Canada-wide competition seeks great new ideas to support healthy aging
Prizes total $75k in cash and in-kind services
A national ideathon competition launched by AGE-WELL and HACKING HEALTH will take place in five Canadian cities in 2017. The goal is to identify and invest in great new technologies and services to support healthy aging.
Prizes awarded at the AGE-WELL–HACKING HEALTH National Ideathon will total $75,000 in cash and in-kind services.
Local ideathons are being held in: Toronto (Feb. 3), Montreal (Mar. 3), Halifax (May 13) and Vancouver (date to follow). One winning project from each local event will be eligible for the final round at the AGE-WELL 2017 Annual Conference in Winnipeg on Oct. 17-19, 2017.
People interested in taking part can sign up here. Eligibility criteria and competition rules and regulations are posted on the competition main page.
An ideathon is a collaborative, workshop-like event where diverse stakeholders harness their collective knowledge and creativity to brainstorm innovative solutions to pressing challenges. Participants use user-centric design techniques and methodologies (such as ideation, journey mapping and prototyping), and the creation of an initial business case, to propose a novel solution.
"AGE-WELL and HACKING HEALTH share an interest in bringing people together to develop creative solutions to health-related challenges," says Dr. Alex Mihailidis, Scientific Director, AGE-WELL. "By partnering to host this competition, we will trigger more innovation and much-needed solutions to support the independence, health and quality of life of older people, and to support their caregivers."
Luc Sirois, Managing Director and Co-Founder of HACKING HEALTH, a global initiative, says the partnership and competition will help to bring together tech and medical communities and "catalyze the innovation spirit."
Generous sponsors of the national competition are: Bereskin & Parr, the Impact Centre, and Aging2.0 Toronto.
About AGE-WELL
AGE-WELL NCE Inc. (http://www.agewell-nce.ca/, @AGEWELL_NCE) is a pan-Canadian network of industry, non-profit organizations, government, care providers, end users, and academic partners working to drive innovation and create technologies and services that benefit older adults and caregivers. Its vision is to harness and build upon the potential of emerging and advanced technologies in areas such as artificial intelligence (AI), e-health, information communication technologies (ICTs), and mobile technologies to stimulate technological, social, and policy innovation. AGE-WELL was launched in 2015 through the federally funded Networks of Centres of Excellence program.
About HACKING HEALTH
HACKING HEALTH (http://hackinghealth.ca, @hackinghealthca) is a Canadian-based international non-for-profit organization. With over 40 cities across 5 continents, HACKING HEALTH's goal is to promote more innovation in healthcare through collaboration by putting healthcare professionals and patients at the centre of the innovation process, allowing participants to build realistic, human-centric solutions to front-line healthcare problems. HACKING HEALTH partners with renowned organizations and institutions such as AGE-WELL to develop a worldwide patient centered movement.
SOURCE AGE-WELL Network of Centres of Excellence (NCE)
Stroke rates have been declining in older people over the past 20 years — but have sharply increased in those under 55.
Researchers at Rutgers University used data from the New Jersey Department of Health on more than 227,000 hospitalizations for stroke from 1995 through 2014, calculating incidence by age over five-year periods. The findings appeared in the Journal of the American Heart Association.
Compared with the 1995-99 period, the rate of stroke in 2010-14 increased by 147 percent in people 35 to 39, by 101 percent in people 40 to 44, by 68 percent in those 45 to 49, and by 23 percent in the 50 to 54 group.
Stroke is still far more common in older people. But the rate decreased by 11 percent in those 55 to 59, by 22 percent in the 60 to 64 group, and by 18 percent in people 65 to 69.
The reasons are unclear, but the lead author, Joel N. Swerdel, now an epidemiologist with Janssen Pharmaceuticals, said that increasing obesity and diabetes in younger people are probably involved.
“For a person 30 to 50, the good news is you ain’t dead yet,” he said. “With behavioral changes, changing diet, increasing exercise, there’s still hope for you. Behavioral change is hard, but this study is an early warning sign.”
Eyesight and Memory Loss are Leading Concerns Around Aging
Internationally, the top five physical conditions that people worry most about having, either now or as they age, are eyesight getting poorer, not being as mentally alert, lacking energy, having trouble taking care of themselves physically, and being unable to walk or drive.
