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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- Business profiles

 

Beacons of excellence illuminate wellness as an essential way of life-8243

Beacons of excellence illuminate wellness as an essential way of life

COVID-19's emergence in 2020 has upended daily life in senior living communities across North America and made it more vital than ever to nurture multidimensional wellness for residents and staff. Many communities have embraced wellness as a culture shift in the last decade, prioritizing wellness-and its pursuit-as an essential way of life. Highlighting those that excel at weaving wellness into their culture, the International Council on Active Aging (ICAA) and NuStep, LLC, have honored 25 communities with the 2020 ICAA NuStep Beacon Award for their "Best in Wellness" achievements. ... The Beacon Award goes to communities that successfully foster a wellness culture and an environment that supports wellness for all who live and work there. The top five communities also receive the ICAA NuStep Pinnacle Award for their particularly exceptional contributions.... A full list of the 2020 award-winners follows.

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Business profiles

Beacons of excellence: Profiling winners in the wellness culture space by Julie Halpert-7960

Beacons of excellence: Profiling winners in the wellness culture space by Julie Halpert

After 15 years living in a rural community on the Chesapeake Bay, Joel Grow, 69, and his wife, Rebecca, 73, decided to move to a senior living community. The Grows don't have children. They feared that getting care as they aged would be challenging in their remote setting on America's Mid-Atlantic coast. An acquaintance suggested they visit Sunnyside Retirement Community, a life-plan community located in Harrisonburg, Virginia. In March 2018, the couple moved to Sunnyside. "I haven't lived in any other retirement community, but I know this is a wonderful place," Joel states. In fact, Sunnyside is more than a nice place to live. Along with state and international awards, the Virginia community is one of the top five [of 25] winners of the inaugural ICAA NuStep Beacon Award, announced October 2019. To win the Beacon award, communities must demonstrate the ways in which they meet the seven dimensions of wellness: emotional, physical, intellectual, social, spiritual, vocational and environmental. Previously, the Journal on Active Aging featured an article on Moorings Park, the number one "Best in Wellness" community... The four communities that round out the top five are profiled in the article in this issue.

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Business profiles

Meet Moorings Park: The #1 wellness-based community in North America by Sally Abrahms-7609

Meet Moorings Park: The #1 wellness-based community in North America by Sally Abrahms

Creating an outstanding wellness culture in senior living takes a lot of heavy lifting, vision and commitment. And, as industry experts see it, it is something critical to cultivate. The International Council on Active Aging's 2019 ICAA State of Wellness Survey queried 305 senior living communities about the value of having services, programs and environments that support a wellness culture. They say it improves the well-being of residents, keeps their community relevant in a changing industry, differentiates them from competitors, attracts younger adults and garners extra income through wellness programs. Another ICAA survey, conducted in 2018, reveals that 59% of senior living communities plan to have a wellness lifestyle-with-options-for-care model (versus a healthcare-first-with-wellness-features) within the next five years. Currently, 64% of industry leaders believe wellness is a "must have." In its first year, ICAA and NuStep, LLC, a leading manufacturer of recumbent cross-trainers, have given the ICAA NuStep Beacon Award to those that best foster, and imbue, wellness into their senior communities. And the number one wellness-based community in North America went to Moorings Park, a life-plan community in Naples, Florida.

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Business profiles

MusicGlove: New robotics facilitate hand rehabilitation in stroke survivors by Marilynn Larkin, MA-7127

MusicGlove: New robotics facilitate hand rehabilitation in stroke survivors by Marilynn Larkin, MA

As authors of a recent editorial ... report, the increase in older adult numbers will be accompanied by an anticipated 55% increase in the total number of annual stroke cases by 2030. In the United States alone, more than 700,000 people sustain a stroke each year; importantly, about two-thirds of these individuals survive and require rehabilitation, according to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. Yet six months after stroke, about 65% of patients still cannot incorporate the affected hand into their usual activities. Authors of a recent review of hand rehabilitation robotics for stroke survivors note that "recovery of hand function is one of the most challenging topics in stroke rehabilitation," largely because of the flexibility and complexity of the hand and the brain's motor cortex. ... [S]ome researchers are turning to technology for solutions, developing devices that motivate people to do the required exercises while helping to ensure that those exercises are performed correctly. One such device is MusicGlove.

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Business profiles

Meigs Council on Aging: Embracing, expanding and encouraging wellness in rural Ohio by Marilynn Larkin, MA-7123

Meigs Council on Aging: Embracing, expanding and encouraging wellness in rural Ohio by Marilynn Larkin, MA

Beth Shaver was 33 years old in 1987 when she took a temporary job at the Meigs Council on Aging in Pomeroy, Ohio. "I was offered full time employment when that job ended and the rest is history," she says. She worked as a home health aide and held a number of other positions before being named executive director in 2004. Under her stewardship, the council has grown its multigenerational services, programs and resources despite financial and cultural challenges. It operates in Meigs County, a mostly rural Appalachian county with 23,000+ residents and a high poverty rate. Adults 65 and older account for nearly 20% of the population.

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Business profiles

Penn State Center for Healthy Aging: Putting technology to work for older adults by Marilynn Larkin, MA-7111

Penn State Center for Healthy Aging: Putting technology to work for older adults by Marilynn Larkin, MA

It's no secret in the medical community that dementia tests are often wrong. In fact, a recent study found that results of three tests commonly used in primary care settings are frequently inaccurate and may incorrectly identify someone as having dementia, or not. That study pointed to flaws in the tests themselves-biases that led to misclassification based on factors such as age, education and ethnicity. Yet any test that's given in a laboratory or physician's office can't ensure that the results seen in the testing environment are similar to what happens in real life, states Martin Sliwinski, PhD, director of Penn State University's Center for Healthy Aging. ... So Sliwinski and his team began studying the feasibility of doing ambulatory assessments of cognitive function in an individual's natural environment.

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Business profiles

Total items: 65

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