Physical Wellness

Welcome to the Vitality Revolution!

Physical Wellness is one of the 8 foundational principles of senior wellness. Taking care of the body we’re born with is a vital element to ensure longevity and quality of life. A healthy diet, proper hydration, and regular exercise can be reduced to a simple matter of comfortable routine and shouldn’t be presented as a daunting challenge. The joys of cooking healthy, delicious foods and enjoying a routine of physical movement — whatever the level — add color and flavor to life and will provide extra energy and desire to get out of bed and face each day.

The Eight Foundational Principles of Wellnes

Discover more about physical wellness with our Decision Guides.

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Articles and podcasts

Action Steps For a Healthier Life

Tracy Cromwell, a nutritionist and fitness expert who works with seniors, provides a list of steps to take to improve your physical and emotional wellness, part of Answers for Elders' Vitality Revolution podcast series sponsored by Humana.

Consultation: Improve Your Physical Wellness

Tracy Cromwell, a nutritionist and fitness expert who works with seniors, describes what happens during an initial consultation to improve your physical fitness, part of Answers for Elders' Vitality Revolution podcast series sponsored by Humana.

How Our Emotions Impact Our Health

Tracy Cromwell talks about the positive and negative impacts of our feelings to our physical health, part of Answers for Elders' Vitality Revolution podcast series sponsored by Humana.

Healthy Lifestyle Journey for Physical Wellness

Tracy Cromwell, a nutritionist and fitness expert who works with seniors, talks about the connection between physical and emotional wellness, part of Answers for Elders' Vitality Revolution podcast series sponsored by Humana.

Focus on Preventative Measures: Primary Care

On behalf of Vitality Revolution Podcast Series gold sponsor Humana, Lori Hutson talks about the evolution of primary care and tele-heath.

Focus on Preventative Measures: Dental

On behalf of Vitality Revolution Podcast Series gold sponsor Humana, Lori Hutson talks about dental health benefits available through Medicare Advantage programs.

Focus on Preventative Measures: Medicare

On behalf of Vitality Revolution Podcast Series gold sponsor Humana, Lori Hutson talks about preventative measures for physical wellness and what's covered under Medicare part A, part B, and some Medicare Advantage plans.

Overcoming Physical Challenges in Caregiving

Being a caregiver can be a rewarding and fulfilling experience, but it also comes with its fair share of physical challenges. Many caregivers find...

Resources to Help Reinvent Ourselves

Benjamin Surmi of Koelsch Communities provides local and national resources to help us reinvent ourselves in our later years.

Reinventing While Caregiving or Aging in Place

Benjamin Surmi of Koelsch Communities talks about reinvention for those aging in place and for caregivers.

How to Reinvent Yourself While Aging

Benjamin Surmi of Koelsch Communities talks about reinvention and how someone goes about beginning their second wind journey.

Embrace Aging, Gain Lower Risk of Dying

Benjamin Surmi, Director for Education and Culture for Koelsch Communities, empowers older adults to find purpose, meaning, and enthusiasm in the second half of their lives.

Physical Wellness at CarePartners Living

Tonya Hilson talks about physical wellness and senior living: maintaining health, movement, and eating well.

Having Physical Wellness

Foundational principles of wellness, part 7: Eating right, walking, movement, balance, using our core. It's more than lifting weights and exercise. So many seniors living alone don't eat right, can't cook or do the things that contribute to a good quality of life, and resort to leftovers, fast food and TV dinners.

Wellness Opportunities Through Medicare Advantage

Kristine Grow, the spokesperson from the Coalition for Medicare Choices, says most plans come with prescription drug coverage; many offer dental, vision, and hearing services, and coordination of care, particularly for chronic conditions.

How To Make Your Body Your Teammate, with Tracy Cromwell

Senior fitness specialist Tracy Cromwell is a certified behavioral and nutrition coach and personal trainer. In this segment, Tracy explains how your body is...

How To Tell When It’s Time For Senior Living

Tina Hall from Era Living joins Suzanne to empower you. It's just a part of aging that at some point you might not be able to care for yourself independently. Consider your health compared to five years ago. What'll it be like five or ten years from now?

What are some common facts about health in seniors?

As I am close to turning 64 myself, I realize more and more the effects of my aging. In addition, working with seniors as...

Nutrition and Meal Planning with Kim Spencer

Kim Spencer at Serengeti Care discusses Nutrition and Meal Planning.

Five Alzheimer’s Fighting Foods That Can Decrease Your Risk of Alzheimer’s and Dementia

If you have a family member who has Alzheimer’s, there is a higher risk of family members contracting it as well. You likely may...

Fall Prevention and Health, with Jill Martinez

Jill Martinez, director of community relations for CarePartners Living, discusses fall prevention and health.

Fall Prevention, part 1 with Shawn Weiss

This segment with Dr. Shawn Weiss focuses on how to prevent falls. Fall prevention can be broken down into intrinsic and extrinsic factors. Extrinsic, or environmental, factors involve furniture placement, bed height, seat heights, lighting, rugs, power cords, general clutter in pathways, and so forth. Also, the potential tripping hazards of footwear and clothing. Do you notice whether you or your loved ones have started holding furniture for support while walking?

