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Articles 1 - 30 of 34
Full-Text Articles in Medicine and Health Sciences
We Happy Few: Accomplishments In Calendar 2014, Edward F. Ansello
We Happy Few: Accomplishments In Calendar 2014, Edward F. Ansello
Director's Editorials from Age in Action
The Virginia Center on Aging recognizes strides its staff has made in confronting elder abuse and domestic violence in later life; building and improving lifelong learning opportunities across the Commonwealth for mid-life and older adults; delivering interprofessional geriatrics training for health care providers and measuring the impacts of this training upon the patients they care for; training clinical students to partner across professions to improve geriatrics care; developing and delivering education and training programs to audiences in state, regional, and national conferences and webinars on topics ranging from gerontological education to aging with lifelong disabilities, community health to interdisciplinary teamwork; …
Virtual Villages For Aging In Place, Edward F. Ansello
Virtual Villages For Aging In Place, Edward F. Ansello
Director's Editorials from Age in Action
The Village concept, first implemented by Beacon Hill Village in Boston, has gained much attention as a model for aging in place. Villages are community-based, self-governing, not for profit organizations whose members pay an annual fee, from several hundred dollars to a thousand or more, to obtain access to an array of services that may assist them to maintain their physical health, keep up their property, manage their resources, continue to grow intellectually and engage socially while remaining part of the community in their homes. At a dozen years in, the Village concept has demonstrated its worth. It seems to …
Older Prisoners, Edward F. Ansello
Older Prisoners, Edward F. Ansello
Director's Editorials from Age in Action
The impact of an aging prison population is causing concern among different stakeholders, including prison officials, legislative bodies, clergy, and some gerontologists. Prison officials are scrambling to accommodate the numbers and needs of older inmates, but they are confounded by constrained budgets, inappropriate prison architecture, lack of gerontologically and geriatrically trained staff members, indifferent legislative bodies, and a general lack of awareness among the public of these problems. Our states need not only retrofitted and newly designed physical facilities but also staffs and providers with gerontological and geriatric training, from corrections personnel to health care providers to clergy and mental …
The Healthy Brain Initiative, Edward F. Ansello
The Healthy Brain Initiative, Edward F. Ansello
Director's Editorials from Age in Action
Cognitive health is being recognized increasingly as a vital part of overall health and central to aging well. The CDC and Alzheimer's Association have published a revised framework for translating science to practice in public health, with particular focus on the role that state and local public health agencies can play to improve cognitive health and to recognize and report cognitive impairment.
Calorie Labeling, Edward F. Ansello
Calorie Labeling, Edward F. Ansello
Director's Editorials from Age in Action
As required by the Affordable Care Act, chain restaurants with 20 or more locations in the US will soon have to display calorie information on their menus. Does knowing this information translate to changing our eating behavior and improving our nutritional intake? Will this change affect older adults in a meaningful way? Menu labeling should be viewed as an early approach in governmental policy to address the obesity epidemic.
Dreams And Wonder, Edward F. Ansello
Dreams And Wonder, Edward F. Ansello
Director's Editorials from Age in Action
Many centenarians have dreams and a sense of wonder. Many of the very old possess dreams that push or pull them; these seem to act as goals still ahead. Perhaps this orientation to a future impels their continuation.
Being In The Moment, Edward F. Ansello
Being In The Moment, Edward F. Ansello
Director's Editorials from Age in Action
There seems to be a disconnect between the moment in time and really experiencing it. In the past, if one were privileged to reach late life, one would take time to be in that moment, rather than trying to avoid it. This returns us to the observations of being in the moment and having the full experience of it. Reflection is a gift to be opened in late life.
Partnering, Edward F. Ansello
Partnering, Edward F. Ansello
Director's Editorials from Age in Action
Collaborative partnering has been a core value of Virginia Center on Aging. Several members are partnering with institutions of higher education, public schools, community businesses, and talented instructors.
Lessons From A Sequoia Grove, Edward F. Ansello
Lessons From A Sequoia Grove, Edward F. Ansello
Director's Editorials from Age in Action
Studies have identified loneliness as a predictor of declines in health and accelerated death. We are assisted by others to become autonomous. Autonomy is a product of an interdependent process. Assisting others to maintain or regain dignity is assisted autonomy in practice. It is community.
