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- Community design
ICAA survey: trends in design for wellness by Patricia Ryan, MS
These are interesting times for providers of services for older adults. The population of “older adults” is already a huge marketplace, and growing. In 2009, along came the economic recession. The income of the oldest adults remains steady, the Baby Boomers have been hit financially, the very poor older adults are still poor, and the wealthy older adults are keeping quiet.
Providers of housing and services—retirement communities, community/seniors centers, some health clubs and hospitals—realize the value of supporting the lifestyles of older adults as well as promoting health and healthcare. Yet, financing has been a challenge over these last years, as banks tightened lending, grantors found their endowments reduced, and governments discovered they were in the red. Like the rest of the people in developed nations, older adults themselves have been somewhat frozen in time, unwilling to lose equity by selling their homes or focused on survival as they slipped into reduced incomes from unemployment. Aging in place has become a hot topic to meet personal preferences as well the reality that the number of older adults in the population requires it.
Community design
Wii for wellness: How five social trends are transforming senior living environments by Cornelia C. Hodgson, AIA
Every so often, a trend comes along that transcends the fickle nature of most fads, reaching that pivotal moment when a product is suddenly mainstream and fully integrated into everyday lives. Several trends that have crossed generational lines are becoming deeply ingrained in senior living—from a computer-generated game being used for recreation and rehabilitation, to social networking for making connections and online chat about health.
While technology has greatly affected older adults, other value-oriented trends—such as a recommitment to social responsibility and an effort to slow down and savor healthy food—are redefining senior living, and along with it, creating new architectural design implications. These implications can also be viewed as a trend in how communities are using architecture to help define their unique brand.
Community design
A living environment: NewBridge on the Charles cultivates community
“At the heart of the Hebrew SeniorLife housing philosophy is the fundamental belief that buildings are more than just places to live.” This belief animates NewBridge on the Charles, a continuing care retirement community in Dedham, Massachusetts, developed by the Boston-based nonprofit.
Opened on budget and ahead of schedule in June 2009, NewBridge on the Charles represents a significant expansion for Hebrew SeniorLife (HSL), a provider of healthcare and housing for older adults and an affiliate of Harvard Medical School. Ruth Stark, the community’s director of marketing, sees the $485-million CCRC as “really the manifestation of what HSL is all about: giving people choices, keeping them independent and secure, promoting wellness and social engagement. And we’re taking respect for the environment to a new level,” she says.
Community design
Changing hospital culture: Henry Ford Health System's new model emphasizes wellness and prevention by Marilynn Larkin, MA
At the one-year anniversary celebration for Henry Ford West Bloomfield Hospital in Oakland County, Michigan, CEO Gerard van Grinsven, Wellness Director Michael Seidman, MD, and Marketing and Public Relations Director Carey Chesney were exuberant—and with good reason. Their vision for the $360-million hospital—the seventh in the Henry Ford Health System—had become a reality. “The community embraced our efforts to change the definition of the word hospital,” says Chesney. “It’s a loaded word that can generate anxiety and fear. When people hear it, they think of something cold and scary and authoritarian. Our goal,” he explains, “was to explode that concept and get people to think about hospitals in a different way.”
Despite the challenges (see “Marketing: redefining ‘hospital’” on page 37), the Henry Ford team clearly has succeeded. Patient satisfaction scores reached the 99th percentile nationally in the United States three months after opening; and bed capacity increased from 60 to 160, with the hospital running at 85% of capacity. (The hospital initially built 191 of its 300 beds.) As van Grinsven observes, “We have completely changed the hospital paradigm by combining clinical care with a comprehensive wellness philosophy integrated into every aspect of patient care.”
Community design
Creating therapeutic garden landscapes by Randy Eady, MEd, NCC
There are thousands upon thousands of healing gardens around the world. They’re situated in community gardens, retreat centers, wellness facilities, hospitals, universities, active-adult living spaces—even front yards. Increasingly, these gardens include interactive outdoor environments with traditional Chinese cobblestone paths, active-aging fitness features or maze-like configurations called labyrinths. Perhaps you’d like to add one to your location as well. But where do you start?
How about reorienting your view of what a healing garden space might be? Let’s put gardens on the functional path to making people more holistically fit, while offering the possibility for symptom relief for those with conditions such as balance disorders, restless legs syndrome or clinical depression.1,2,3,4,5 Sound challenging? Take a journey along the functional path and discover a world beyond traditional healing gardens.
Community design
The Summit: How Grand Prairie created its 'country club for the 50-plus' by Jenifer Milner
When the City of Grand Prairie, Texas, officially opened The Summit Adult Activity Center on June 18, 2010, the community was already deeply engaged with this “senior center of tomorrow” and eager to participate. Efforts to consult and communicate with the public about the new venue had helped create a sense of ownership and anticipation in community members over the years, and the building’s soft opening on May 22 allowed them to finally experience the facility. A flood of visits followed. And by the end of June, less than two weeks after the grand opening, Summit membership stood at about 3,800.
The journey that culminated in The Summit’s opening began years earlier, however, with the City’s decision to replace the existing seniors center. The 8,000-sq.-ft. facility, built in 1987, “couldn’t keep up with the demands of the citizenry due to tremendous growth,” states Rick Herold, director of Grand Prairie Parks and Recreation Department.
