Aging and Diversity Lab (ADL)
Welcome
Welcome to the Aging and Diversity Lab (ADL) in the Department of Kinesiology and Community Health at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
The ADL is coordinated by Dr. Wojtek Chodzko-Zajko and Dr. Andiara Schwingel, and has its focus on the study of aging across the lifespan and population diversity.
The mission of the ADL is to study the process that leads to healthy aging, optimizing wellbeing and independence as people age. Our mission is also to understand the cultural context in which people live in order to promote healthy communities across various social groups.
Research
In this research group, we are conducting studies that examine the impact of healthy lifestyle behaviors on the aging process.
New Age
New AGE is a design program for developing therapeutic recreational facilities in conjunction with attractive greenscapes. The concept originated within the green industry where recreation areas are designed for golf courses and sports fields. While community park and recreation areas are often targeted to teenagers and young adults, the New AGE program is specifically focused on improving the health and quality of life of older adults who are living independently, in retirement communities, or in convalescent facilities, providing a green alternative to indoor health clubs and physical therapy settings.
The New AGE concept is significantly advanced beyond the historical design of parks.
- Each facility will provide an enriched environment that is designed to maximize the physical well being of aging adults.
- Facilities should be friendly, attractive, green environments that provide opportunities for strengthening, stretching and flexing, and cardiovascular conditioning.
- The design, building, and testing of active green environments requires a multidisciplinary approach, utilizing the expertise of horticulturists, landscape architects, environmental engineers, health care professionals, and kinesiologists.
Photos of the New AGE in Clark Lindsey Village (Urbana, IL, USA) . Launched on 22 September 2008.
Minority Aging and Physical Activity Study
This research project proposes to examine the ways in which the socio-cultural context impacts the health behavior of older adults. The growing aging population is continuously becoming more diverse. Accordingly, this project seeks to examine barriers and facilitators to physical activity participation in aging minorities. We are in the process of developing a research project that will help to determine the impact of cultural factors on physical activity participation in diverse populations.
Wii project
The main purpose of the Wii project is to understand how older adults interact with new technologies and to develop a new technology adoption/acceptance model for older adults. Ultimately we are seeking to investigate the possible impact of new technology for improving older adults' quality of life. We are currently exploring four different categories of technology to understand this interaction in more detail. Our research explores such factors as effectiveness, adjustment, reasons for use, and the subjective meaning of new technologies to older adults.
Cross-campus Bike Project
The 'Cross-campus Bike Project' is based on the internationally-acclaimed public health program known as the "white bike" project, initially developed in the Netherlands, which provides "public-access" bicycles for short distance transportation as a healthier, more environmentally-friendly alternative to private automobile transportation (Unwin, 1995). This project is designed to assess the degree to which faculty and staff would be willing to use bicycles to move about the University of Illinois campus in the conduction of their university duties in an attempt to reduce their dependence on personal motor vehicles.
Healthy Moves
The Healthy Moves program is an evidence-based intervention program that consists of two major components:
- a simple physical activity intervention modeled and adapted from the Senior Fitness Test work of Rikli and Jones (1999)
- a lifestyle behavior change counseling method called Brief Negotiation that was developed by behavior change experts Prohaska and DiClemente (1983).
The integration of these two simple but effective approaches into a single, behaviorally-based intervention is highly consistent with recent research recommendations and greatly increases the likelihood of the older adult participants in the program adopting a more active lifestyle.
The objective of the project is to assess the feasibility of implementing simple, safe, non-equipment evidence-based movements (Healthy Moves for Aging Well program) using an affordable and sustainable homecare-aide based delivery model that reaches the maximum possible number of frail older adults living at home in Illinois.
Movement and Meditation
A retirement community in Urbana (IL), Clark-Lindsey Village, currently offers a traditional Qi Gong/Tai Chi program and a chair-based exercise program to its residents. Qi Gong and Tai Chi are practices involving movement and meditation based on ancient Chinese philosophies. There is growing evidence that Qi Gong and Tai Chi practices may be among the best forms of physical activity for diverse populations since they are low impact, low cost, and relatively easy to learn.
Traditionally, Qi Gong and Tai Chi practice includes four major components:
- Body posture adjustment and gentle movement
- Meditation and purposeful relaxation
- Breath regulation practice
- Self-administered massage
This demonstration project will study the extent to which the existing chair-based exercise program can be modified to include the four health practices associated with Qi Gong/Tai Chi. Our goal is to determine the extent to which the movements and practices associated with Qi Gong/Tai Chi can be merged with more traditional exercise in a manner that is enjoyed and accepted by older adults living in a retirement community.
Publications
- Chodzko-Zajko, W., Proctor, D.N., Fiatarone Singh, M.A., Minson, C.T., Nigg, C.R., Salem, G.J. and Skinner, J.S. (2009) ACSM Position Stand: Exercise and Physical Activity for Older Adults. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, 41 (7), 1510-1530.
- Schwingel, A., Niti, M., Tang, C. and Ng, P.N. (2009) Continued work employment and volunteerism and mental well-being of older adults: Singapore longitudinal ageing studies. Age and Ageing, 1-7.
- Chodzko-Zajko, WJ, Kramer, AK, Poon LW (2009). Enhancing Cognitive Functioning and Brain Plasticity, Human Kinetics Publishers, Champaign, IL.
- Chodzko-Zajko, W., Schwingel, A. (2009) Transnational Strategies for the Promotion of Physical Activity and Active Aging: The World Health Organization Model of Consensus Building in International Public Health, Quest, 61, 25-38.
