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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
Casa Dorinda's paradigm shift connects a community
Located in the affluent coastal community of Montecito, California, Casa Dorinda has provided luxury retirement living for more than 40 years. The stand-alone nonprofit community is owned and operated by Montecito Retirement Association, which runs the lifecare program "with a commitment to excellence in the quality and quantity of its services ...," so residents may continue to live "with dignity, security and as independently and fully as they are able." Director of Life Enrichment Melissa Gill Hausz affirms the community's well-established commitment to resident wellness. She also points to unintentional barriers created by aligning staff responsible for life enrichment programs only with staff in their individual levels of care. A staff restructuring in 2013 gave Gill Hausz and her team the opportunity to shift this model through programming and campus-wide staff integration, the impact of which continues to grow organically. The Journal on Active Aging recently asked Gill Hausz to share her insights and experiences, as well as the impact of her community's efforts.
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Sunnyside's Wellness Scout program inspires resident wellness
"Sunnyside Communities has a history of supportive retirement living that began more than 100 years ago," states Annie Shaffer, wellness director at Sunnyside Retirement Community in Harrisonburg, Virginia. The Sunnyside campus is one of three life-plan communities--King's Grant and Summit Square being the others--owned and operated by the faith-based nonprofit. It is also a community whose active-aging efforts have won recognition from the International Council on Active Aging. In fact, the Sunnyside community has garnered more ICAA Innovators Awards for its initiatives than any other organization since the awards program launched--all during Shaffer's tenure. Honoring Sunnyside's recent efforts, ICAA granted a 2017 ICAA Innovators Achievement Award to the community's Wellness Scout program. To find out more about the program, the Journal on Active Aging recently talked to Shaffer.
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Watermark University: An initiative that fosters community and wellness
A desire to foster authentic community and engaged living has long driven Watermark Retirement Communities and its founders. "Watermark was founded over 30 years ago in Tucson, Arizona, with its flagship community, The Fountains at La Cholla," says Managing Director Rich Howell. From the beginning, the goal was for each of its communities to be the kind of place that founders David Freshwater and David Barnes would want their parents to live. After the sale of the Fountains portfolio in 2005, the men teamed up again the next year with the goal "to create a new kind of senior living community," continues Howell, "one that meets the expanded expectations of a new generation of aging Americans who want to lead engaged, fulfilling and health-filled lives." Launched over a decade ago when the company shifted its philosophy on lifestyle and recreation programming from entertainment to engagement, Watermark University is "grounded in research showing that an engaged life brings a remarkable range of benefits in aging adults," Howell states ....
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Piedmont Gardens creates a horticultural space with a healthy purpose
California's San Francisco Bay Area is among the most desirable and diverse places to live in the United States--and generations of its citizens have chosen Piedmont Gardens as their home. Located in what Recreation Therapist Tanya Roscoe calls "a vibrant, culturally diverse community in North Oakland," the life-plan community has welcomed the East Bay's older adults for almost 50 years. Yet, there's nothing dated about its appeal. Oakland Magazine recently named Piedmont Gardens as the Readers' Choice for "Best in Senior Living" in its "Best of Oakland and the East Bay 2018" roundup. Earlier this year, the Village--Piedmont Gardens' skilled nursing section--earned a national five-star quality rating from the federal government's Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. The Village's Honeybee Sanctuary and Rooftop Garden also garnered Piedmont Gardens the 2017 ICAA Innovators Green Award.
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'Fragrance in Frames': Touchmark's art therapy program enriches people's lives in memory care
Touchmark has made its mark as a retirement company by focusing on lifestyle for adults ages 55+, among other things. According to Vice President of Clinical Services Wendy Schrag, RN-BC, "One of the key ways Touchmark fulfills its mission--'To enrich people's lives'--is through its Full Life Wellness & Life Enrichment Program(TM)." Schrag stresses that this commitment to enriching lives extends to people living with Alzheimer's disease or other dementia. Fragrance in Frames, one offering, adds essential oils to paints for a therapeutic art activity. The program received a 2017 ICAA Innovators Achievement Award for its wellness-oriented and person-centered approach to memory care, and for maximizing opportunities in the cognitive/intellectual, emotional, social and physical wellness dimensions.
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"Stepping Up Your Nutrition": Highlighting the impact of nutrition for falls prevention
Good nutrition is vital to healthy aging--that's one of the foundational beliefs in active aging. Among the ways in which a nutritious diet contributes to healthy aging, falls prevention is one that active-aging professionals may overlook and older adults may not realize. A public-private partnership has created Stepping Up Your Nutrition(TM), a program to educate individuals ages 50 and older about nutrition and its impact on fall risks.
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