Geriatric Home Makeover, Edward F. Ansello
Geriatric Home Makeover, Edward F. Ansello
Director's Editorials from Age in Action
Houses pose substantial risks for falling. Over half of all falls by older adults happen in their homes. Reducing hazards in the home addresses just one set of contributing risk factors involved in older adults falling.
Is Aging A Disability?, Edward F. Ansello
Is Aging A Disability?, Edward F. Ansello
Director's Editorials from Age in Action
Growing older is not predictable decline, and the overwhelming majority age without acquiring disabilities. Because age does not equal disability, the Virginia Commission on Government Reform and Restructuring should not fold the Virginia Department of the Aging, the Department of Rehabilitative Services, and the Department for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing into one agency.
All The World's A Stage, Edward F. Ansello
All The World's A Stage, Edward F. Ansello
Director's Editorials from Age in Action
Population aging is occurring worldwide because of success in attacking causes of infant mortality, improved public hygiene, and falling fertility rates; health care in later life itself has had only marginal impact in the numbers. Societies should appreciate the differences associated with being older but also deem to later life the value and protections given to other ages.
Walkability, Edward F. Ansello
Walkability, Edward F. Ansello
Director's Editorials from Age in Action
A starting point for assessing how friendly or livable a community is, is to consider its walkability. Walkability has different dimensions, for it implies not only that there be amenities in the community to which one would want to go, but also that one can move about safely; that the person motivated would have the health status or needed support to move about; that there would be means of transportation within and outside of the community, such as public transportation and taxis.
Forever Young, Edward F. Ansello
Forever Young, Edward F. Ansello
Director's Editorials from Age in Action
Gerontologists theorize that each of us is shaped by the influences of cohort and historical time. If there's a oneness of who we were and who we are, then Bob Dylan's music is in many of us. Forever Young is not a paean to age denial. Rather, it seems to invoke virtues or characteristics that never grow old: charity to others, acceptance of kindness, hope, righteousness, courage, fortitude, industriousness, and joy.
Falls, Edward F. Ansello
Falls, Edward F. Ansello
Director's Editorials from Age in Action
Falls are common, affecting about one third of community-dwelling adults over age 65 and about half over age 80. The risk factors for falling are complex, and falls may themselves be a signal for other troubling conditions. When fear of falling emerges as an issue for some elders, they are likely to reduce their activities, thinking that this will reduce their risk, and isolation and depression can ensue. There are teaching roles for nurses, physicians, and physical therapists in sharing with other professions how to assess gait, vision, or dizziness.
Baby Boomers And Stereotypes, Edward F. Ansello
Baby Boomers And Stereotypes, Edward F. Ansello
Director's Editorials from Age in Action
With age we become more and more like ourselves. This would mean millions and millions of individual Baby Boomers, each with his or her own characteristics and life trajectory. Stereotyping would, therefore, be wrong, but it is happening.
The Most Terrible Poverty, Edward F. Ansello
The Most Terrible Poverty, Edward F. Ansello
Director's Editorials from Age in Action
Caring, private individuals and agency employees and volunteers in "direct" or "human" services regularly deliver what can be called love, the antidote to the poverty of loneliness. Let's acknowledge the essential importance of people in various forms of human services who reach out to others who are alone.
On Becoming Invisible, Edward F. Ansello
On Becoming Invisible, Edward F. Ansello
Director's Editorials from Age in Action
Age or impairment tends to render us less likely to be noticed. We can readjust how we see those becoming invisible.
Filling The Gap, Edward F. Ansello
Filling The Gap, Edward F. Ansello
Director's Editorials from Age in Action
There is need for multiple initiatives focusing on the pipeline from professional undergraduate education through the continuing education of current practitioners, in order to make some dent in the looming shortfall of geriatric health care providers. It is particularly gratifying to announce that Virginia has been awarded federal funding of a Geriatric Education Center (VGEC). The overall goal of the VGEC is to improve the training of health professionals in geriatrics.
