Record participation expected for Active Aging Week

The annual health and wellness campaign is a week that can change lives

(Vancouver, BC, August 20, 2018) – What began as an incentive for older adults to lead healthier, more active lives has become a tradition involving hundreds of thousands of individuals in neighborhood groups, health and fitness clubs, parks and recreation sites, seniors centers and senior living communities from New York to New South Wales, Australia.

Back for the 16th straight year and expected to be bigger than ever, Active Aging Week was started in 2003 by the International Council on Active Aging (ICAA). The campaign is part of ICAA’s mission to help adults ages 50+ achieve full, vibrant living in all dimensions of life. Events will be held September 23-29 across North America and Australia.

Activities encourage fun, friendship and positive perceptions of aging. Last year, for example, La Posada in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, organized a health fair that included information about different aspects of wellness; the community also offered a painting class, a chair yoga demonstration, a “sea glass” hunt, raffle prizes and samplings of healthy appetizers. At The Wellness Institute in Winnipeg, Canada, a daylong open house for adults 55+ featured testing and screenings, group exercise classes, five-minute massages, exhibits in the gym, live music and a farmers market. The Institute’s Active Aging Ambassadors (peer-nominated older members) were present to inspire and encourage participants.

And the fitness chain 24Hr Fitness treated guests 50 years and older to free workouts and more than 1,000 older-adult-oriented group exercise classes in 300+ locations across the United States.

Active Aging Week events are typically organized and sponsored by local organizations, with advice, communications, marketing and programming support provided by ICAA and the campaign’s national sponsors. This year’s sponsors include Abbott, Aegis Therapies/EnerG® by Aegis, Domtar and SwimEx.

The 2018 theme, “Inspiring Wellness,” promotes wellness as an invigorating lifestyle for all who embrace it. Host organizations can also inspire people to wellness with experiences that help them discover new possibilities.

“Active Aging Week inspires wellness by encouraging people to participate as fully in life as possible at any age, regardless of health conditions,” adds Colin Milner, ICAA’s founder and CEO. “As an association that recognizes and promotes the benefits of a multidimensional wellness approach, we created Active Aging Week as a time for people to get together and enjoy fun, positive life experiences, and maybe even adopt new activities on a longer-term basis. The campaign also spreads the message that aging should be embraced and celebrated, and showcases people who are doing so. I’m personally inspired by all the new activities host organizations come up with every year to do exactly that.”

Individuals who want to participate in Active Aging Week events should check with local organizations to see what’s planned. Information is also available on social media using the hashtag #activeagingweek. To find out how to host an event, visit https://www.activeagingweek.com.

About Active Aging Week
www.activeagingweek.com

Started in 2003 by the International Council on Active Aging, Active Aging Week celebrates aging and active living each year in the last full week of September. Host organizations engage older adults in their local communities with wellness activities and events provided in a safe, friendly and fun atmosphere. These organizations plan and deliver their own schedules of events targeted to any or all of the dimensions of wellness – emotional, vocational, physical, spiritual, intellectual, social and environmental. Programming is offered at low-to-no cost to participants to ensure that cost is no barrier to participation. National sponsors of Active Aging Week 2018 include Abbott, Aegis Therapies/EnerG® by Aegis, Domtar and SwimEx.

About the International Council on Active Aging (ICAA)
www.icaa.cc

ICAA, a professional association that leads, connects and defines the active-aging industry, supports professionals who develop wellness facilities, programs and services for adults over 50. The association is focused on active aging -- an approach to aging that helps older adults live as fully as possible within all dimensions of wellness -- and provides its members with education, information, resources and tools. As an active-aging educator and advocate, ICAA has advised numerous organizations and governmental bodies, including the US Administration on Aging, the National Institute on Aging (one of the US National Institutes of Health), the US Department of Health and Human Services, Canada’s Special Senate Committee on Aging, and the British Columbia (Canada) Ministries of Health and Healthy Living and Sport.

For more information or questions:
Contact: Colin Milner, CEO, ICAA
Toll-free: 1-866-335-9777 (North America)
Telephone: 604-734-4466; cell: 604-763-4595
info@icaa.cc

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