Active Aging
By Lorcan, Nancy; Rehab Management,Publication Date: April 2008
Article explores physical fitness and its correlation to longevity and physical independence in later years. The article refers to a recently released study of 739 centenaries by Boston University’s Boston Medical Center, the New England Centenarian Study, which reports the major factor in longevity to be the avoidance of disability, rather than the absence of age-related diseases. Successful geriatric fitness programs are featured, such as one at the Nifty After Fifty facility in California, whose program combines coach-supervised routines at the facility with exercises to do at home. The fitness center uses computerized Keiser pneumatic strength-training machines, for which clients receive a key that they insert into each machine throughout their routines. The key tracks the activity at each machine; this information is downloaded by coaches to give them a summary of clients’ workout. The center also offers brain exercises targeting memory and problem-solving skills, via a program called Happy Neuron. An appended section, entitled The Road Home, outlines the Locomotor Experience Applied Post-Stroke trial, a 5-year study funded by the National Institutes of Health currently underway at California’s Long Beach Memorial Medical Center. The aim of the study is to provide stroke patients with support, via assistive equipment and rehabilitation for conditions such as foot drop, to help those patients stay out of nursing facilities.
Assistive Products Discussed: KEISER AIR250 PNEUMATIC EXERCISE MACHINE - ABDOMINAL
Published by: Ascend Media LLC (Website:http://www.ascendmedia.com)
Link to text: http://www.rehabpub.com/issues/articles/2008-04_04.asp
