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- Motivation
Link motivation and the stages of change to encourage exercise by Marie Dacey, EdD
Recent research that blended two models of health behavior change has contributed to our understanding of physical activity motivation (Dacey, Baltzell & Zaichkowsky, 2008). Both the transtheoretical model (Nigg & Riebe, 2002) and self-determination theory (Deci & Ryan, 2002) describe various kinds of motivation along continuums
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Innovative ideas increase participation: Report from ICAA Active Aging Conference
Each professional attending the ICAA Active Aging Conference brings knowledge and experience to the sessions. This isn’t surprising since 60% of 2008’s delegates stated they have worked with older adults for eight years or longer, according to the post-conference survey.
That knowledge—and the enthusiasm of the professionals serving older adults—was plentiful during the Innovation Exchange. This session is designed to encourage delegates to share their successful ideas.
Motivation
Increase program participation with pickleball by Barbara Wintroub
Active-aging professionals are always looking for ways to increase both the physical activity levels of their members or residents and the amount of people who participate in their programs. Pickleball, “the fastest-growing sport in North America,”1 is an activity that can help attract and retain participants. In fact, this sport for all ages is increasingly popular with older adults. It is played now in senior living communities, YMCAs, community and seniors centers, fitness clubs, parks, schools and other settings, such as the Senior Games.
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Incentives reward participation during Active Aging Week
The goal of Active Aging Week, ICAA’s annual health promotion event, is to encourage people to take action. Its tenets are simple and appealing. Whether a single activity or a daily parade of programming, Active Aging Week events are:
• educational
• fun
• free
These events are planned and hosted by professionals and older adults in retirement communities, community services such as seniors centers and area agencies on aging, wellness centers and health clubs. The activities include walks, demonstrations, many varieties of exercise classes, lectures, health fairs, music performances, spelling bees, and friendly competitions.
Motivation
Movement is Medicine: increasing awareness of the healthy aging prescription by Holly Botsford
The health benefits of exercise have been heavily researched, prominently and widely documented, and broadly disseminated. Of all the benefits, however, one key advantage is a clear fit for older adults: Age-related changes can be reversed or slowed through exercise.
The research is conclusive. In a study led by Lynn F. Cherkas, PhD, of King’s College London, telomeres (aging indicators that shorten with aging) were investigated in 2,401 pairs of healthy twins. The research revealed that physical activity correlated with increased telomere length, which equals increased longevity.
Motivation
Move! Surefire ways to motivate and inspire older adults to be active by Marilynn Larkin, MA
Recent research confirms that Americans spend the majority of their time (55% or close to 8 hours a day overall) in behaviors that require little energy expenditure. Investigators used activity monitors to measure how many hours in a waking day adults and children engaged in behaviors associated with sitting, reclining and lying down. Not surprisingly, the most sedentary groups were older adolescents and adults over age 60, who spent about 60% of their waking time in sedentary pursuits. Moreover, although women were less active than men before age 30, men became less active than women after age 60. The increase in low-energy activity logged by older adults, especially males, may relate to their having more leisure time after retirement and/or developing health conditions, according to the researchers.
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