Dr. Christi Johnson of Cornell College presented on ways to change the narrative on physical activity of older adults, as well as a few exercises at the Lester Buresh Family Community Wellness Center Thursday, Feb. 20.

Johnson said her research has focused on how older adults storylines exhibit aging.

“The challenge of aging is so unique, as we have so many different experiences,” Johnson said.

Johnson asked what were some of the benchmarks or how they describe being older.

Bob Meeker said it was when his children hit certain medical procedures in their own lives as a reflection of his own age, like them having their first colonoscopy.

Johnson said one of the things she has admired a lot from the Baby Boomer generations is they have pushed back on other depictions of aging.

“There are multiple paths and multiple ways to push back against aging,” Johnson said.

Her advice to many was to keep staying active as long as that is possible for them.

“We all differ in our mobility and core strength,” Johnson said. “And that’s okay. One area that is important to focus on as we age is balance.”

Johnson said that things being physically active help in include thwarting depression, anxiety, improved cognitive function and quality of life.

Johnson said that erasure of older adults in television shows and media gives issues with what aging looks like. Attendees said that a lot of daytime programming advertises medical prescriptions and devices for older adults.

Johnson said her experience in research has shown those below 80 tend to believe they are broken or damaged due to exposure to those advertisements, while her interaction with those who are above 80s are usually the ones who push back against those claims.

Johnson recounted the story of Orville, a man in his 90s who was still active and had an active life of volunteering and activities like delivering Meals on Wheels to other citizens.

Johnson said that there are aspects of aging that do occur to the body, like the aging of cells and decrease of bone density.

“That’s what makes the importance of strength conditioning important well into middle age,” Johnson said. “Weight training and exercise are extremely important.”

Johnson asked for participants to participate in an exercise, flexing an arm muscle as part of that.

“What you find is muscle contracts on both sides of that bone,” Johnson said. “That’s why strength training is so important. It helps to treat, prevent and delay onset of things like osteoporosis and arthritis.”

Joint injuries can happen to people of all ages at any time, and the importance is continue having activity and managing movement.

Cardiovascular activities are also important. Johnson said that if impact on joints are an issue, utilizing pools for exercise can be an important way to keep active.

Johnson said that one of the things that impacts a lot of older individuals is isolationism.

“Older adults are more likely to volunteer and participate in their community while they simultaneously feel invisible,” Johnson said.

She said that re-storying or changing the narratives around aging is extremely important.

Some of the barriers that attendees identified included having friends die or having children move you away from the networks of friends you have built as you age.

“Social isolation is one of the greatest burdens of older adulthood,” Johnson said.

Others noted that the world also being very geared towards being in couples can be an issue for many older people.

As well, leaving professional lives can be an impact on those who are older.

“The importance is that there is a shift for those who are aging for what the meaningful contributions they have in their lives,” Johnson said. “For some, they find more engagement with their grandchildren, being more active in their church or community recreation are equally important.”

As for things that make aging easier has been the shift of not needing to adhere to what is acceptable to wear or caring about things like style after certain ages.