How Your Environment Helps with Healthy Aging

September 13, 2022
| Vitality Living

When it comes to healthy aging, quite honestly, there’s a lot to do. You’re supposed to make sure to keep your body active and your brain engaged all while maintaining your social connections as well. Sure, the benefits to your overall well-being are worth the effort, but retirement is supposed to be a time with less responsibility on your plate, right? Well, it turns out that in senior living you can have your cake and eat it too, so to speak. Here’s how programs like our Vivid Life make keeping active, engaged, and connected easy and fun!

Benefits of Healthy Aging

Good things happen when you focus on healthy aging. In addition to feeling better overall, which in and of itself is a win, other benefits of keeping active, engaged, and connected include:

Improved ability to do everyday things
Reduced impact of illness and chronic disease
Enhanced mobility, flexibility, and balance
Improved sleep
Increased energy level
Reduced feelings of depression and stress
Increased feelings of happiness and self-confidence
Reduced risk of cognitive decline
Increased mental adaptability and cognitive reserve
Improved memory recall and problem-solving skills
Improved concentration and attention to detail

How Senior Living Can Help

At home, particularly when living alone, it can be hard to stay as active, engaged, and connected as you’d like. From lack of opportunity to lack of motivation to lack of transportation to mobility challenges, and more, it’s tough, we get it! That’s why we created the Vivid Life program in our senior living communities. It’s composed of three parts: Vibrant Body, Vibrant Brain, and Vibrant Connections. Here’s what each entails:

Vibrant Body – We offer amenities such as a state-of-the-art fitness center, a pool, walking trails, gardening opportunities, and even a dog park to help you stay active. A sample of activities includes:

Walking club – Daily walks at different outdoor locations using pedometers to measure steps.
Yoga – At least once per week for gentle yoga, and once per week for mindful breathing.
Fitness classes – At least two times per week using a variety of hand weights, resistance bands, and circuit-type exercises.
Tai Chi – At least once per week with a live instructor.
Non-traditional exercise – Dancing, gardening, etc. at least two times per week.
Physical games and sports – Golf, putting, bowling, croquet, bocce, and ping pong available daily with organized events one to two times per week.

Vibrant Brain – We offer monthly calendars filled with classes, events, creative arts, and enrichment opportunities to help keep you engaged. A sample of activities includes:

Visiting lecture series – Twice per month with topics such as cultural, historical, local interest, career-oriented, etc.
Creative art series – At least one per week with a theme that runs 3-6 weeks, such as poetry writing, storytelling, painting, digital photography, etc.
Learning series – At least three times per month with an emphasis on learning something new such as foreign language, sign language, technology, hobbies, etc.
Games – At least one time per week and may include poker, bridge, Scrabble, etc.
Mindfulness – A meditation class once per week and gratitude discussion group twice monthly.
Church service – At least once a week through visits by local churches.
Stress reduction – At least once per month class that offers deep breathing exercises, nature walks, music appreciation, spa-type treatments, etc.

Vibrant Connections – We offer resident-led clubs, social events, outings and volunteer opportunities for any interest to help you stay connected. A sample of activities includes:

Outings – At least twice per month and may include going to concerts, art shows, museum visits, theatre productions, etc.
Intergenerational programming – At least once per month and focuses on building relationships between young adults/children and residents.
New resident welcome party – At least once per month to formally introduce all new residents, and includes ice breakers, social games, etc. to encourage connection.
Philanthropic program – At least once per month provide residents the opportunity to give back to the community, such as volunteering for a local food bank or pet shelter.
Resident-led clubs – May include game clubs, professional clubs, common interests, etc. that meet at least monthly.

What’s more, it’s all right outside your door (or transportation is provided offsite) and all in a supportive environment with home maintenance, housekeeping, and restaurant-style dining freeing your time to make it even easier to stay active, engaged, and connected.

Learn more about Vitality Living’s Vivid Life programs. Or find a Vitality Living community near you today to schedule a tour.

Many factors impact healthy aging, and while some are out of your control, like genetics, many are not. You can determine how much you exercise, how healthy you eat, how active you keep your brain, how social you are, and how purposefully you live, right? Yes, to a certain extent. But as you age you may lack opportunities to do as many of these things as you’d like. That’s why the environment in which you live becomes so important. Here’s how it helps with healthy aging.

Healthy Aging at Home

While you may have the best intentions to make your health and wellbeing a priority when aging at home, there can be a number of barriers that make it harder to do including:

Living alone
Hearing/vision loss
Limited mobility
Limited transportation options
Being a caregiver for someone with a serious condition
Chronic health conditions
Psychological or cognitive challenges
Live in a rural or hard-to-reach location
Have language barriers where you live

In fact, any or all of these barriers in your environment could lessen your opportunities to pursue activities to help with healthy aging.

Healthy Aging in Senior Living

On the other hand, the senior living environment fosters healthy aging. Not just in the space itself but also in the elements we incorporate into daily life. In our communities, this is known as Vivid Life, and this program helps with healthy aging through:

Maintenance-Free Living – With amenities like home and yard maintenance, housekeeping, and transportation, senior living communities like ours give you freedom from chores so you can worry less and enjoy more which can help with healthy aging.
Amenities and Convenience – Our environment fosters healthy aging by making life easier as well with amenities like dining venues that include a bistro, pub and restaurant, hair salon/barbershop, concierge services, pool, library, dog park, and walking trails on beautiful grounds. While you may have some of these options in your neighborhood at home or nearby, it’s rare to find them all right outside your door as in senior living.
Social Connection and Fulfilment – You never have to feel alone and/or isolated here with a community of friends, neighbors, and supportive team members always nearby. Plus, you’ll find an ever-changing calendar of social events, activities, and outings as well as clubs, classes, and volunteer opportunities to keep you engaged and fulfilled. And it’s all planned for you- just choose the options that fit you best and enjoy!
Opportunities to Stay Active – It’s much easier to stay active and healthy with our wellness services, a state-of-the-art fitness center, yoga, and tai chi classes, and onsite spa and salon experiences available to you each day. What’s more, you don’t have to worry about nutrition or the hassle of cooking either with chef-created menus that use fresh, locally-grown ingredients for meals that are nutritious and delicious!
Peace of Mind – You may not initially consider peace of mind as a factor in healthy aging, but it absolutely is. It may seem counterintuitive, but the environment in senior living actually empowers independence, perhaps more so than at home. For example, you can feel safe and secure knowing your space is designed with features like emergency response systems, grab bars, and wheelchair ramps, all in an easy-to-navigate setting that minimizes steps and fall hazards. What’s more, with support always near you may feel more freedom not having to call family, friends, and neighbors to help like you would at home.

For more information about Vitality’s Vivid Life program – Vibrant Body, Brain, and Connection – visit our Vivid Life webpage. Or find a Vitality Living community near you today to schedule a tour and experience Vivid Life for yourself.

Vivid Life

Vitality Living

Articles By Author