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- Wellness
Living well with dementia: a framework for programs by Bob Laventure, MEd, and Claudine Aherne, MA
The role of physical activity in the prevention of dementia has been previously outlined in the Journal on Active Aging®. In his 2005 article on strategies for keeping the brain healthy, neurologist William Rodman Shankle, MD, cited a study showing that regular exercise reduces the risk of Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias by about 50%. Our understanding is also increasing about the links between regular physical activity, the prevention of dementia and related risk factors. However, less is known about the potential of physical activity and exercise to impact upon the lives of people with dementia.
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Achieving the Pinnacle: NuStep honors peak performers in older-adult wellness
The winners of the 2009 awards competition are San Joaquin Gardens, of Fresno, California, in the senior living category; and Senior Center Inc., of Charlottesville, Virginia, in the senior center division. Each received a NuStep T5XR Recumbent Cross Trainer. In addition, NuStep provided travel and hotel for a representative of each organization to attend the 2008 American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging (AAHSA) Conference, where the award-winners were recognized. As of press time, plans are also underway for presentations at the two sites in February.
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Teamwork promotes wellness by Pattie Beans-Clark
Mix together a wellness program and friendly competition, blended with teamwork and defined goals, and the result is the HT Challenge, a recipe cooked up by the wellness team at Wesley Enhanced Living at Heritage Towers retirement community. The HT Challenge is a fitness, nutrition and health program that invites participants to form teams or individually work to achieve weekly goals. “HT” stands for “Healthier Together” at “Heritage Towers.”
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Shatter stereotypes of aging: how to help your clients create dynamic mature identities by Marilynn Larkin, MA
Who comes to mind when you think of individuals with dynamic mature identities? Jack LaLanne, who at 90 is still a poster child for the benefits of lifelong fitness? Robert Butler, physician, gerontologist, psychiatrist, and Pulitzer Prize-winning author, who at 80 is still going strong as head of the International Longevity Center–USA? Or maybe Eartha Kitt, also 80, who continues to be a fixture in the New York City cabaret scene and recently costarred in an off-Broadway show and independent film?
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Creativity and aging: enhancing quality of life through the arts by Jenifer Milner
“Living a creative life has the nourishing power we normally associate with food, love and faith,” writes dancer and choreographer Twyla Tharp in her book The Creative Habit. In a career spanning more than 40 years, the prolific artist has created more than 125 dances, authored 2 books, and worked in stage, film and television. Now 65, Tharp shows no signs of slowing down, much less retiring. Her 2002 excursion into Broadway—a show called “Movin Out”—won her the Tony Award for Best Choreography, and revealed a woman in full command of her creative powers.
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Take A.C.T.I.O.N. for wellness by Mary E. Sanders, PhD
Today’s older adults will not accept situations that aren’t working, and “they will take action to keep attention focused on their key issues,” says healthy aging advocate Colin Milner. One key issue for this population is wellness and functional health. Milner, who leads the International Council on Active Aging (ICAA), identifies physical activity as a low-cost medicine that helps adults ages 50 and older reduce their discomfort and dependence on pharmaceuticals and maintain their independence.
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