These are the findings from a GfK survey of the online population across 17 countries, which asked people which physical conditions they worry most about having, either now or as they age, from a list of 19 different conditions:
Eyesight getting poorer 38%
Not being as mentally alert / memory
loss 38%
Lack of energy 36%
Having trouble taking care of
yourself physically 34%
Losing mobility / unable to walk or
drive 33%
Experiencing body aches 30%
Gaining weight 27%
Being more at risk for serious
diseases 26%
Losing your hearing 24%
Having digestive problems /
irregularity 21%
Getting wrinkles, sagging / loose
skin 21%
Losing your hair or having your hair
get thin 20%
Incontinence 19%
Losing muscle tone 19%
Losing your sexual drive 17%
Hair turning gray or white 16%
Developing age marks, scars or
noticeable veins 15%
Menopause 10%
None of these 10%
The study reveals how widespread certain concerns are within different countries and between genders - information that manufacturers and retailers can use to better target their product placement and advertising.
For example, 38 percent of the international online population says "eyesight getting poorer" is a worry. But this rises to over half in Spain (53 percent), Mexico and Argentina (both 52 percent). Similarly, "not being as mentally alert" is a concern for 38 percent of people internationally, but is much wider concern in Spain (66 percent), Argentina (58 percent), Germany (52 percent), Mexico (51 percent) and Italy (50 percent).
Some countries also stand out as being more concerned about specific physical conditions compared to others. Russia is the only country surveyed where "losing your teeth" is a top five most popular concern, while in Japan and Korea "getting wrinkles or sagging skin" is in their top five. Japan also has "losing muscle tone" in their top five, which again does not feature in other countries' top five.
Differences between men and women are also seen. Both genders have the same top five physical concerns around aging - although in slightly different order. However, looking further down the list, far more men than women worry about "losing sexual drive" (22 percent men; 11 percent women) - and far more women than men are worried about "getting wrinkles or sagging skin" (32 percent women; 11 percent men).
GfK's online survey interviewed over 22,000 consumers aged 15+ across 17 countries. Fieldwork was completed in summer 2016 with data weighted to reflect the demographic composition of the online population aged 15+ in each market: Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, Russia, South Korea, Spain, UK and USA.
World Stroke Day reminds us all that stroke is treatable
March of Dimes Canada celebrates global campaign on October 29
Anna Bauer-Ross was 36 when she had her stroke. She was on vacation in the Bahamas with her young kids, unaware of how her life was about to change.
"I had to relearn the basics because the stroke had caused a severe left side neuropathy and even damaged my vocal chords," Bauer-Ross says. "My days of being a busy mom, carpooling, and taking my children to their sporting events were over. I was learning how to conquer the most elementary tasks: walking, writing, even seeing."
The most surprising thing is that Anna is not alone - stroke can and does strike people of all ages. It's a devastating diagnosis, of course, but there's good news too: stroke is treatable!
That's the theme of this year's World Stroke Day (October 29th). Like March of Dimes Canada'sStroke Recovery Program, the World Stroke campaign focuses on rehabilitation and recovery, and the fact that stroke survivors can return to engaged, fulfilling lives.
"What happens after a stroke is extremely important," says Andria Spindel, President and CEO of March of Dimes Canada. "March of Dimes Canada focuses on helping the individual move past the stroke, find meaning and support, develop re-integration and independence skills, build new or renew social relationships, access recreation, health education and more. Stroke Recovery groups assist in rebuilding lives."
Today, Bauer-Ross is doing well, but she describes recovery as a long-term process.
"Recovery never ends. It's a journey. The key has been to understand the importance of medication maintenance, staying active with the help of my family, and doing all that I can to stay on course with my recovery."
March of Dimes Canada is a nationally registered charitable organization providing support services to people with disabilities, their families and caregivers across Canada. Our goal is to enhance the independence and community participation of people with physical disabilities every day through a wide range of programs and services across Canada. For more information, please visit www.marchofdimes.caor call 1-800-263-3463.
SOURCE March of Dimes Canada
Keeping Fit as You Grow Older: What You Need to Know
Even younger people who are exercising frequently are sometimes worrying about what will happen when they get older. Can you keep up with an exercise routine? Am I just going to cause damage to myself?
It’s true that you’re going to experience some loss in stamina over the years. But it should be no secret by now that people often exaggerate how bad growing older is! And that applies here, too. In fact, many of the things that people fear about getting older are already being fought if you’re exercising now. So stop worrying so much!
As for exercising when as you approach and move past fifty, there are certain things you’ll have to be wary of. www.webmd.com has a great article dispelling myths about exercise in older adults. Here are some of our tips!
