6 The QUEE NS Courier • health • april 2, 2015 for breaking news visit www.queenscourier.com ▶health WELLNESS AND AGING – PART I One of the most striking examples of the Affordable Care Act, otherwise known as Obamacare, is the way health care is to be delivered and paid for. This new focus includes managing population health and helping people to stay well. This is then the wellness approach — a completely different way from how the old medical model has been taught and has been formerly operating. The wellness concept is all about improving the wellbeing with life and all that it means personally to us. To stay relevant today is to be engaged with community, with family, with friends and co-workers. It is a means of expressing to ourselves, “I am still important and needed, and others still depend on me and with my presence in their lives.” Growing old and aging with all of the physical pain it can bring doesn’t have to mean we are ready to be discarded. To ensure optimal health and quality of life, we need to incorporate physical activity as part of a wellness program and into our daily routines. These programs can help people stay active and vigorous far longer than those who lead sedentary lifestyles. The concept of wellness is more than a buzz word for older persons and it can be vital to their quality of life. Having the opportunity to function independently in a familiar environment is essential to maintaining continued self-esteem. One may ask, how do wellness programs help? We know that aging causes many changes including reduction in mobility, stamina and strength. The wellness concept is an approach to: 1) a basic understanding of how the body changes as we age, 2) how to slow the progression of these changes and 3) how to adapt to these changes that promote independence. Seniors can be taught wellness techniques and given information that they can put to use in their own homes that keep them healthy longer, keep them vital and yes, relevant. So the word “wellness” has become the watchword of preventive healthcare. Wellness doesn’t mean a perfect health. It means being in a state of equilibrium with whatever your condition happens to be, such as diabetes, Parkinson’s and a chronic illness such as arthritis, even cancer. Pain management is also a vital aspect of wellness care and you may have access to a pain management program through your insurance plan. Prevention as a relatively new approach for the health care industry has traditionally focused most of its energies and resource dollars on the treatment and care associated with sickness. Over the past three decades, however, we’ve seen a more proactive approach to health care with a greater emphasis on prevention. Medicine has also been able to determine disease risks as they correlate with lifestyle choices. Today we are seeing that “an ounce of prevention is truly worth a proverbial pound of cure.” Lifespans have increased substantially, so keeping well has become important to enhance our lives. Education is another important piece of any wellness program. It has been found that when you combine activities with education (i.e.: teaching individuals how to carry nutrition and exercise into their daily lives), they are much less likely to lose what they have gained through practicing a wellness approach. See you next month for a continuation article entitled Wellness and Aging, Part II. I will be expanding on those techniques that have proven to offer healthier benefits to the aging population. Sheldon Ornstein Ed.D, RN Dr. Sheldon Ornstein is a registered professional nurse with a doctoral degree in Nursing Organization. He has specialized in the care of older adults and has published many articles on the subject. He has done post-graduate work in gerontology and has taught at several universities. In 2013, he was inducted into the Nursing Hall of Fame at Teachers College, Columbia University.
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