Health Behavior News Service - <FONT color=#003366 size=+2 face=’Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif’><strong>A New Vision of Aging</strong></FONT>

A New Vision of Aging

A B O U T_U S

The Center for the Advancement of Health translates to the public the latest research on prevention, chronic disease management and health care, with an emphasis on how social, behavioral and economic factors affect illness and well-being. The Center is an independent nonprofit corporation that receives core funding from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and The Annenberg Foundation.

D I S C O N N E C T

An eight-year study of why Medicare recipients changed health plans found that in equal measure they based their decision on private information - news reports, word-of-mouth, personal experience -- and on publicly disclosed patient-satisfaction report cards. The National Bureau of Economic Research report said, however, "The report-card effect on choice of HMO plan is entirely attributable to beneficiaries' responses to enrollee satisfaction scores (based on such factors as large parking lots and nice waiting rooms). Other reported quality measures, such as the mammography rate, did not affect enrollment."

T O P_M E D I A_H I T S

A Health Behavior News Service story on Cochrane Library review finding that birth control pills do not cause weight gain resulted in pickup by the Times of London, the Toronto Globe & Mail, WebMD, FoxNews.com, CBSNews.com and Prevention magazine.

The data are compelling, almost overwhelming: If older adults increase physical activity, improve eating habits and take some relatively simple steps to minimize the risk of falling, they could live longer and healthier lives.

Jessie Gruman
President and Executive Director, Center for the Advancement
of Health

But numerous studies also document that older adults often cannot adopt these healthy behaviors, in large part because of systemic barriers. The good news is that there are a variety of non-medical interventions that have proved to be effective in helping older adults make healthier choices, but these interventions are not being applied as systematically or broadly as they could be.

In other words, we know much about how to support older adults in making healthier choices, but we are applying this knowledge in a piecemeal fashion. As a result, just as with our nation's children, too many seniors are being left behind, and the health and financial benefits are not being realized by individuals, families, communities, and the nation as a whole.

Older adults who make healthier choices live longer and better lives. Healthy choices provide four primary benefits.

Longer life: People who get regular exercise, avoid tobacco use, and eat healthfully have a lower risk of chronic diseases and conditions that often lead to premature death.
Reduced disability: Healthier choices by older adults lead to reduced rates of disability. People who get regular exercise, avoid tobacco use, and eat healthfully have much lower (50 percent or more) rates of disability than do those who do not.
Better mental health: Physical activity has been found to help reduce the symptoms of depression. It also can help to improve cognitive function and to prevent or delay the onset of mental illness.
Lower costs: The CDC found that physically active people, on average, have lower health care costs than do inactive people. The same study estimates that increasing moderate physical activity among inactive Americans over the age of 15 could reduce medical costs by as much as $76.6 billion.

The Center has just published a report documenting that medical care is not necessarily the only or best way to promote health and longevity and identifies a variety of community-based programs that can prevent illness and disability in cost-effective ways once systemic and personal barriers can be overcome.

We need modest public investments that reach neighborhoods, senior centers, YMCAs and local health clubs as well as better coordination among and funding for the myriad federal agencies charged with improving senior health.

Supporting older adults in their efforts to maintain independence, functioning and quality of life is a responsibility that should not be limited by the interest or capacity of health care institutions but should be a common goal of all Americans.