Older Adults

On a mission to create a healthy, elder-friendly community environment with an emphasis on prevention, the WPHF, with guidance from the Older Adults Work Group, has tackled projects ranging from falls prevention and brain boosting activities to transportation services and chronic disease management.

The  objectives for the focus area are:

• To optimize physical and mental health and well-being
• To promote environments that support health and well-being

Priority Areas for Intervention include:

• Promote Healthy Behaviors
• Encourage Lifelong Learning, Meaningful Service and Employment
• Enhance and Strengthen Underlying Support Systems
• Make Aging Issues a Community Wide Priority

Through recent grants, made to the Alzheimer’s Association-Central and North Florida Chapter, and Rollins College, the older adults work group has focused on helping create environments that stimulate lifelong learning.  BrainUP! is a two-year program designed to increase community awareness and educate people of all ages on ways to live a brain-healthy lifestyle and to encourage them to do so.  Rollins College, through its Hamilton Holt School, has begun offering four-week classes to adults age 50+. The classes, which are taught by Rollins faculty and staff, are non-credit and meet once per week.  Currently, about 50 classes are offered each semester covering such diverse topics as Brush Up On Your Shakespeare, The Mysteries of the Maya, Touch Moral Choices of Our Time, and Conversational Spanish.

A grant to the Senior Resource Alliance has led to the creation of Neighbors Network, a non-profit member organization for adults age 55+ in Winter Park, Maitland, Eatonville and the surrounding area who want to age at home with confidence.  Through volunteers, partners, screened service providers, community supporters and partners, Neighbors Network enables older adults to continue living and thriving in their homes and community by having access to the services they need.

In support of aging in place in a congregate setting, a grant was awarded to the Winter Park Housing Authority to promote healthy aging among residents of the Plymouth Apartments and Tranquil Terrace.  In both of these low-income communities, older adults have free access to individual, family and group counseling sessions.  Registered interns, supervised by a licensed mental health provider, gain experience in geriatric issues as they help residents deal with psychological issues such as depression and anxiety.