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John Rude is the author of the following article which appears in the Winter 1999 issue of Retirement Community Business.

Space Travel, Aging and Wellness: What do they all have in common?

Where were you when John Glenn made his first orbital space flight around the planet? I still recall sitting in a classroom in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, listening to a scratchy radio broadcast provide details of the fiery re-entry of NASA's first space capsule. Who ever would have dreamed that four decades later, Senator John Glenn would return, at 77, to explore the correlation between human aging and weightlessness? This story has several powerful messages:

1) It demonstrates that, contrary to popular thinking, "old dogs can learn new tricks." Regardless of age, humans have the capacity to learn, grow and develop throughout the course of a lifetime! Research has demonstrated that the aged brain can still make new connections, absorb new data, and thus acquire new skills.On his first historic flight, Glenn was strapped into the tiny Friendship 7 capsule, alone, barely able to move, and with rather unsophisticated controls. In his recent shuttle journey, Glenn had to learn about the most complicated vehicle ever built one with more than 800 control switches, 2,600 cargo items and 83 scientific experiments! To do this, Glenn had to go "back to school" and put in many exhausting 12 hour days. He did it, and accomplished both his and the mission's objectives!

2) "It's not the hand you're dealt, but how you play your cards." As humans age, genetics play less and less of a role. Scientists and physicians generally agree that after age 45-50, lifestyle becomes the most vital ingredient for successful aging.

For Glenn this held true because he entered his recent training experience in remarkable physical condition. For years his lifestyle was to eat "light" and do daily jogging (more recently "power walking"). The lesson here is that our physical bodies are sophisticated machinery much like computers what we put in is what we get out. And the good news is, that regardless of age, when one begins regular activity and conscious healthy eating, one can see results very quickly.

3) Dis-use is harmful to your health. Glenn's recent mission focused on scientific experiments exploring the connection between weightlessness and human aging. Keep in mind that astronauts go through an extensive and rigorous training program to condition their minds and bodies for space flight. They are perhaps the best trained "athletes" in the world. However, even from the earliest days of space travel, it was noted that when astronauts returned to earth, they had significant loss of muscle and bone mass, weaker heart muscles, erratic sleep patterns, and loss of balance -- similar maladies to that of human aging!

The information gathered from Glenn on his recent shuttle mission is only a starting point. These observations will undoubtedly lead to new hypotheses, which will lead to new experiments, which lead to even more knowledge about the human aging process.

What we do know is that at any age, the body atrophies very rapidly without regular activity or positive physical stress. Even the 1996 Surgeon General's Report on Physical Activity and Exercise stated emphatically: Inactivity is Harmful to Your Health. That's precisely why strength training (or resistance training as it's often called) is the #1 prescription for older adults.

Strength training provides numerous benefits -- it increases strength, it increases lean body mass, it increases metabolism and burns unwanted fat tissue, it increases bone density, it enhances balance, and it lowers high blood pressure. Which brings us to the final point:

4) The Power of Wellness. Does your organization provide opportunities for residents to take full advantage of this current research, or are you still waiting for government funding to justify such programs? Timing is everything, and there's no better time than now to get started on developing a wellness program for your retirement community.

Before you do, consider the following benefits which may help you justify adding wellness to your vision (and your budget):

The Benefits of Wellness:

· Wellness compliments the health continuum.
Often we see older adults come through a therapy program making huge strides. But when their insurance expires, they stop rigorous activity all their gains are lost, and atrophy sets in. A transitional strategy of moving from therapy to a wellness program can stop this from occurring.

· Wellness raises the function level of participants.
The #1 fear of older adults is becoming dependent on others! The # 1 objective of older adults is to remain independent! Focusing on raising a participant's function level through exercise will secure and/or restore their independence/autonomy.

· Wellness enhances health span and quality of life.
People who function at a higher level can perform more of the things they enjoy doing. For some this may be as basic as getting in and out of a chair. For others it's being able to hike 6-8 miles a day in Nepal, keeping pace with their group, and coming home without injury.

· Wellness reduces operational expenses.
By keeping your residents healthy, strong and independent, the need for assisted living and health care is reduced. Further, expenses associated with refurbishing and reselling an independent living unit vacated by a resident in poor health can be substantial.

· Wellness is a powerful marketing tool.
More and more consumers are wanting even demanding a variety of healing services that complement the traditional forms of medicine. Organizations that provide wellness choices will soon become the leaders in the industry.

· Wellness can be a profit center.
Wellness has the capability of developing entirely new income streams for your business. This can be structured around both "want" and "need" driven programs and services.

· Wellness can help you out-position your competition.
CCRC's are continually challenged by "aging in place" issues that often repel younger age cohorts from choosing their product. Comprehensive wellness programs have the power to attract younger consumers and help you keep a positive mix of age cohorts in your community.

A robust wellness program has the horsepower to become the very cornerstone of your retirement community!

Those in the retirement community business must keep in mind that the motivation for all of this is not vanity. Athletic clubs and fitness centers often place high value on looking good. But for the older adult population the objective is completely different. Their focus is on function and feeling good.

John Glenn was a pioneer in space travel and, once again, he is pioneering new studies that will tell us more about aging. You and your community can also be pioneers, by establishing wellness programs now that will insure quality of life factors for your residents for years to come.

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To learn more about how Age Dynamics Inc. can help your company develop a wellness center and a comprehensive wellness program, please call 1-800-929-2719 or e-mail us today at info@agedynamics.com.

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