Speak to your doctor
You should be getting physical check-ups from your doctor every year. You may even want to have at least a couple a year, especially if you’re working out at an older age. This may seem like an obvious bit of advice. But a lot of people out there who exercise frequently feel that they don’t need to go to the doctor. After all, they’ve got it all covered with all this exercise, right?
Medical office - middle-aged male doctor greeting patient, shaking hands.
Make sure your doctor is kept abreast of what you’re doing when you workout. This will help them assess you correctly. Some problems that can occur during workouts may not manifest in the short-term, so they need to look for early signs that a change is needed.
Men: fight falling testosterone levels!
Sorry, guys! Chances are you’re going to suffer from falling testosterone levels as you get older. Unfortunately, the fact that it’s happening may not be apparent to you. How noticeable it is varies from man to man. If you’re exercising, some of the symptoms will definitely be less noticeable. One of the giveaways is weight gain, which you’ll be fighting with that exercise.
But low levels of testosterone often manifest in ways that will directly affect your exercise. Your energy levels and muscles mass will start to decrease. And with those, your general physical strength. Don’t worry, you’re not collapsing from the inside! It’s normal. But you might need some form of testosterone boost to keep up with your regime. Read more about doing this safely at www.newtestosterone.com.
Put more focus on warm ups
As previously noted, your muscles are going to get weaker as you get older. This is something you’ve fighting long-term with all that exercise you’ve been doing throughout life. (As a reminder, this is why exercising from a young age is important. It will help with physical strength and mobility as you get older!)
One of the most frustrating aspects of getting older is an increased susceptibility to injuries. Even if these injuries are minor, they will disrupt your routine something fierce. And, of course, warm-ups have always been about preventing injury during exercise. You may want to spend more time of your warm-ups to ensure you’re getting the right blood flow to your muscles. Need a reminder of the best warm-up routines? Check out www.prevention.com.
Keep your brain sharp, too! Quick note: the process of getting older will be much easier if you exercise your brain, too! You’ll be surprised how much it can benefit your physical health. Keep on reading, writing, and doing the occasional Sudoku puzzle!
Hazing Aging - Book Review
Physician, Robert Buckingham believes the key to reversing the aging process lies within a group of cells that line the body's blood vessels, called the vascular endothelium. He wants to help as many people as he can through disease prevention to develop anti-inflammatory lifestyle choices that would serve people well in againg with grace.
His new book, “Hazing Aging” explores how maintaining the health of these cells through basic lifestyle changes can reverse effects of aging and drastically prolong lifespans. A lot of the clients that I work with are all going through some form of lifestyle change so I found this book very eye opening with the tactics that I will now implement with them. "Health care prevention does not have to be complicated or disjointed, rather it can be wrapped around a core understanding of vascular inflammatory risk mitigation." I am a firm believer and so is Dr. Buckingham that when you get older you don't have to hurt, your heart doesn't have to fail and that your brain does not have to rot.
I consider myself well educated based on my degrees, certifications and experience so I found this book very interesting because this is the first time that I had heard of the vascular endothelium which is a group of cells that line the body's blood vessels. These cells have evolved according to Dr. Buckingham in both structure and function to facilitate efficient and specific exchanges between blood and organs. He says that by focusing on theses cells, you'll improve end-organ function, reverse adverse effects of aging and live happier. After delving into the physiology I believe that this is possible but for some it does take a lot of change. I feel in my experience that the personal has to willingly understand and want the change and you can't force it on them. No one can change unless they desire it themselves deep down.
According to the National Council on Aging, approximately 92% of oder adults have at least one chronic disease. That's crazy to me. And so unfortunately. That means that you or a loved one could be suffering in the future from a chronic disease. Doesn't that make you want to do everything that you can to prevent that so that you can age with grace.
About The Author Robert L. Buckingham, MD, FACP, has been a practicing physician in Ojai, California, for thirty-six years. He received his medical degree from the University of Illinois College of Medicine, where he graduated as a James Scholar with an MD and a master’s degree in pharmacology. He firmly believes that all should be informed about health, longevity and anti-aging.
Check out this great video by Dr. Buckingham below explaining his book:
This 77-Year Old Grand Ma Can Lift More Than You. She is pretty amazing. This just goes to show you that you can be fit at any age. You just have to put in the work! Check out her lifting skills below in the video! You will be amazed! "It's about life. L.I.F.E" and its about "being the best I can be" she says. Lets take her advice!
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