The Weld County Area Agency on Aging has been offering wellness classes since 2008 as guided by the Older Americans Act Disease Prevention and Health Promotion section. The Weld Aging Well program encompasses evidence-based workshops and classes to promote health and prevent disease among older adults. They are based on research and provide documented health benefits, so you can be confident they work.
Fitness Classes
The percentage of older individuals in the population has increased with each decade, and the proportion of persons 75 years and older has grown even faster. As a result, chronic diseases and falls have increased and are now the leading causes of death and disability among older Americans. Fortunately, both chronic diseases and falls are highly preventable.
The Weld Aging Well programs can help turn the tide and raise older adults’ quality of life by improving health behaviors, health and functional status, and overall well-being. Older adults that attend a full workshop are more
likely to produce positive changes Meredith Skoglund or outcomes. Some of the benefits of attending include:
• Improved quality of life
• Increased self-efficacy in managing one’s health
• Increased or maintained independence, positive health behaviors, or mobility
• Reduced disability (fewer falls, later onset or fewer years of disability, etc.)
• Reduced pain
• Improved mental health (including delays in loss of cognitive function and positive effects on depressive symptoms)
The Weld Aging Well program relies on peer volunteers to lead the workshops and classes. For more information about the various workshops and classes or to volunteer, please visit www.weldaaa.org and click on Weld Aging Well, or contact Jake Luna at (970 400-6117 or jluna@weld.gov.