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Active aging industry news from around the world
Eskaton focuses on friendship in new TV campaign
Friendships developed and enriched within Eskaton communities—that’s the theme of a new series of television commercials launched by the northern California-based nonprofit community living and home-based support organization. The Friends for Life campaign features five short, unscripted stories of Eskaton friendships. One story, for example, introduces viewers to Charlotte and Ann, residents and travel buddies, who laugh that after their visit, “Yosemite will never be the same.” Produced by Pilotfish Productions in New York City, the campaign’s 30-second and 15-second TV spots premiered in May. These spots will continue to run through January 2011, predominately during news programming watched by older adults.
AMA releases new older driver safety guide
To help protect the lives of older drivers and make roads safer, the American Medical Association (AMA) recently released a new Physician’s Guide to Assessing and Counseling Older Drivers. Motor vehicle injuries are a leading cause of injury-related deaths in adults over age 65, according to the AMA. The fatality rate for drivers 85 years and older is nine times higher than the rate for drivers ages 25–69 years.
Topics covered in the guide include screening, assessing functional abilities, handling evaluations and referrals, conditions and medications that may impact driving, addressing safer driving, and counseling those who are no longer able to drive. A section with worksheets and resources for older adults and caregivers is also included. The guide, developed by the AMA in cooperation with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, is available online at www.ama-assn.org/go/olderdrivers.
Brookdale surpasses fundraising goal for Alzheimer’s Association
Nashville-based Brookdale Senior Living announced in April that it had exceeded the company-wide goal to raise $400,000 for the Alzheimer’s Association. During 2009, Brookdale committed its support to the Alzheimer’s Association as a Platinum National Team for the Memory Walk program, which helps raise awareness and funds for Alzheimer’s care, support and research. The company was acknowledged as the number one fundraising team among the four Platinum National teams. At final count, Brookdale associates from its communities and offices raised more than $437,000 from May 2009 to March 2010.
Interactive resource reveals preventive services use
Want to know the extent to which adults ages 50–64 years in your state are using recommended preventive services? A new online resource can help. The Promoting Preventive Services interactive data tool offers users a searchable version of the 2009 report Promoting Preventive Services Among Adults 50–64: Community and Clinical Partnerships, developed by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), AARP and the American Medical Association. According to CDC’s Healthy Aging Listserv, the report “provides indicators for a recommended set of preventive services for adults aged 50 to 64, and data for states and selected metropolitan areas as well as a summary national and regional data.” Effective community-based interventions are also included. “A few quick clicks of the mouse,” the announcement continues, “enable access to data and information useful in program planning and evaluation, grant writing, and educating policymakers and the media ….” To access this new tool, visit CDC’s Healthy Aging Program website at www.cdc.gov\aging.
Affordable senior housing development opens in Chicago
Chicago’s mayor, Richard M. Daley, participated in the recent ribbon-cutting ceremony for Montclare Senior Apartments of Avalon Park, a $20.4-million development that provides 102 affordable housing units for older adults on the city’s south side. The seven-storey building features 42 studios and 60 one-bedroom apartments at rents from $168 to $700. These units are available to older adults earning at or below 60% of area median income, with 13 reserved for those making no more than 30%. Amenities include activity rooms, a laundry room and on-site parking. The complex provides modern facilities for use by community groups for meetings and other activities so that all neighborhood residents benefit. And a social service program will be provided for residents, including social, recreational and healthcare services.
“We remain committed to making affordable housing available to seniors who have made numerous contributions to our city and now are living on fixed incomes,” Daley said in remarks delivered at the official opening on March 6. “Developments like these offer another option for seniors who want to remain a vibrant part of their community surrounded by the support and services necessary to lead healthy and active lives.”
Senior Lifestyle residents celebrate brain health
This spring Senior Lifestyle Corporation (SLC), headquartered in Chicago, introduced an initiative to highlight brain health awareness, learning and participation in its communities across the United States. All residents participated in some aspect of the monthlong Cerebral Celebration in March, according to Terry Fay, SLC’s corporate director of resident programs and International Council on Active Aging® (ICAA) advisor. The initiative was based on Brain Health Awareness Week, coordinated by the Dana Alliance for Brain Initiatives, Fay states.
With the focus on physical activity, mental stimulation, nutrition and stress management, the Cerebral Celebration included a variety of programs and activities during the month. Among the activities, residents enjoyed presentations, chef demonstrations and tastings that focused on brain healthy foods. The benefits of socializing were also emphasized.
At The Heritage Legacy in Sun City West, Arizona, the first brain awareness event in March spotlighted “80 years of brains and beauty” as residents and family celebrated the birthday of Gerda McHugh, who teaches fitness classes there. McHugh, “who is living proof that regular exercise enhances mental fitness as well as physical fitness,” marked the milestone with an unexpected—and unassisted—headstand, reports Penelope J. Weber, the community’s director of resident programs.
