Healthy Aging Month is in full swing at PHW, with faith communities across the state building elements of our Healthy Aging Inclusion Plan into the new church year! I am encouraged by the commitment so many congregations are making to prioritize the welcome and wellness of the older adults in their community across a mix of seven elements of well-being: emotional, environmental, intellectual/cognitive, professional/vocational, social, spiritual, and economic.
The creative offerings proposed and implemented by congregations have been inspiring, from hosting a healthy aging speaker series featuring experts from local community organizations (all at free or little cost to reduce budgetary impact, while bringing high quality, evidence-based education to their faith community), to starting regular walking clubs, to hosting multigenerational programming where older adults mentor teens and teens teach older adults the latest tech skills.
More than just a month-long effort, Healthy Aging is a lifelong endeavor and it is wonderful to see congregations embracing a spirit of multigenerational health that will pay dividends in the thriving of the older adults they serve and serve alongside in the coming years.
If you would like to learn more about PHW’s Healthy Aging Inclusion Plan, ways to connect with free and low cost healthy aging resources in your community, and other ways to start or grow your healthy aging ministry, please reach out to me via email (krista@ncchurches.org) to schedule a one-on-one Healthy Aging Office Hours meeting with me.
I look forward to connecting with your faith community to support you in this vital and life-affirming work.
