wellness Archives – Varsity Branding

Tag: wellness

QUOTES

“The whole concept of anti-aging is somewhat misguided because aging is a biological process. It’s a bit like anti-breathing where we suddenly decided that it’s inconvenient to have to take 20 breaths a minute.” (Dr. Katz)

“Longevity is a laudable goal. A bounty of years and life. Vitality is perhaps an even more laudable goal. A bounty of life and years.” (Dr. Katz) 

“If we buy into the value proposition of anti-aging, it sort of invites a morbid fear of our own mortality.” (Dr. Katz) 

“There comes a day when you’re on the other side of the summit and starting to descend and you’ll never be better than you ever were before by some physical measure. But you know things that you didn’t know back then. You’ve experienced things.” (Dr. Katz)

“Experience comes with the passage of time, as does aging.” (Dr. Katz)

“I’m not going to be anti-aging. I want to embrace aging because it is imparting gifts on me. It exacts a toll, but it also imparts gifts. That give and take reorients us.” (Dr. Katz) 

“Imagine if our society had a whole slew of periodicals and magazines that are all about the reflections, storytelling, wisdom and life experience of older people. And we celebrate that the same way that we do the beauty of young actors and actresses.” (Dr. Katz) 

“Diet quality, measured objectively, is the single leading predictor in the United States today from all causes. In other words, if you could fix just one thing to decrease the likelihood that you’re going to die prematurely, it would be your diet quality.” (Dr. Katz) 

“The simple reality is, we’re not a very healthy nation. We have systematically neglected the fundamentals of health. Diet quality in the U.S. is poor – it’s the single leading predictor of death from all causes – we’re nearly as physically active as we should be. We have too much exposure to toxic substances. We don’t get enough sleep. We’re stressed out and we’re not good at mitigating stress and the internet and social media have interfered with our social connections with other people.” (Dr. Katz) 

“We can control ship and sail. We can be masterful captains of the ship of our medical destiny but we’ll never control wind and wave.” (Dr. Katz) 

“If we hope to deemphasize the role of big pharma in what gets marketed to elders, we need healthier elders. And in order to have healthier elders we need a healthier us. All of us. Because health begins early in life.” (Dr. Katz) 

NOTES

Dr. David Katz is a globally recognized expert in nutrition, wellness, and longevity. As the Founding Director of the Yale Prevention Research Center, he has dedicated his career to advancing lifestyle medicine and disease prevention. 

The Yale Prevention Research Center is dedicated to advancing disease prevention and public health through innovative research and community-based interventions. 

A prolific author and passionate advocate for public health, Dr. Katz has written extensively on how diet and lifestyle impact long-term well-being—including his thought-provoking article, “Rage at Aging.”

Dr. Katz’s work challenges conventional thinking about aging, urging people to prioritize health span over life span. With deep expertise and bold insights, Dr. Katz continues to shape the conversation on living better, longer. 

Dr. Katz discussed the challenge of getting older as it pertains to technology and other advancements, saying “Instead of being venerated in old age for our wisdom and experience, we’ll look around and say ‘What the hell is going on here?’”

With “Live to 100: Secrets of the Blue Zones” coming out recently on Netflix, there is a renewed interest in the research and concept of Blue Zones®, areas around the world where people live much longer than average, with the highest rates of living centenarians.

In 2004, author Dan Buettner teamed up with National Geographic and the world’s best longevity researchers to identify pockets around the world where people live measurably longer and better lives, and to see what commonalities there might be in their behaviors, practices and lifestyles that might result in this longer lifespan. They discovered five locations where people reach age 100 at a rate 10 times greater than the average in the United States: Okinawa, Japan; Sardinia, Italy; Ikaria, Greece; Nicoya, Costa Rica; and Loma Linda, California. When pinpointing these locations on a world map, Dan circled them in blue, and therefore called them Blue Zones®.

Researchers found that the lifestyles of all Blue Zones’ residents shared nine commonalities, which they called the Blue Zones Power 9®: Lifestyle Habits of the World’s Healthiest, Longest-Lived People. These behaviors are grouped into categories: Move Naturally, Right Outlook, Eat Wisely and Connect.

Those of us in the senior living space would love for our residents to live longer, healthier, happier lives, so the question is, “Can we replicate this philosophy and these practices in our communities?” We already offer healthy meal options, fitness and exercise opportunities, and a sense of belonging, but how do we get residents to buy into it?

Some Varsity clients have modeled their wellness programs after the Blue Zones practices. We’ve hosted marketing events to educate people on the Blue Zones philosophy and its importance related to longevity, and then four smaller events dedicated to Moving Naturally (yoga, stretching), Right Outlook (meditation, mindfulness), Eating Wisely (Chef cooking demonstration with Mediterranean diet with wine pairing) and Connection (practicing good communication skills and technology). Some communities even code the events on their activities calendars with icons representing the Blue Zones practices.

