HEALTH TREND MAKES PHYSICAL
AND FISCAL SENSE
Active Aging Advocate lists 10
trends
supporting shift
to preventive care
The developing public health
trend of the decade is the shift in focus to preventive care, according
to the International Council on Active Aging (ICAA), the world's largest
trade association for the senior fitness and wellness industry.
Change is occurring on all levels, from federal, state and municipal
governments to corporations and individuals. That's due to the increase
in dollars, programs and coalitions dedicated to preventing disease,
says Colin Milner, the ICAA's chief executive officer.
Efforts to promote prevention among
midlife and older adults are especially important, according to Milner,
as 2003 estimates by the Federal Hospital Insurance Trust Fund's
trustees suggest the Medicare trust fund will be exhausted by 2026-four
years earlier than previously thought.
"Our society has reached the
tipping point in embracing the preventive health model," says
Milner, "because prevention makes both physical and fiscal sense
given our aging population."
The ICAA has identified the following
10 trends that collectively support this shift to a preventive care
model:
1. The rapid rise of obesity and
diabetes rates
2. The growth of "anti-aging" products
3. The link between health and wealth
4. The increasing calls for preventive screening
5. The rise in research showing that exercise is a key ally in the
battle against cancer
6. The power of lifestyle choices
7. The increasing calls for physicians to prescribe exercise
8. The focus on caregivers' health
9. The volume of health initiatives to address older adults' physical
activity level 10. The increase in communities designed for activity.
Together, the above trends have helped
to make disease prevention a public policy priority.
The ICAA agrees with the following
comment by Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy G. Thompson:
"Prevention is the right cause, the right issue, the right
time." About the International Council on Active Aging (ICAA)
The ICAA is the world largest
association dedicated to changing the way we age by uniting and working
with professionals in the retirement, assisted living, fitness,
rehabilitation and wellness fields
It connects a community of
like-minded professionals who share the goals of changing society's
perceptions of aging and improving the quality of life for aging baby
boomers and older adults within the six dimensions of wellness
(emotional, vocational, physical, spiritual, intellectual,
social.)
The council supports these
professionals with education, information, resources and tools, so they
can achieve optimal success with this growing market.
The ICAA also takes an active role in
helping to change the way society perceives aging. The council has
recently joined 49 of the nation's most prominent health and aging
organizations to work on the development and implementation of the
National Blueprint on Aging. Contributors to the Blueprint's development
include AARP, the American College of Sports Medicine, the American
Geriatrics Society, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the
National Institute on Aging and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
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