Aging isn’t often portrayed as something to look forward to, but this September is a great time to turn that around.
September is Healthy Aging Month. It’s a month set aside to highlight longevity, successful aging and avoiding declines in physical, mental and emotional health.
Join groups from across the country in celebrating the vitality of your community’s aging population this month. To learn more, visit the sponsor organization’s website.
- Arrange to host a trivia challenge at a local independent living facility. Ask questions about healthy habits and times gone by. Award fun prizes to the winners. Find questions here and here or make up your own.
- Sponsor a senior-friendly mall walk. Contact mall management and ask a few noncompeting vendors to join you in encouraging your community’s older adults to stay active and walk their way to better health.
- Host a class at a local house of worship about understanding medications. Find a ready-made class here. Call for pricing of individual elements (866-232-6477).
- Remember that healthy aging is for everyone, not just your clients. Encourage all your agency’s employees to be mindful of their health and take steps toward aging healthfully.
- Host a workshop on senior nutrition and educate your community’s older adults about how our dietary needs change as we age. Find free nutrition aids here, here, here and here, or check out the Health Matters Education Series for a ready-made program.
- Focus on fall prevention. Falls are a major threat to senior health and independence, and your services can go a long way toward helping to preventing them. Promote your agency’s fall prevention services, including in-home fall risk assessments, by posting flyers on the bulletin boards of area senior centers and making fall-prevention focused newsletters available to them. Find ready-made newsletters here.