Let’s Make Brain Health Awareness Lifelong

A few weeks ago, one year after her first marathon, a 71-year-old resident of Asbury Bethany Village completed 36 miles in a 12-hour ultramarathon. That day, Cindy inspired countless people, most of them decades younger.

As a fitness proponent and sports fan, I love what Cindy did, and she inspires me.

And, as we recognize June as Alzheimer’s Awareness and Brain Health Month, I also wanted to talk about the connections between aging well and brain health, or as we call it at Asbury Communities, Inc. , Kinnections.

As I walk around our senior living communities, I see people with limited mobility, chronic health issues, and other challenges laughing with friends over lunch, sharing their skills with others through volunteering, creating new campus initiatives, and participating in all kinds of programs and classes. From my perspective as CEO, these are equally inspiring.

I’ve seen firsthand that we don’t have to be able to run 36 miles or even three to live a fulfilling life as we age. We do need cognitive health.

Three years ago, Asbury was blessed to start on our path to a system-wide brain health program when Cynthia Rosborough of Asbury Methodist Village made a transformative gift to establish the Rosborough Brain Health Center for Excellence there. Today, our Kinnections Brain Health program just rolled out at Normandie Ridge, bringing this pivotal well-being offering to all our continuing care retirement communities.

Thanks to the expertise of our Senior Director of Well-being and Brain Health, Sue Paul , and the operational support of the Community Living President, Todd Andrews , our Well-being Directors, Executive Directors, and therapy teams, we now have a research-based program with assessments and customized follow-up, certified brain health coaches, and classes and lifestyle strategies built to support the brain’s seven domains.

Many of our Kinnections strategies and classes are novel experiences for residents that stimulate cognitive growth. We added a climbing wall at one community and are bringing one to another this year. We’re implementing boxing classes and Rock Steady classes for people with Parkinson’s.

We’ve partnered with HUR Solutions Pte Ltd and SMARTfit Inc. to offer technologies that focus on dual task training, which boost cognitive stimulation with exercises that require the brain and body to work simultaneously.

Brain health is a top priority for seniors; we know that many residents and families are coping with the challenges of Alzheimer’s and other types of cognitive impairments. I’m proud that Asbury dedicates resources for programs like Kinnections, hosts The Longest Day fundraisers, and shares our expertise through professional conferences and community support groups.

Last year, Kinnections creator Sue Paul published an article called Brain Health Is Public Health. In it, she called for greater emphasis on cognitive fitness and increased public resources to address it.

Sue is right. Aging well starts at the top – the top of our head, that is. I’d love to hear what my peers are doing in this area and magnify the public discourse around this topic. Let’s make Alzheimer’s and Brain Health Awareness lifelong, not just monthlong.