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- Culture Change
Crusading against ageism in America's presidential elections by Beth Witrogen, BA, MJ
Dr. S. Jay Olshansky is on a mission: He wants to eviscerate ageism in the US presidential elections. A professor of Public Health at the University of Illinois at Chicago, Olshansky specializes in the upper limits to human longevity and biodemography, a scientific field he created with Dr. Bruce Carnes in 1992. He is unabashedly vocal about the way age has been "weaponized" in this election cycle. And, he urges, it must stop, "because science shows conclusively that chronological age is not relevant for either candidate...." As corresponding author of "Projected lifespan and healthspan of Joe Biden and Donald Trump before the 2020 election" (a special feature to the Journal on Active Aging available online), Olshansky directed a team of scientists and physicians to determine if Biden and Trump could survive the next four-year term. The team used independent biodemographic assessments of the two candidates' personal attributes--inherited and acquired risk factors for health and longevity--and public medical data that was evaluated independently by three physicians with expertise in human aging. The Journal on Active Aging spoke with Dr. Olshansky about his new research, why both candidates may be "super agers" and his message for those who would politicize aging.
moreCulture Change
Atria's Support Center nurtures collaboration, innovation and wellness by Marilynn Larkin, MA
Picture a fully equipped test kitchen where chefs prepare local favorites for more than 200 active-aging communities across the United States and Canada. A production studio that enables management to rapidly communicate with staff, and produce their own training videos. An array of workspaces designed to encourage interdepartmental collaboration. And a vibrant environment that mirrors workers' energy and enthusiasm. All this and more comprise Atria Senior Living's headquarters (known as the "Support Center") in downtown Louisville, Kentucky.
moreCulture Change
Disrupting the industry: Paul Irving calls on older-adult communities to embrace change by Marilynn Larkin, MA
Paul Irving is convinced that older-adult communities must undergo major changes to attract younger customers and healthy, vital older adults from ages 55 and up. "A major challenge to the industry is an emerging inclination not to move into these communities unless it's absolutely necessary," says Irving, who chairs the Milken Institute Center for the Future of Aging. In this interview for the Journal on Active Aging, Irving talks about industry challenges that must be addressed, and how to disrupt the perceptions that have mostly characterized older-adult communities up to now.
moreCulture Change
Embracing wellness: NuStep Pinnacle Award winners find keys to engagement
How do we best promote quality of life for older adults? Increasingly, organizations devoted to this mission find answers to this question in a culture of whole-person wellness. NuStep, LLC, based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, presents its NuStep Pinnacle Award every year to groups whose efforts engage older adults in making wellness their way of life. Established in 1998, the Pinnacle Award highlights organizations that successfully integrate whole-person wellness into their settings and develop an organizational culture of wellness. Embracing wellness as an all-encompassing culture allows Pinnacle winners to respond to the changing needs of individuals and engage them in leading healthier, more vibrant lives.
moreCulture Change
Communicating culture change: Taking stock of one journey's challenges and successes by Kelly A. Stranburg, MEd, CEP, CSCS
It is nearly a year since I last shared with Journal on Active Aging readers the journey to become a culture of vitality and well-being at Sharon Towers, our not-for-profit life-plan community located in Charlotte, North Carolina. As a recap, we are focusing on repositioning our community as a center of vitality and well-being in the region. A destination that not only breaks stereotypes and stigmas that often exist with a retirement community or nursing home, but also inspires more positive views of aging. Throughout 2016, I wrote a column in the Journal highlighting and documenting steps we took, challenges we faced and lessons we learned along the way, to provide a potential culture-change roadmap for readers. ... So, how have we progressed with our communication efforts and what hurdles have we faced in the last 12 months as we continue to focus on changing our culture? Let's catch up.
moreCulture Change
Is transcendent design the future of senior living? by Colin Milner
Is music icon Jimmy Buffett set to disrupt the slow-moving USD$372-billion senior living industry? That was the question I asked myself when I heard earlier this year that Minto Communities and Margaritaville Holdings were developing a $1-billion active-adult community in Daytona Beach, Florida. Latitude Margaritaville, Buffett's community for the "55 and better" customer, will eventually provide up to 6,900 homes for "Parrot Heads" (the name the singer's fans call themselves). .. What impact will this new senior living brand have on the industry? It's too early to tell, of course. Yet we can rest assured that these communities--which promise a "no worries tropical vibe"--will be developed around the centerpiece of having "fun" and creating memorable experiences. Buffett and partners are realizing their communities around a "transcendent design" model. Are you familiar with this approach? I was not until Joseph F. Coughlin, PhD, professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and director of MIT AgeLab, enlightened me a few months ago. I invited this visionary expert to help us all better understand transcendent design.
more