- Chodzko-Zajko, W., Schwingel, A., Park, C. H. (2009). Successful Aging: The Role of Physical Activity, American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine 3:20-28.
- Park, C., Malavasi, L. M., Liles, C., Page, P., Park, E., Rogers, M., Senior, J., Zhou, L., Ory, M., Chodzko-Zajko, W. J. (2008). National Blueprint report: strategies for integrating physical activity into wellness programming for older adults. Journal on Active Aging, vol. 7(2), 66–75.
- Resnick, B., Ory, M. G., Hora, K., Rogers, M. E., Page, P., Bolin, J. N., Lyle, R. M., Sipe, C., Chodzko-Zajko, W. J. (2008). A proposal for a new screening paradigm and a tool called Exercise abd Assessment and Screening for You (EASY). Journal of Aging and Physical Activity, 16, 2, 215–233.
- Benedetti, T. B., Petroski, E. L., Nassar, S. M., Schwingel, A., Chodzko-Zajko, W. (2008). Aging in Brazil: physical activity, socioeconomic conditions and diseases among older adults in Southern Brazil, Journal of Applied Gerontology.
- Park, C.; Malavasi, L. M., Wen, H., Sheppard, L., Beattie, L., Chow, R., Firman, J., Jahnke, R., Rosengren, K., Yang, Y., Chodzko-Zajko, W. (2007). Qi Gong and Tai Chi: Strategies for Developing and Implementing Community-based Programs for Older adults. In: American College of Sports Medicine, 2007, New Orleans. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise. New Orleans : ACSM v. 39. p. S420.
- Park, C.; Malavasi, L. M. ; Wen, H. ; Sheppard, L.; Beattie, L.; Chow, R.; Firman, J.; Jahnke, R.; Rosengren, K. ; Yang, Y. ; Chodzko-Zajko, W. (2007). Based Programs to Enhance Healthy Aging. In: Healthy Aging Research Network Symposium, 2007, Seattle. Effective Community-Based Physical Activity Programs for Older Adults. Seattle: HARNS, p. 16.
- Schwingel, A, Chodzko-Zajko, W. J. (2007). Qualidade de Vida e Atividade Física para a Terceira Idade no Japão. Revista Brasileira de Cineantropometria & Desempenho Humano (IX SIAFT), v.9. p.S35–S37, 2007. (In portuguese)
- Schwingel, A., Nakata, Y., Ito, L. S., Chodzko-Zajko, W. J., Shigematsu, R., Erb, C. T., Oba-Shinjo, S. M., Matsuo, T., Shinjo, S. K., Uno, M., Marie, S. K. N., Tanaka, K. (2007). A comparison of the prevalence of the metabolic syndrome and its components among native Japanese and Japanese Brazilians residing in Japan and Brazil, European Journal of Cardiovascular Prevention & Rehabilitation, v.14, p. 508–514.
- Chodzko-Zajko, W. J., Beattie, L., Chow, R., Firman, J., Jahnke, R., Park CH., Rosengren, K., Sheppard, L., Yang, Y. (2006). Qi Gong and Tai Chi: Promoting practices that promote healthy aging., Active Aging, September, pp 51–56.
- Chodzko-Zajko, W., Sheppard, L., Senior, J., Park, C. H., Mockenhaupt, R., Bazzarre, T. (2005). The USA national strategic plan for promoting physical activity in the mid-life and older adult population: A four-year progress report on the National Blueprint, Quest., 57, 3–13.
- Cress, M. E., Buchner, D. M., Prohaska, T., Rimmer, J., Brown, M., Macera, C., DiPietro, L., Chodzko-Zajko, W. (2004). Physical activity programs and behavior counseling in older adult populations, Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, 3611, 1997–2003.
- Sheppard, L., Senior, J., Park, C. H., Mockenhaupt, R., Chodzko-Zajko, W. J., Bazzarre, T. (2003). The National Blueprint Consensus Conference Summary Report. Strategic Priorities for Increasing Physical Activity Among Adults Aged 50 and Older, American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 25,209–213.
- Chodzko-Zajko, W. J. (2000). Successful Aging in the New Millennium—The Role of Regular Physical Activity, Quest, 52, 333–343.
Lab members
Faculty
- Wojtek Chodzko-Zajko
- Andiara Schwingel
Graduate Students
- Leticia Malavasi
- Kyongo Kim
- Salva Najib
- Emily Parrott
Undergraduate Students
- Betsy Trevarthen
- Mittal Patel
Visiting Scholars
- Grzegorz Żurek (University School of Physical Education in Wrocław, Poland)
- Alina Żurek (University of Wrocław, Poland)
- Hong Jun Yu (Tsinghua University, Beijing, China)
Alumni (Visiting Scholars/Students/Collaborators)
- Vicente Romo (Spain), 2009
- Chae Hee Park (South Korea), 2002–2008
- Grzegorz Zurek (Poland), 2007
- Jonneke Kroes (Netherlands), 2007
- Wei-Jue Huang (Taiwan), 2006–2007
- Lan-Jun Zhou (China), 2007–2008
- Euyoung Park (South Korea), 2007
- Joana Aguiar Sousa (Portugal), 2006
Join the Lab
Undergraduate and Graduate students with an interest in aging and/or diversity are encouraged to pursue the opportunities available for research in our lab.
Meetings
Aging and Diversity Lab meets every week, on Thursday from 4:00 to 5:00 pm at 128 Freer Hall.
Contact us
Aging and Diversity LabDepartment of Kinesiology and Community Health
117 Louise Freer Hall
906 S. Goodwin Avenue
Urbana, IL 61801
Office Phone: 217-24 40823/ 35443
Email: adl@ahs.illinois.edu