While both residents and prospects enjoy the events and agree with the concepts in theory, it’s a pretty heavy lift to get people to adhere to a lifestyle that may be foreign to them. It’s a huge culture shift that may be difficult for some to achieve. Case in point, I recall one resident that I joined for breakfast who told me that her doctor recommended she eat more fruits and vegetables, so she ordered a cherry Danish instead of her usual cheese Danish. True story.

While we would like our residents to “live better, longer,” all we can do is offer the options to do so. The choice is obviously theirs to make, and perhaps having that autonomy is more important.

 

 

As the clock ticks down to 2020, we look back on another exciting year for the Varsity blog! Here’s a countdown of our five most popular posts for 2019. It’s a grab bag of hot-button topics, from groundbreaking wellness ideas to intergenerational brainstorms.

5. 18-year-old Jumps Into Life at Senior Community

In this interview with out-of-the-box thinker Rosemary Ramsey, she reveals her inspiration for The Victory Lap, a one-of-a-kind program that pairs youth aging out of foster care with senior communities. Read about an intergenerational program that could change senior living.

4. Overheard at LeadingAge TN: What if…

Our VP of Client Services Derek Dunham takes us inside the “what-if” moments of the 2019 LeadingAge TN Annual Meeting & EXPO. Explore “what-if” moments.

3. Disruption in Senior living — Opportunity or Threat?

From shrinking staff to the growing middle market, Derek Dunham disrupts our world with the highlights of the 2019 PAHSA conference. Get disrupted.   

2. 10 Leadership Secrets From LeadingAge PA

This series chronicles the year-long journey of LeadingAge PA’s Fellows in Leadership program. In this post, Brian Mailliard and Sakkara El share what they’ve learned at the halfway mark of their adventure. Learn the secrets of leading well.

1. When It Comes to Wellness, Nothing’s off the Table

Our most-read post of the year was a fascinating conversation between Becky Anhorn, the inspirational wellness director at Meadowood Senior Living, and Rob Smith, Varsity’s creative director. Read about a groundbreaking approach to wellness.

That’s our countdown of top posts for 2019! Stay tuned for more fresh content in 2020, and please contact us if you’d like to do a guest post or be interviewed for an upcoming blog.

 

In celebration of National Wellness Month in August, we’re talking to Becky Anhorn, fitness and wellness director at Meadowood Senior Living, a faith-based, single-site Life Plan Community in Worcester, Pennsylvania. Becky is legendary at Meadowood for her enthusiasm for wellness. She has a passion for helping every individual achieve the highest level of well-being possible.

Hi, Becky! Thanks so much for taking the time to talk with us today. Can you tell us a little about your background?

In addition to my fitness and wellness training, I have a master’s in social work, and I’ve been a dancer all my life.

What’s your experience been like at Meadowood?

It’s been pretty amazing. I’ve built so much rapport with the staff and residents here. It’s a very welcoming, progressive and innovative environment. As far as ideas go, nothing’s really off the table.

How is the wellness program unique?

We’re always looking at new trends that are out there across the country and incorporating them. It’s a diverse age group, so some residents work 9 to 5 and are looking for evening programming, while some prefer to work out in the morning and have different interests outside of the community. It’s really taking a look at the population as a whole and programming accordingly.

Can you talk about your commitment to employee wellness?

We believe that, if we have healthy staff, then we have healthy residents. That’s why we offer five staff fitness classes a week and pop-up wellness events, from aerobics to meditation to a softball league and wellness walks. We feel that there should be fun in fitness! It’s a breakaway from the day-to-day of work — just taking an opportunity on a lunch break to head out on the fitness courtyard and play badminton, enjoy snacks, be with other people and step outside of our comfort zone.

How does Meadowood nurture all six dimensions of wellness?

We don’t just look at the physical piece, but at all of the components that contribute to well-being. We offer tai chi, yoga, brain health classes and a lot of specialty classes. Our 11 certified wellness team members come from very diverse backgrounds. We have personal trainers, a dementia specialist, two people with a social work background and a wellness coach who is also an author. All of us collaborate to offer expertise that covers all dimensions of wellness.

What has been the reaction to all of the wellness offerings?

Our participation rates have gone up exponentially in the past year. I think that is attributed to the fact that residents and staff have a lot of say in their wellness program.

What role does technology play in wellness?

It helps us keep track of the residents’ progress. It’s starting at a baseline, doing a fitness test, seeing their balance, coordination, mobility and fitness levels and tracking all that to navigate their individual wellness programs.

What’s the most rewarding part of your job?

Seeing people open themselves up to a different level of wellness than they thought possible. Residents come to me and say, “I took a stress test, and there were a lot of red flags for me. Then I started taking your classes, and I passed the stress test with flying colors. I know it has to do with the programming that you have here.” That makes me want to come into my job every day. It’s really the impact that I’m having on the residents and seeing that they’re living healthier, better lives.

For more wellness insights from Becky, watch the video below.

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