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ICAA reveals its active aging innovators for 2007
Award-winners promote health, well-being and quality of life for adults 50 and over

VANCOUVER, BC—The International Council on Active Aging (ICAA), an association that supports professionals who develop wellness and fitness facilities and services for age 50-plus adults, is honoring five initiatives with its 2007 ICAA Industry Innovator Awards. These annual awards recognize creativity and excellence in offerings that promote health, well-being and quality of life for Boomers and mature adults. The award-winners include:

  • the Meditation Garden at Westminster-Canterbury on Chesapeake Bay (Virginia Beach, Virginia)
  • the Drumming and Vibration Circles at Pathway Senior Living (Des Plaines, Illinois)
  • the Quest for the Best event at Johnson City Seniors’ Center (Johnson City, Tennessee)
  • the Generational Resource Center at Council on Aging Silicon Valley (San José, California)
  • the Seniors Serving Seniors/Seniors Serving Society program at Holiday Retirement (Salem, Oregon)

Further, ICAA names Technogym’s Kinesis resistance training system as its 2007 Equipment Innovator. This awards category spotlights North America’s most inventive fitness equipment for active older adults.

“The 2007 ICAA Industry Innovator Awards reveal inspiring directions in older-adult health and wellness,” says Colin Milner, ICAA founder and CEO. “These creative, high-quality approaches engage age 50-plus adults in meaningful opportunities to preserve or enhance their vitality, independence and well-being.”

The fifth annual ICAA awards competition drew entries from initiatives that target any or all of the six dimensions of wellness—emotional, vocational, physical, spiritual, intellectual and social. Some focused on helping older adults to stay independent or enhance quality of life. After considering all the entries, a panel singled out the finalists for, among other things, their innovative programming or outreach. ICAA congratulates the award-winners and thanks all the entrants in this year’s competition.

Recipients will each receive a crystal award of recognition, a one-year ICAA facility membership, and a full pass to ICAA’s Active Aging 2007 conference in Orlando, Florida (November 29–December 1). In addition, in-depth profiles of individual award-winners will appear in ICAA’s bimonthly Journal on Active Aging in the coming year. These articles will spotlight the cutting-edge initiatives for active aging industry leaders and governmental organizations. In the meantime, brief outlines of the award-winners appear below:

Meditation Garden—Westminster-Canterbury on Chesapeake Bay, Virginia Beach, Virginia
Recognized for creativity in: programming
Westminster-Canterbury on Chesapeake Bay is a waterfront retirement community for active adults ages 62 and older. Sponsored by the Episcopal Diocese of Southern Virginia and The Presbytery of Eastern Virginia of the Presbyterian Church Group, the nonprofit community values the spiritual well-being of its residents highly. So in 2002, when a group of residents proposed transforming an undeveloped exterior garden into a spiritually nurturing space, the management gave the group its blessing. These Westminster-Canterbury residents created a Meditation Garden that continues to enrich the daily lives of the older adults who live in the community. This peaceful garden includes plants, trees and structures (such as trellises and bird houses), plus a centerpiece pond and fountain, placed against the backdrop of a chapel’s stained glass windows. The widely used space offers residents “a place for meditation, solitude, serenity and to connect with nature.” The garden is also the setting for contemplative programs, including early morning tai chi and summer solstice meditation.

Drumming and Vibration Circles—Pathway Senior Living, Des Plaines, Illinois
Recognized for creativity in: outreach
Pathway Senior Living provides independent-living and assisted-living apartments and services for elders at 15 locations, mostly in Illinois. According to Pathway’s website, the organization offers its residents “a sense of community and a whole new way of living life to the fullest.” Building that sense of community can pose a challenge, however. “Older adults have a need to be with others, but not always in a traditional setting,” observes Rita Lopienski, Pathway’s regional director of community life. Individuals with physical, visual or speech impairments, for example, may find such situations threatening. Pathway’s answer to this challenge is to offer residents nonthreatening opportunities to socialize through drumming and vibration circles. Lopienski, a registered music therapist, leads groups of residents in playing drums, singing bowls, gongs, cymbals, bells and chimes, focusing on rhythm and vibrations as tools to enhance well-being and community. “Drumming and vibration instruments are unique methods to achieve [wellness], as they include nonverbal communication, focus, fun, exercise and creative expression,” says Lopienski. Individuals who typically avoid traditional programming have joined these groups, she adds, while the outside community, other older-adult communities, and residents’ grandchildren sometimes participate.

