In less than 10 years, every member of the Baby Boomer generation will have reached the age of 65. While many people see aging as a negative experience, it doesn’t have to be. Using healthy aging practices can help ensure that growing older is a positive experience.
With the arrival of Healthy Aging Month, September shines a light on those positives. Healthy Aging Month focuses on the positive aspects of aging by empowering older adults to adopt practices that will improve their health physically, mentally, and socially.
At Capital Health Plan (CHP), we believe in an “Age-Friendly Health System,” dedicating specialized care to those 65 and up. Whether your needs are chronic and complex or preventive and routine, CHP promotes a balanced approach to connecting the body and mind.
CHP is raising the bar for quality care by devoting the Nancy Van Vessem, M.D., Center for Healthy Aging to focus exclusively on age-friendly care. The Center for Healthy Aging uses the “Four Ms” approach to define an Age-Friendly Health System:
- What MATTERS Knowing and meeting each older adult's specific health and quality-of-life goals and tailoring care to the individual.
- MEDICATION Choosing medications, when needed, that minimize negative impacts across settings of care and support quality-of-life goals.
- MENTATION Using mental activity to prevent, identify, treat, and manage dementia, depression, and delirium.
- MOBILITY Ensuring that older adults can move about safely every day in order to maintain function and do What Matters.
Although there can be challenges to aging, from taking multiple medications per day to experiencing varied levels of disability, a holistic approach to aging can help improve your mobility, independence, and overall quality of life.
This September, we encourage our older members to use Healthy Aging Month to approach aging with positivity!