign, which ran September 25–October. The free activities, themed for fun as well as knowledge, also included food, giveaways, and an ample supply of educational handouts.
moreHealth promotion
Active Aging Week 2006: prepare your action plan
How can you entice people who may be interested in physical activity, but are intimidated or not sure where to start? How do you keep motivated those who are currently active, but may need a new stimulus to stay engaged? Active Aging Week is the answer for both groups.
During the last week of September, organizations across North America will host special events that offer older adults an opportunity to have fun, meet new people, and learn more about how activity can improve their quality of life. It’s a great time to showcase your age-friendly facility and staff.
Health promotion
Promoting physical activity in ethnic communities: perspectives from older adults by Julie Walwick, MSW, Sharyne Shiu-Thornton, PhD, Basia Belza, PhD, RN, Sheryl Schwartz, MPA, and James P. LoGerfo, M
Increased physical activity is a key strategy for preventing and managing chronic diseases among older adults. However, most adults—particularly older adults—do not get the recommended 30 minutes of moderate activity on most days of the week. Elders from ethnic minority communities are even less likely to meet this goal.
Yet many ethnic minority groups in the United States have a high prevalence of chronic diseases such as diabetes, hypertension and heart disease. Individuals in these communities are also more likely than Caucasians to die from these conditions. Additionally, numerous non-English-speaking immigrants feel isolated, and they are often misinformed about their health status as they lack healthcare providers from their cultural backgrounds. Given these realities, physical activity programs offer obvious benefits for older adults in ethnic minority communities, but programs for these men and women are rare.
Health promotion
How to support positive body image in older adults by Shari Feuz and Jenifer Milner
Research and case studies reveal that body dissatisfaction can persist across the life span or start during middle and later life (Feuz, 2005). This means that as a fitness or wellness professional who works with older adults, you should expect to encounter clients with negative body image, and would be wise to prepare.
Body image refers to “an individual’s psychological experience of the appearance and function of his/her body and is one aspect of an individual’s mental representation of him/herself” (Friedman et al., 2002). This complex phenomenon influences behavior and self-esteem. When someone has negative body image, it permeates all aspects of life, with extreme body dissatisfaction leading to behaviors that adversely affect physical and mental health.
Health promotion
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.
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Building an active aging coalition by Cody Sipe
Regular exercise is among the most important practices an older adult can engage in to improve health, increase physical functioning and stave off age-associated diseases. Yet overall physical activity levels for the 50-plus age group remain stagnant, despite increases in this demographic’s commercial club memberships. That’s because it takes more today than desire or willpower to adopt an active lifestyle. A complicated mix of barriers to physical activity has been tightly woven into the fabric of society over the years, creating the current inactivity crisis.
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