Sound Dental Care and geriatric dental health

Sound Dental Care: Geriatric Dental Health, Part 1

Sarah Luetke, founder and CEO Sound Dental Care, joins Suzanne to talk about geriatric dental health. If you have a loved one in a senior living community or who visits a community center in the Seattle area, they can access mobile dentistry and tele-dentistry services. Learn about Sound Dental Care for people who can't travel to a dental office.

How Our Bodies Age, with Tracy Cromwell

Senior fitness specialist Tracy Cromwell is a certified behavioral and nutrition coach and personal trainer. In this segment, Tracy talks about how our bodies...

General Health Concerns for Seniors, with Kelley Smith

Kelley Smith from CarePartners Senior Living talks about the top concerns family members have for their senior loved ones: nutrition, fall risks, medication concerns, and socialization.

Sound Dental Care: Geriatric Dental Health, Part 3

Sarah Luetke, founder and CEO Sound Dental Care, joins Suzanne to talk about breakthroughs in geriatric dental care. Mobile dental hygiene is often a better solution. She sometimes applies palliative care, an alternative treatment with silver diamine fluoride, which is an antimicrobial prescription topical to treat cavities for patients who aren't healthy enough for a tooth extraction.

Senior Exercise Infographic

Exercise tips for successful aging – you can age gracefully. The more active, healthy, and fit you are now, the better you will feel...

Infographic: Best Heart-Healthy Foods

Are you eating heart-healthy? Learn about the benefits of salmon, nuts & beans, fruits & vegetables, and whole grains in this month's infographic.

Daphne Davis’s Wellness Formula: The Body

Valentine's Day is about connections, acknowledging those you love and appreciate, as well as taking time for yourself. Daphne Davis at Pinnacle Senior Placements...

Sound Dental Care: Geriatric Dental Health, Part 4

In this segment, Sarah talks about the mission of Sound Dental Care and where future breakthroughs in geriatric dental care will take us. Mobile dental hygiene brings equipment to each facility to deliver the best possible care and comfort to patients. We're all aging – seniors should be able to live out their lives feeling like they're being advocated and cared for.

Kaiser’s Five Tips for Heart Health

In the month of February, we explore Health and Wellness for Seniors. Obviously, this is a topic that should be at the forefront of...

Fitness and Exercise

Numerous studies show that regular exercise helps slow the aging process, improve cardiovascular health, and reduce symptoms of numerous types of ailments like dementia,...

Fall Prevention with Shawn Weiss

Shawn Weiss talks about fall prevention during the pandemic. Shawn is a member of the Ohio Falls Coalition and Ohio Injury Prevention Partnership, has been a physical therapist for 23 years, and is published in Fall Prevention for Residents with Cognitive Deficits residing in Assisted Living Facilities. She talks about why there has been a rising number of falls and fall-related injuries in the aging population during the Covid 19 pandemic, how we can help senior loved ones whose health may have declined during the pandemic, and provides some community resources to seek out.

Activity and Aging with Ken Farmer

Ken Farmer at Careage leads by example, sharing tips for healthy living and fitness, hydration and exercise.

Senior Summer Safety with Shawn Weiss

Shawn Weiss is an expert in the areas of geriatrics, fall prevention, cognitive decline, healthy living, home health, and caregiver training. In this segment, Shawn talks about why summer safety is so important for our senior loved ones, why older adults are more susceptible to heat-related illnesses, and provides some ways our seniors can stay safe and healthy during the summer months.

Taking Charge of Your Six Pillars of Health

Dr. Shawn Weiss joins Suzanne to talk about taking charge of the six pillars of health — nutrition, exercise, sleep, stress, substance use, and personal connections — so that we can achieve optimal health in our later years.

Life Balance with Ken Farmer

Ken Farmer at Careage discusses maintaining a healthy life balance. Always take stock: Are you ignoring any of these key elements of your life?

Adapting to Aging Body Changes for Optimal Health

Dr. Shawn Weiss joins Suzanne to talk about changes in our bodies that happen once we reach 50 years of age, and what strategies...

Body Image, with Tracy Cromwell

Senior fitness specialist Tracy Cromwell is a certified behavioral and nutrition coach, and personal trainer. In this segment, Tract talks about our evolving health...

Choosing a Rehab Center for Seniors

More often than not, when a senior’s stay is eminent to go to a rehab center, their family members may not realize that they...

CBD Oil and Seniors: A Miracle or Myth?

Lately, so many of us are hearing about incredible breakthroughs that have been made about the medicinal qualities of Cannabinoids; which are compounds that...

Caregiver Burnout with Shawn Weiss

Shawn Weiss talks about why we're seeing an increase in caregiver burnout, what the symptoms are, and how we can prevent it. Shawn has been the owner of a Home Health Care agency for 18 years and a physical therapist for 23 years.

Fall Prevention, part 2 with Shawn Weiss

With winter coming, prepare now to avoid falls in your home or your parents' home. Dr. Shawn Weiss advises checking the outside of the house for safety at entryways, lighting, clearing pathways to avoid tripping hazards. Winter safety also includes shoes and shovels stored nearby. If there are issues getting in and out of the house, add or check the sturdiness of handrails.

Sound Dental Care: Geriatric Dental Health, Part 2

Sarah Luetke at Sound Dental Care joins Suzanne to talk about geriatric dental health. Tele-dentistry and mobile dentistry bring dental care to residents at senior living communities, people who can't travel to a dental office. We have to think about dental insurance in a different way with seniors. Sound Dental Care provides many preventative-type treatments, including alternative palliative care with silver diamine fluoride.