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 conditions
Decrease the risk of heat-related illness By Patricia Ryan, MS
Every summer as the temperature rises people become ill or die from heat-related illness. Between the years 1979 and 2002, there were 4,780 deaths due to weather-related heat, according the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and of those 44% were people 65 years and older.
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HIV/AIDS and adults over 50: a call to action by Marilynn Larkin, MA
“You’re awfully old to have this disease.” That’s what a 70 year-old with HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) infection was told by a healthcare provider, according to Charles Emlet, PhD, associate professor of social work at the University of Washington–Tacoma. Emlet has worked with older adults with HIV/AIDS for more than 20 years. Recently, he interviewed 25 people ages 50 and older about their experiences with HIV for an article in an upcoming issue of The Gerontologist, a journal of the Gerontological Society of America. “There’s been a lot of media coverage about 2006 marking the 25th anniversary of the first cases of AIDS being diagnosed in the United States,” says Emlet. “This year’s headlines also brought attention to the fact that the first Baby Boomers are turning 60. But,” he asserts, “an important connection between the 2 has gone largely unnoticed—and it’s a silence that can kill.”
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Exercise and chronic pain: opening the therapeutic window by Kim Dupree Jones, PhD and Janice Holt Hoffman
Acute pain is a vital, protective mechanism that permits us to live in an environment fraught with potential dangers. In contrast, chronic pain serves no such physiologic role. It is not a symptom, but a disease state.
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Living Strong Living Well: a strength and fitness program for cancer survivors by Joyce Hanna
After surviving testicular cancer, which spread to his brain, abdomen and lungs, Lance Armstrong climbed into cycling’s elite class in 1999 by winning the prestigious Tour de France championship. Earlier this year, Armstrong celebrated his record sixth straight victory in this race. He is physically and mentally stronger today, he says, than before his 1996 cancer diagnosis. Many people do not realize that Armstrong is not alone in making a strong comeback from cancer.
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In the flow: water exercise for people with Parkinson's disease by Mary E. Sanders
Liz enjoyed an active life of swimming, travel and work as a fashion designer until she was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease at age 60. Liz’s life appeared to her husband to “get smaller.” He noticed his wife taking more steps than usual and moving much more slowly at everything she did. Liz admitted fearing she might “freeze up, like a statue” and fall. And she felt frustrated when her activities of daily living, such as bathing, making the bed and rising from a chair, became noticeably more difficult.
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Developing Parkinson's-specific exercise programs by Becky Farley
Parkinson’s disease affects approximately 3% of adults ages 65 years and older. In the United States, more than one million people live with PD, making it the most common neurodegenerative disease after Alzheimer’s. In Canada, individuals with PD number nearly 100,000, with more than half these men and women diagnosed before age 65.
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