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Press releases
ICAA honors innovative active-aging programs and concepts
Award-winners support improved wellness for adults ages 50 and older
VANCOUVER, BC—The International Council on Active Aging® (ICAA), an association that leads, connects and defines the active-aging industry, has selected the winners of its Eighth Annual ICAA Innovators Awards. Recognizing creativity and excellence in active aging, this annual awards program honors innovations that are leading the way, setting new standards and making a difference in the lives of older adults. The recipients of the 2010 ICAA Innovators Award are:
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Camp VIVA! (Pathway Senior Living, Des Plaines, Illinois)
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African drumming circle (Willamette Oaks Retirement Community, Eugene, Oregon)
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20in10: 20 Tips to Wellness You Can Do in 10 Minutes (Touchmark, Beaverton, Oregon)
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WALK! with Aegis Therapies (Aegis Therapies, Delafield, Wisconsin)
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The Summit at Central Park (City of Grand Prairie Parks and Recreation Department, Grand Prairie, Texas)
These efforts support healthier, more vital aging by targeting any or all of the seven dimensions of wellness (i.e., social, emotional, vocational, spiritual, intellectual, physical and environmental).
“Active aging is all about living life as fully as possible,” says Colin Milner, ICAA’s founder and CEO. “With the right opportunities and supportive environments, people of all ages can strive towards better health and well-being, enjoy new challenges, and continue to learn and grow. Active-aging professionals and organizations are dedicated to providing those opportunities and environments.” Milner adds, “Just as today’s older adults are redefining aging by defying society’s stereotypes, the active-aging industry is redefining how to support these individuals by rethinking programs, environments, and even concepts of aging services.”
The 2010 ICAA Innovators exemplify the industry’s drive to enhance wellness and support more active, vital living. “This year’s award-winners have engaged the older adults they serve through their creative approaches,” Milner states. “They have encouraged individuals to get on board and try new things to improve health and well-being, thereby enriching their lives. On behalf of ICAA, I congratulate the professionals and organizations behind these award-winning efforts, and thank everyone who entered this year’s competition.”
Each ICAA Innovator will receive a crystal award of recognition to display. In addition, in-depth profiles of individual award recipients will appear in ICAA’s flagship publication, the Journal on Active Aging®, in 2011. In the meantime, snapshots of the 2010 ICAA Innovators are available on the ICAA website at www.icaa.cc/awards/pressreleases.htm.
New this year, ICAA will separately announce winners of the ICAA Innovative Solutions Award (previously the ICAA Equipment Innovator award category), presented for creative products/solutions that improve wellness for older adults; and the first-ever ICAA Green Award, presented for organizational efforts that encourage environmental stewardship. Announcements of these award-winners will soon be posted on the above webpage.
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About the ICAA Innovators Awards program
Website: www.icaa.cc/awardsprogram.htm
Launched in 2003, the ICAA Innovators Awards program honors excellence and creativity in the active-aging industry. By recognizing organizations that have created cutting-edge wellness offerings, ICAA highlights these innovative solutions for industry leaders and governmental organizations to learn from. Award-winners work on inspiring new directions in older-adult wellness. They not only give us a glimpse into the trends shaping the future of older-adult health and wellness, but they also give us hope that it is possible to solve the inactivity problem.
About the International Council on Active Aging (ICAA)
Website: www.icaa.cc
ICAA, an 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 life 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 ministries of Health, and Healthy Living and Sport.
For interviews or more information about ICAA, the ICAA Innovators Awards, or aging-related issues, contact:
Colin Milner, CEO, International Council on Active Aging
Toll-free: 1-866-335-9777 (North America only)
Telephone: 604-734-4466; cell: 604-763-4595
Email: colinmilner@icaa.cc; website: www.icaa.cc
Backgrounder
ICAA names the recipients of its 2010 ICAA Innovators Awards
VANCOUVER, BC—The International Council on Active Aging (ICAA), an association that leads, connects and defines the active-aging industry, has selected the winners of the Eighth Annual ICAA Innovators Awards. Recognizing creativity and excellence in active aging, this annual awards program honors innovations that are leading the way, setting new standards and making a difference in the lives of older adults. The 2010 ICAA Innovators are:
Camp VIVA!—Pathway Senior Living, Des Plaines, Illinois
Established in 1997, Pathway Senior Living is an Illinois-based provider of independent and assisted living communities. Pathway’s mission, according to its website, is to create “a neighborly sense of community and comfortable lifestyle for those who choose to call our communities home.” The organization enhances this lifestyle through supportive services, environments and programs. Through a new program called Camp VIVA!, 40 assisted living residents from Pathway communities in metro Chicago camped overnight at Sunrise Lake, a nearby campground. Sunrise Lake chiefly serves children with special needs, so the site includes adaptations that were helpful to the group, including paved walking paths and ramps.
“The impetus for the trip came from the belief that camping can sharpen the mind, strengthen the body and recharge the soul,” explains Maria Oliva, Pathway’s chief people officer. During the day, Camp VIVA!’s flexible schedule allowed each participant “the freedom to find his or her personal way to commune with nature, whether hiking, boating, swimming, bird watching, fishing or crafting,” Oliva says. At night, the group shared songs and stories around a campfire before bedding down in cabins. Feedback about the experience was so positive, she adds, that Pathway has made the program a regular event for all its communities and now plans to offer twice-yearly camping trips.