Quest for the Best—Johnson City Seniors’ Center, Johnson City, Tennessee
Recognized for creativity in: programming
A division of local government, Johnson City Seniors’ Center serves more than 2,500 adults ages 55 and over in this northeastern Tennessee town. The Center engages clients in a variety of activities that promote quality of life, aiming to help individuals be confident and independent. One activity held earlier this year, the Quest for the Best challenge, marks the Center’s first multidimensional wellness program featuring mental challenges, physical endeavors and social opportunities. The goals for this fun program included, among others, encouraging people who usually don’t take part in center programs to have a positive wellness experience, and providing opportunities for intergenerational interaction. Older adults and nursing students from East Tennessee State University (also located in Johnson City) worked in teams at the event to solve three challenges and receive navigational clues to complete the one-mile course. Participants young and old enjoyed the Quest for the Best, asking organizers to make it an annual event. With this year’s sponsor already committed to the next Quest, Center staff have started planning the event. They anticipate twice as many participants next year.

Generational Resource Center—Council on Aging Silicon Valley, San José, California
Recognized for creativity in: outreach
The Council on Aging Silicon Valley’s Information and Assistance program serves 30,000 older adults and their caregivers in Santa Clara County through a call center. Senior specialists at the Council help callers find the eldercare resources and services they need to enhance quality of life and support aging in place. However, the Council recognizes that increasing numbers of people need expert help and guidance navigating eldercare, older adults need more in-person help with technology, and working caregivers lack the time and flexibility to call during the day. To serve these individuals effectively, the Council has launched the Generational Resource Center (GRC). This customized 38-ft.-long vehicle is “a senior and caregiver one-stop shop on wheels,” giving people direct access to the Council’s assistance and services where they live and work. On board, individuals can search the Internet, speak to experts, take classes, discover aging-in-place high-tech products, and learn how to use email. Further, GRC’s visibility in the community is introducing more people to the Council’s services. The result is more individuals gaining the help they need to support health and independence for Santa Clara elders.

Seniors Serving Seniors/Seniors Serving Society—Holiday Retirement, Salem, Oregon
Recognized for creativity in: programming
A global leader in senior housing, Holiday Retirement owns and operates about 300 locations worldwide, where approximately 35,000 older adults live. These men and women belong to a generation of people who learned their purpose in life involved serving family and friends, and standing together during hard times, notes Jerusha L. White, Holiday’s director of resident enrichment. They knew that their personal contributions made a difference to others. What happens, then, when these elders no longer feel needed? Individuals become depressed and slowly decline, White suggests. To enhance the sense of purpose in the lives of Holiday residents, an international resident volunteer program was developed within the organization two years ago. Seniors Serving Seniors/Seniors Serving Society (SSS) coordinates opportunities for older adults to serve their peers and society, which in turn enhances purpose and passion in residents’ lives and enriches the lives of those they serve. Studies have shown that volunteering benefits older adults in multiple dimensions of wellness, and SSS enhances the social, emotional and vocational wellness of Holiday residents, in particular. Further, the program is helping these elders become more engaged with others and the world around them.

ICAA EQUIPMENT INNOVATOR

Kinesis—Technogym USA, Seattle, Washington
Recognized for creativity in: age-friendly fitness equipment
Sleek, versatile and nonintimidating, Technogym’s Kinesis resistance training system provides active aging organizations with an attractive option for building the functional fitness of clients. Kinesis trains muscular strength and endurance, while helping to improve balance and flexibility. Users can perform movements that mimic everyday activities, increasing clients’ functionality, plus move freely through all planes of motion without compromising the resistance load or natural path of motion. In addition, the Kinesis system serves multiple levels of function, with stations accessible to users in wheelchairs. Technogym has hidden the weight stacks and inner works of Kinesis behind elegant wood panels, minimizing the intimidation older exercisers typically feel with resistance training equipment. Each of the four Kinesis stations offers a different starting position and facilitates a breadth of movements—from patterns that simulate daily activities to sports and rehabilitation training. The versatility of Kinesis extends to how organizations use it. This system can accommodate personal training sessions with individual clients as well as small groups, a welcome option for organizations whose clients are on fixed incomes.

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About the ICAA Industry Innovator Awards program
Launched in 2003, the ICAA Industry Innovator Awards program honors excellence and creativity in the health and wellness field. By recognizing organizations that have created cutting-edge physical activity and wellness programs, 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, they also give us hope that it is possible to solve the inactivity problem.

About the International Council on Active Aging (ICAA)
ICAA is the world’s largest membership association dedicated to changing the way we age by uniting and working with professionals in the retirement, assisted living, recreation, fitness, rehabilitation and wellness fields. We connect a community of like-minded professionals who share the goals of changing society’s perceptions of aging and improving the quality of life for Baby Boomers and older adults within the six dimensions of wellness (emotional, vocational, physical, spiritual, intellectual, social).

For interviews or more information about ICAA, the ICAA Industry Innovator 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

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