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Health Awareness: Older Americans

The Administration for Community Living (ACL), part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, designated May as Older Americans Month. This year's theme, Champion Your Health, highlights the importance of personal responsibility, self-management, and advocating for yourself in healthy aging. They encourage focusing on preventive care, wellness, and making informed decisions that help support an independent lifestyle.

The National Institute on Aging, a division of the U.S. National Institutes of Health, provides information and resources on a variety of health topics for older people such as aging in place, and safety awareness in different areas that affect mature adults, as well as offering tips to help boost health as one ages.

Books & Media

Doctor and older patient pic. Health Care Providers: Talk to Older Adults About Physical Activity. Office of Disease and Prevention and Health Promotion fact sheet.

Radio mic icon.  Podcast: Aging Forward with Christina Chen, M.D. A Mayo Clinic podcast about the science of aging offering strategies for mature adults to live their best life through health habits and preventive care.

film and video iconConscious Aging: Empowering Strategies for Working with Elders (40 min. video, 2017). A training video for therapists and counselors working with the elderly. The subject discusses loneliness and the difficulties surrounding fewer social connections as they age.

book coverStrengthening the Workforce to Support Community Living and Participation for Older Adults and Individuals with Disabilities: Proceedings of a Workshop (2017). "Participants aimed to identify how the health care workforce can be strengthened to support both community living and community participation for adults with disabilities and older adults."

Newspaper iconRead online article: The Cities Designing Playgrounds for the Elderly (BBC News, Oct. 28, 2019)

book cover  The Oxford Handbook of Intergenerational Connections. eBook, 2025. "...provides a comprehensive look at intergenerational initiatives in the United States and abroad, focusing on how to promote collaboration and knowledge-sharing between older and younger generations."

Local Resources for Older Adults

Frye Art Museum’s Creative Aging Programs present both in-person and online art-centered activities for older adults such as Alzheimer’s Café at UW Memory and Brain Wellness Center’s The Memory Hub.

Age Wise King County offers a library of articles with older adult-centered topics including fall prevention, memory issues, Medicare & Medicaid, and older adult centers.

Seattle Public Library’s Resources for Adults 50+ lists local organizations aiding older adults in a variety of areas including consumer protection, LGBTQIA, assistive technology, and lifelong learning.

Aging and Disability Services provides information for veterans, caregivers, and older adults with disabilities, including population data, area plans, a video portal, and a calendar of local events for older Seattleites and King County community members.

Northwest Geriatrics Workforce Enhancement Center strives to improve the primary care of older adults in the Pacific Northwest by educating patients and their families on dementias and other gerontological health issues and by offering inter-professional training programs for health providers, faculty, and students.

NRCNAA logo  The National Resources Center on Native American Aging (NRCNAA): Services in Washington. NRCAA strives to improve the quality of life for older adults for the aging Native population through education, training, and by helping to develop community-based solutions to support Native American elders.

Image Credit:

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Community Living. (2026). Older Americans Month 2026. Retrieved May 13th, 2026.

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