African drumming circle—Willamette Oaks Retirement Community, Eugene, Oregon
Located next to Eugene’s Willamette River, the family-owned Willamette Oaks Retirement Community provides apartment homes for independent living. “The older adults who live here are active, mobile and independent,” affirms Candy Davis, programs and events coordinator at Willamette Oaks. “Even so, the majority perceive themselves slowing down and falling into available pastimes that don’t satisfy their need for purpose and importance in the real world.” Davis felt residents would benefit from a new programming option—one that would strengthen social bonds, enhance wellness, and offer opportunities for a more vital pace of life. So she started an African drumming circle.
Program participants tackle the complex, interwoven rhythms of traditional West African and Brazilian music. Learning these “polyrhythms” (where contrasting rhythms combine) proved “a physical and mental struggle” for these individuals initially, Davis acknowledges. Still, participants were “intrigued.” Soon they were having fun in the weekly class, while improving their brain function and physical conditioning. Since its start, the group has welcomed Willamette Oaks staff (some permanently), as well as visiting family members and guest percussionists. In addition, a core group visits schools, where children join in the circle. Today, the residents say that “drumming and sharing the experience makes them feel youthful and energetic, engaged with life, and more open to new challenges,” Davis concludes.
20in10: 20 Tips to Wellness You Can Do in 10 Minutes—Touchmark, Beaverton, Oregon
Enriching people’s lives is the mission of Touchmark. This lifestyles company located near Portland owns and operates communities for people ages 55-plus in eight US states and in Edmonton, Canada. In 2009, about to enter its 30th year, Touchmark decided on a 2010 goal of expanding wellness awareness and emphasizing all the dimensions of wellness. A key way to increase understanding “was to seek people’s input about how they could ‘experience wellness in less than 10 minutes’ several times a day,” observes Marge Coalman, the company’s vice president of wellness and programs. Accordingly, Touchmark created the 20in10 wellness tips campaign.
Last December, directors of Touchmark’s health and fitness clubs received a set of 24 colorful cards—20 with prewritten wellness tips, two with information, and two left blank for people to write their own tips. The cards decorated Christmas trees and bulletin boards in these clubs, piquing curiosity and awareness, Coalman says. Then, in January, the company rolled out the multifaceted, yearlong campaign. For example, individuals are encouraged to suggest wellness tips; cards are presented to residents and club members for activities undertaken; and sales staff distribute cards to prospective residents. By early September, more than 400 wellness tips had been suggested, Coalman notes. Touchmark plans to incorporate these tips into 2011 and beyond.
WALK! with Aegis Therapies—Aegis Therapies, Delafield, Wisconsin
Headquartered in Delafield, west of Milwaukee, Aegis Therapies provides rehabilitation therapy services in 37 US states, primarily in skilled nursing and assisted living communities. Aegis, with its mission of improving people’s lives, embraces wellness as “a complete way of looking at our health and how we maintain it.” To promote “active, healthy lifestyles on a large scale in a fun and visible fashion,” the company launched a walking event in 2009 in conjunction with ICAA’s Active Aging Week, says Aegis President Martha Schram. The WALK! with Aegis Therapies initiative was expanded into “a five-day celebration of health and wellness” for Active Aging Week 2010.
WALK! with Aegis Therapies was conducted September 20–24 at almost 600 skilled nursing locations in the United States. The initiative featured a daily walk of 15–30 minutes for participants, who listened to a customized CD of songs narrated by Chris Freytag. The fitness expert also led the walking program at 10 sites. Other activities during the week highlighted the different dimensions of wellness. Every participant received a card, which was stamped to show completion of each day’s walking and wellness activities, while the daily miles at participating locations were posted online. Schram comments that the event served both as a “highly worthwhile educational tool,” as well as a “terrific morale booster ….”
The Summit at Central Park—City of Grand Prairie Parks and Recreation Department, Grand Prairie, Texas
When the City of Grand Prairie decided to replace its aging seniors center, the development process led to an unexpected result. Grand Prairie—situated in the Dallas-Fort Worth corridor—had almost doubled in population since the previous center’s construction in 1987, and the number of citizens ages 50-plus had soared. Public meetings, surveys and requests showed that city residents viewed a new “seniors” facility as a priority.
Expectations were considerable. “The focus of the facility would be to bridge the gap of an adult population ranging from 50 years to over 100 years of age,” explains Tim Shinogle, park planning and development manager with Grand Prairie’s Parks and Recreation Department. In addition, “the facility’s design would have to accommodate a range of physical, social, recreational and educational programs” to meet diverse needs in the older population. By being open to ideas—and revisiting the concept of a seniors center—department staff and city officials created a bold vision for The Summit, a 59,000-sq.-ft. building they call “America’s first public Baby Boomer facility.”
Opened in May 2010, The Summit features an array of amenities and a country-club feel. Further, services “are designed to address the growing needs and changing lifestyle of this population segment …,” Shinogle adds. The community has certainly embraced the new center: Memberships now stand at 4,600.
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Note for editors:
New this year, ICAA will separately announce winners of the ICAA Innovative Solutions Award (previously the ICAA Equipment Innovator award category), presented for creative products/solutions that improve wellness for older adults; and the first-ever ICAA Green Award, presented for organizational efforts that encourage environmental stewardship. Announcements of these award-winners will be posted soon at www.icaa.cc/awards/pressreleases.htm.
