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Active Aging Week: Plan early to maximize your impact This yearly campaign highlights the potential for people to live better longer with wellness as their foundation. It's also a perfect platform to showcase your organization. Now's a good time to start planning your participation. View detail

Make your Active Aging Week more visible and rewarding How will you promote your Active Aging Week participation this fall? If you haven't done so already, you might want to consider involving public officials in your event planning. The annual observance, presented by Humana and led by the International Council on Active Aging, promotes healthier, more engaged living for older adults. It offers a valuable opportunity for both these officials and your organization to increase recognition and publicity. Public recognition can reinforce value for your participants and organization. View detail

Celebrate + inspire: Planning your Active Aging Week This annual initiative showcases the power of wellness. If you aren't already planning your participation, now's the time to start. View detail

Hosting a milestone Active Aging Week Autumn's arrival typically signals vacations ending, students returning to schools and, for active-aging advocates, celebrating Active Aging Week. The annual observance held in the early fall promotes active, engaged living for adults 50+. The weeklong celebrations taking place October 3-9, 2022, will mark the 20th Annual Active Aging Week. How will your organization participate in--and leverage--this milestone? In settings where missions and business models center on older adults, or where healthy aging is a significant focus, Active Aging Week offers a platform for positive messages and programming that highlight the ability to engage fully in life at any age. At the same time, savvy host organizations realize the opportunities it presents to showcase their services, lifestyles and environments to their communities and neighborhoods. View detail

Thriving at PSL: A resident-led special event celebrates wellness Summer 2020 challenged providers of senior living, care and aging services with pandemic concerns. While the health and safety of residents and staff were consuming issues, so too were questions of how to support their overall wellness. At Presbyterian Senior Living (PSL) in Dillsburg, Pennsylvania, plans for an in-house wellness initiative moved ahead, with resident focus groups providing input as the not-for-profit developed its wellness culture. Fostering this culture is Thrive Wellness, PSL's "resident-driven approach to wellness." Launched early in 2021, Thrive Wellness "promotes a culture of wellness, engagement and purposeful living to empower all individuals to live their best lives," according to the PSL website. Key to this approach is collaboration between residents and team members and between the organization's communities. The Thrive Wellness Steering Group demonstrates that collaborative spirit, with independent-living residents, team members and community leadership all involved. In keeping with the resident-driven philosophy and the collaborative, holistic framework of Thrive Wellness, the steering group came up with an idea for a special event inspired by Active Aging Week, the annual ICAA-led campaign to promote active, engaged living, presented by Humana. The PSL initiative would have its own twists, however. View detail

Active Aging Week 2021: Celebrating active, engaged living Individuals engaging fully in life as they age--that's the long-term outcome that active-aging professionals often hope for when they host Active Aging Week. Since the annual observance launched in 2003, the wellness initiative has showcased the potential of older adults and their ability to participate fully in life's different dimensions. And every year, host organizations create low-to-no-cost activities to encourage adults 50+ to try new experiences and savor the fun, friendship and joy of participation in physical, spiritual, social, emotional, intellectual, vocational and environmental wellness offerings. Through a mix of in-person and virtual programming, these organizations again enlivened their neighborhoods and communities in 2021 with opportunities to join in the week's celebrations. Active Aging Week 2021, presented by Humana, was organized and led nationally by the International Council on Active Aging. National sponsors Abbott Nutrition and Aegis Therapies/EnerG by Aegis supported the campaign, along with content providers Spiro100 and One Day University. From local hosts and sponsors to organizers and volunteers, a multitude of grassroots contributors made the initiative a highlight of early fall for older adults across North America and beyond. To give a flavor of the week, held October 4-10, the following pages share some of the activities offered. View detail

Spirit of celebration by Julie King, MS Active Aging Week 2021, led and organized nationally by the International Council on Active Aging and presented by Humana, was a vibrant demonstration--both in-person and online--of older adults participating in the seven dimensions of wellness as fully engaged members of society. Illustrating the enthusiasm that permeates the annual event, the Active Aging Week Spirit Awards showcase local host organizations and participants as they celebrate what it means to be active. The awards capture success stories and moments in images to exemplify the multitude of ways in which people can embrace healthier, more active and engaged lives. "It's always exciting to see how organizations embody the essence of Active Aging Week each year," says Colin Milner, ICAA founder and CEO. "Spirit Award winners exemplify both the spirit of this popular celebration and the greater emphasis on aging well that's emerged during the pandemic." View detail

Vitality in action: It's time for Active Aging Week by Julie King, MS Vim, vigor and variety are on full display during Active Aging Week, a yearly celebration that highlights aging today and the ability of adults 50+ to lead full, active lives. In 2021, the 19th annual observance takes place October 4-10. As Official Host Sites gear up for the week, others can still join the campaign by registering online and inviting individuals to their offerings. ... As the world continues to deal with pandemic challenges, now is a particularly important time to embrace the goals of Active Aging Week: to introduce healthier, active lifestyles to as many adults as possible and to encourage individuals to live as fully as possible in all of life's dimensions. View detail

Energize participants and revitalize staff with Active Aging Week 2021 Active Aging Week felt especially poignant in 2020. Led by the International Council on Active Aging and presented by Humana, this observance has brought people together in North America and beyond every fall to celebrate aging, older-adult health and wellness and the ability to live as fully as possible at any age. Local host organizers have challenged themselves to come up with creative and customized low-to-no-cost wellness activities and events. And they have delivered experiences that energized participants, volunteers and staff alike with their positivity, fun and camaraderie. Fast forward to a global pandemic. Given concerns about the effects of social isolation and loneliness on the physical and mental health of older adults, Active Aging Week seemed particularly needed in 2020. Yet was it still possible to offer programming in such uncertain times given the changing public health guidance and COVID waves? Local host organizations in North America and beyond stepped up with a resounding yes. Programs offered virtually or safely in person gave participants opportunities to connect, to engage in wellness activities and to celebrate aging well even in the most challenging of times. In 2021, as ICAA marks its 20th anniversary, Active Aging Week reminds us how far we have come together. With October on the horizon, now is the time to ramp up planning for the week and, for those who have yet to do so, to register as an Official Active Aging Week Host Site. View detail

Portraying wellness: An invitation to participate in a virtual exhibit by Lisa Kiely, BFA, CPT, CAD, CEHA There's an African saying, "If you want to go quickly, go alone. If you want to go far, go together." In Atlanta, Georgia, active living fans are excited about a new project connecting people of all ages and stages of life. Now, in time for Active Aging Week 2019, we invite International Council on Active Aging members and others hosting this campaign to join us in a virtual portrait project. ... Our new nationwide project, "Wellness In One Word," challenges everyone to define wellness in the moment by connecting it to self-portrait photography. We are inviting people to take portraits and "selfies" while answering the question, "What's on your mind right now--in one word?" and to submit their photos for virtual display. Trying to capture individual ideas about wellness in one word and one picture is a fun way to bring us together and see what gives us well-being. View detail