NIHSeniorHealth updates exercise section
Older adults who are interested in becoming physically active, restarting a lapsed exercise regimen or getting more benefit from their current exercise program can explore the updated Exercise and Physical Activity for Older Adults topic posted on the NIHSeniorHealth website. Visitors to the site will find sample exercises, images, easy-to-follow instructions, and videos of National Institutes of Health (NIH) directors performing their favorite activities. Designed especially for older adults, NIHSeniorHealth is a health and wellness website from the National Institute on Aging and the National Library of Medicine, both NIH institutes. To access the Exercise and Physical Activity for Older Adults topic, log on to http://nihseniorhealth.gov/exercise/toc.html.
Physician’s photos spotlight lives of homebound elders
House Calls with my Camera, a poignant series of photo essays on display at the Royal Ontario Museum, captures the lives of patients of Canadian physician and photographer Mark Nowaczynski, MD, PhD. The exhibit’s 36 black-and-white images document the hidden world of the physician’s aging housebound patients—and reveal a startling lack of medical and supportive home care services. “If we didn’t go to these individuals, they wouldn’t get any healthcare,” observes Nowaczynski, “because they can’t come to us. They would fall through the cracks.”
Focusing on four at-risk individuals, House Calls with my Camera gives viewers insights into older adults’ quality of life and the subjects’ personal stories. The photographs convey the vulnerability of these individuals, but also their quiet strength and courage as they each struggle to live the rest of their lives with dignity. The exhibit will be on display at the Toronto-based art museum until October 11.
The subject of an award-winning National Film Board of Canada documentary, House Calls, Nowaczynski’s photographs have raised awareness about the many complex issues related to aging. In 2009, the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care announced the funding of the House Calls team through the provincial government’s Aging at Home Strategy. Led by Nowaczynski, this interdisciplinary community-based group assists aging in place and improves older-adult quality of life by providing ongoing integrated home-based care.
Senior living organization to provide wellness solutions
Cincinnati, Ohio-based Life Enriching Communities Inc. (LEC) has announced the launch of Whole Person Wellness Solutions Inc. (WPWS), a new venture to provide consulting, development and management services to the senior living and older-adult services industries. WPWS will also offer leadership training, professional education programs, product development and research opportunities for the advancement of whole-person wellness.
The LEC team includes whole-person wellness expert Jan Montague, an International Council on Active Aging Advisory Board Member, who is assisting with the new venture’s design, development and implementation. Joining Montague is Monica Smith, executive director of LEC’s Twin Lakes community. Smith—who began her career with LEC as director of wellness for Twin Lakes and its sister community, Twin Towers—has played a big role in creating the organization’s culture of whole-person wellness. In fact, prior to launching WPWS, LEC received the 2010 Best Practices in Health Promotion and Wellness and Aging award from the Health Promotion Institute of the National Council on Aging.
CMSA joins CARF council
The Case Management Society of America (CMSA), a nonprofit dedicated to the support and development of the case management profession, has accepted a seat on CARF’s International Advisory Council (IAC). CARF International accredits health and human services.
The IAC is made up of organizational and individual members who represent the spectrum of CARF’s accreditation services, including individuals receiving services, service providers, professionals in the field, governmental agencies, and purchasers. This group provides guidance on the development of the CARF standards and issues affecting fields in which CARF offers accreditation.
Based in Little Rock, Arkansas, CMSA advocates for patients’ well-being and improved health outcomes by fostering case management growth and development, impacting healthcare policy, and providing evidence-based tools and resources. CMSA President Margaret Leonard, MS, RN-BC, FNP, represents CMSA on the IAC.
Global awards conferred for Alzheimer’s research
Alzheimer’s Disease International (ADI) and the Fondation Médéric Alzheimer presented two global awards for psychosocial research in Alzheimer’s and dementia at ADI’s 25th international conference, held in March. Psychosocial research involves both the social and psychological aspects of a patient’s life. Often this includes the relationship between the personal, internal environment and the wider social world, such as the influence of social and environmental factors on an individual’s state of mind and/or behavior.
The first award went to Amit Dias, MD, lecturer at Goa Medical College, India, for “Best evidence-based psychosocial research in dementia.” His research examined the effectiveness of a community-based psychosocial intervention for supporting people with dementia and their caregivers in developing countries. Anne Margriet Pot, PhD, a professor at the Netherlands’ Free University, Amsterdam, received the award for “Most promising evidence-based psychosocial research,” based on her research into an e-mental health intervention for family caregivers of people with dementia.
ADI was “very happy” with the quality and geographical spread of this year’s award applications, comments the organization’s executive director, Marc Wortmann. “These projects deserve wider dissemination,” he adds, “as people with dementia and their families can benefit from the results immediately.”
