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Volume 1, Issue 5

The Final Forkful

This late-month newsletter covers exciting nutrition network news that happened this month.

From the Nutrition and Aging

Resource Center

Making Your Meal Program THRIVE: Addressing Ageist Cultures and Practices

This presentation will discuss a University of Arizona Center on Aging project called THRIVE. Project THRIVE focused on how independent and assisted living facilities could ensure an emotionally safe, supportive, and inclusive environment. The project was funded by the American Seniors Housing Association and was done in partnership with Watermark Retirement Communities and Mather Life Ways.


Similar to senior centers and congregate meal sites, the communal living environment in these facilities opens the door to opportunities for older adults to develop new and rewarding social relationships and to engage in activities that promote personal growth and satisfaction. However, whenever groups of people of any age have close, frequent, and ongoing interactions with each other, there can be tension that may interrupt these opportunities.


When tension, microaggressions, and even bullying occurs in these settings, it can be especially hard for older adults who have the additional challenge of having to navigate aging-related conditions in a community where everyone is growing older differently and where each person may have different perceptions of their own aging as well as others around them.


Project THRIVE adapted successful public school-based interventions to optimize the quality of life of older adults and increase staff satisfaction through an intentional focus on culture change. We will discuss identification and implementation strategies that can be used in any communal setting to help build a safe, supportive, and inclusive culture.


Objectives:

- Identify socialization challenges older adults encounter in communal settings.

- Describe the evidence-based public-school program, Positive Behavior Intervention and Support (PBIS).

- Explain how to adapt evidence-based school strategies to communal settings to build a safe and inclusive culture.

Registration for the webinar

About the Speaker:

Dr. Lisa O’Neill is the Associate Director of Education and Policy at the University of Arizona Center on Aging and the Clinical Assistant Professor in the College of Medicine. In addition to developing geriatric educational materials for community and academic audiences, Dr. O'Neill serves on several statewide councils and boards, including the Governor’s Advisory Council on Aging, Senator Kelly’s Senior Citizen Advisory Group, and the Attorney General’s Task Force Against Senior Abuse. In 2015, Dr. O'Neill was named Gerontologist of the Year by the Arizona Geriatrics Society, and she is a 2019-2020 Health and Aging Policy Fellow.

Photo of Dr. Lisa O'Neill

COVID-Related Measures and Title III-C Misinformation 


Are you concerned that some of the innovations your program put into place during the COVID-19 pandemic are at risk of disappearing due to disappearing flexibilities? Perhaps you have no reason to be worried. There is an abundance of misinformation about what is and what isn't allowed with Older Americans Act Title III programs, and you may be surprised about what will remain even after COVID-related measures go away.

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Nutrition and Aging News From the Network

Food Poisoning; More Dangerous as We Age


Food safety is important at any age, yet we should be particularly careful as we age. Our immune function may decline as the years progress, leaving us more susceptible to foodborne illness.

Modern Approaches for Modern Times


The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is celebrating the second anniversary of the release of the New Era of Smarter Food Safety Blueprint. This resource outlines four core elements: tech-enabled traceability; smarter tools and approaches for prevention and outbreak response; new business models and retail modernization; and food safety culture.

The Mediterranean Diet and Frailty Risk


The Mediterranean Diet pattern of eating is one that is widely prescribed for optimum health. A new study shows that the Mediterranean Diet may even reduce the risk of frailty as we age. Bring on the olive oil!

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