The Blank Tablet Of Aging, Edward F. Ansello
The Blank Tablet Of Aging, Edward F. Ansello
Director's Editorials from Age in Action
The 16th annual conference of the Virginia Coalition for the Prevention of Elder Abuse (VCPEA) will include the basics of geriatric crisis assessment, depression and suicide among older adults; alcohol and medication misuse; older prisoners; training faith and community-based leaders to respond to domestic violence in later life; and brain injury in later life as a precipitant or a consequence of mistreatment. The Area Planning and Services Committee (APSC) conference will recognize the values, opportunities, and challenges associated with growing older with lifelong disabilities. These two conferences symbolize how we as a people can celebrate the good and confront the …
Aging As An Option, Edward F. Ansello
Aging As An Option, Edward F. Ansello
Director's Editorials from Age in Action
Sometimes people treat aging as if it were an option or a discretionary exercise. Aging is neither a fad nor an option but a bedrock reality that should be constantly under consideration, especially by those charged with protecting the common good. We need to remember that we should not treat aging and aging-related research, training, and services as an option.
Blanche Dubois Geriatrics, Edward F. Ansello
Blanche Dubois Geriatrics, Edward F. Ansello
Director's Editorials from Age in Action
While the numbers of older adults are growing and the leading edge of the Baby Boom is in its 60s, aging-related education, service, and practice are far from burgeoning. We look forward to continuing Virginia's Geriatric Training and Education program, which produces geriatrically or gerontologically trained physicians, nurses, pharmacists, therapists, recreators, and social workers.
My Passage To India, Edward F. Ansello
My Passage To India, Edward F. Ansello
Director's Editorials from Age in Action
Different cultures select different "colors" from the curriculum palette in painting the experience of aging as they see it. Aging is a construct, experienced amid and influenced by the norms, limitations, expectations, and horizons around us.
Sold A Bill Of Goods, Edward F. Ansello
Sold A Bill Of Goods, Edward F. Ansello
Director's Editorials from Age in Action
With regard to Boomers, elders, and all of us growing older, we have been sold a bill of goods in America. Rather than independence, assisted autonomy is a means to empowerment and inclusion. Additionally, as we grow older, we grow less like our age mates, and dissimilarity and heterogeneity increases.
Awaken The Sleeping Giant, Edward F. Ansello
Awaken The Sleeping Giant, Edward F. Ansello
Director's Editorials from Age in Action
In order to maintain our commitment to quality, we in the Aging Network need to invest in the future despite the monetary problems of the present. In Virginia, older Virginians are a remarkable resource for our future.
It's About The People, Edward F. Ansello
It's About The People, Edward F. Ansello
Director's Editorials from Age in Action
The Virginia Center on Aging celebrates 30 years and the people who have made accomplishments possible.
Geriatric Training And Education (Gte) Projects, Edward F. Ansello
Geriatric Training And Education (Gte) Projects, Edward F. Ansello
Director's Editorials from Age in Action
The Geriatric Training and Education (GTE) initiative is supporting 15 different projects in the current fiscal year that are affecting Virginians in each region, from certified nursing assistants to family caregivers of relatives with dementia to long-term care staff helping elders at the end of life.
Tackling Elder Abuse, Edward F. Ansello
Tackling Elder Abuse, Edward F. Ansello
Director's Editorials from Age in Action
The Central Virginia Training Alliance to Stop Elder Abuse, Neglect, and Exploitation was selected to pilot a three-year training initiative for criminal justice professionals on elder abuse, neglect, and exploitation. Our overall intention is to improve the expertise of each component in investigating and prosecuting maltreatment against our elders.
Priorities In A Time Of Crisis, Edward F. Ansello
Priorities In A Time Of Crisis, Edward F. Ansello
Director's Editorials from Age in Action
Now, amidst economic stress, is the time to defend certain sections of the budget, including the protection of those among us who are least able.
Re-Imagining The Experience And Study Of Aging, Edward F. Ansello
Re-Imagining The Experience And Study Of Aging, Edward F. Ansello
Director's Editorials from Age in Action
A small group of Japanese and American gerontologists have been working together toward developing a gerontology curriculum that would help people to understand the experience of aging. The group suggested adding business, information technology/communication, and education to the curriculum. The group also acknowledged that a curriculum on aging should include a way to help those of us who are not old to understand the importance for many who are old of the search for the infinite, the true self, the oneness, the spirit, or the divine, at the core of life.