Entries invited for annual Alzheimer’s disease caregiving awards
The National Center on Caregiving, a program of the Family Caregiver Alliance in San Francisco, is overseeing the annual Rosalinde Gilbert Innovations in Alzheimer’s Disease Caregiving Legacy Awards program again this year. Three awards of $20,000 each will go to organizations that are initiating unique programs that address the needs of Alzheimer’s caregivers. One award will be granted in each of these categories:
• Creative Expression
• Diverse/Multicultural Communities
• Policy & Advocacy
Information about the awards program are available at the Family Caregiver Alliance website at www.caregiver.org/caregiver/jsp/content_node.jsp?nodeid=2188. The deadline for applications is August 12, 2010.
NCOA launches economic security initiative
As the economic downturn continues to affect the savings, employment and financial well-being of older adults, the Washington, DC-based National Council on Aging (NCOA) has launched an economic security initiative that includes both community-based support services and national advocacy efforts. The national demonstration program was announced in March 2010 at the Aging in America Conference.
With $1 million in grant support from the Harry and Jeannette Weinberg Foundation, NCOA’s Economic Security Service Centers will provide personal economic casework to 4,000 older adults in the next two years from locations in Chicago, Milwaukee, Cleveland, Detroit, Los Angeles, New York City, Tucson, and Baltimore. The program will help ensure that older adults benefit from income support and employment programs, foreclosure mitigation, debt management, legal aid, reverse mortgages, and the other services for which they are eligible.
Study explores impact of group activities on cognitive function
Does growing older have to mean becoming forgetful? Victor Henderson, MD, of California’s Stanford University School of Medicine, doesn’t think so, and he is investigating ways to prevent memory loss among older adults in research funded by the National Institute on Aging, one of the US National Institutes of Health.
Henderson, a professor of health research and policy and of neurology and neurological sciences, has long been interested in risk factors and therapies for dementia and age-related cognitive decline. For this work, he decided to compare the potential memory-boosting benefits of tai chi, guided autobiography writing, and seminars focused on healthy aging. Anecdotal evidence suggests that tai chi can help improve memory, and a small Stanford study also showed it might boost mental capacity, according to Henderson. But this research project will mark the first time that tai chi, or guided writing, has been looked at in this context, he says.
For their study, Henderson and colleagues will test whether these specific group activities can affect cognitive function in older adults. If results from this pilot study appear promising, the Stanford professor plans to conduct larger trials on the specific intervention.
New program increases vision care access for low-income elders
Recognizing that East Harlem and Harlem residents have a high rate of diabetes but few eyecare facilities, Lighthouse International, a nonprofit organization serving New Yorkers, recently began a two-year pilot program called East Harlem: Early Action Saves Sight (EHEASS). The program offers vision education and services to residents ages 55 and older who have vision health needs.
EHEASS is based on the Patient Navigator model developed and used successfully by Harold P. Freeman, MD, for cancer patients. The model is designed to help remove barriers, whether cultural or economic, to obtaining care. Introduced here for vision care in a community setting, the Lighthouse Patient Navigator will help residents (most of whom are African-American and Latino) make eyecare appointments, follow-up visits and address other barriers to vision care.
Foundation joins initiative to prevent chronic diseases
The Heart and Stroke Foundation (HSF) of Canada recently announced that it would contribute $500,000 to the Canadian Partnership Against Cancer to cofund two prevention projects aimed at combating chronic disease. These include The BETTER Project, which will harness electronic medical record systems and evidence-based approaches to increase prevention and screening for heart disease, diabetes and cancer in participating family doctors’ offices.
Headquartered in Ottawa, HSF is also the lead organization for a coalition focused on the impact urban living and community planning have on health and chronic disease. The project team will develop new tools and resources to help planners, public health officials and policymakers understand how community planning and design impact health.
NIA funds three new centers to study the demography and economics of aging
The US National Institute on Aging (NIA) has committed more than $36.7 million over the next five years to support and expand its Centers on the Demography and Economics of Aging. The Centers form a network of universities and organizations leading studies on the characteristics of the aging population. The awards renew support for 11 centers and establish three new ones at Duke University, Johns Hopkins University and Syracuse University.
New program promotes active aging in Nova Scotia
Recreation Nova Scotia, a not-for-profit organization that promotes the value and benefits of recreation, has launched Move More for Active Aging, a supplement to the Move More program that specifically targets older adults in the Canadian province. Move More is an eight-week workshop that addresses the core components of healthy, active living and encourages inactive adults to increase their daily physical activity. Developed with support from the Nova Scotia Department of Seniors’ Positive Aging Fund, Move More for Active Aging includes new course overheads and handouts, training materials, marketing strategies, and a database of key resources. To learn more, go to www.recreationns.ns.ca/movemore.
