Staying healthy by staying active.Staying active, both physically and mentally, through one's senior years is an important ingredient to staying healthy. One way to keep active is to be involved in organizations that are interesting and offer a variety of activities and information. An example of such an organization is Senior Friends. Senior Friends, officially known as the West Hills Hospital Chapter of the National Association of Senior Friends, is part of the National Association of Senior Friends that has over 330,000 members in more than 200 chapters across the country. The program was developed by hospitals that saw the need to keep Seniors active and involved. The West Hills Hospital Chapter was founded in 1987 and has over 3,800 members. The program is offered to adults age 50 years and over and includes typical hospitals related activities such as free or low cost health screenings, access to a medical fitness program, a physician referral physician referral A physician's recommendation to a Pt to consult another physician for a 2nd opinion. Cf Self-referral. service, and lectures by staff physicians on health topics. By being a national organization with Over 330,000 members, Senior Friends can also offer access to national group discounted health benefits such as a discount dental plan, prescription drug prescription drug Prescription medication Pharmacology An FDA-approved drug which must, by federal law or regulation, be dispensed only pursuant to a prescription–eg, finished dose form and active ingredients subject to the provisos of the Federal Food, Drug, savings program, optical savings plan, and a medical alert system. More importantly, the Senior Friends program goes well beyond typical hospital--related activities to include exercise programs such as "Seniorcize" aerobics aerobics (ârō`biks), [Gr.,=with oxygen], system of endurance exercises that promote cardiovascular fitness by producing and sustaining an elevated heart rate for a prolonged period of time, thereby pumping an increased amount of oxygen-rich , the Westfield Westfield. 1 City (1990 pop. 38,372), Hampden co., SW Mass., a residential and industrial suburb of Springfield, on the Westfield River; settled c.1660, inc. as a city 1920. Bicycles, machinery, and paper and metal products are made. Mall Walking mall walking n. An activity in which one walks around a shopping mall for exercise. Program, bowling, line-dancing and others. In addition, Senior Friends offers several social activities such as group travel opportunities, golf, bingo bingo Game of chance played with cards having a grid of numbered squares corresponding to numbered balls drawn at random. When a number on the card is drawn, the players cover that number (should they have it); the game is won by covering a certain number of squares in a row , and card games, The program also offers several educational programs such as Mature Driving, current events discussion groups, and seminars by community leaders who are experts on topics such as legal services legal services n. the work performed by a lawyer for a client. , governmental affairs, etc. Senior Friends is specially designed to keep seniors active and engaged in enjoyable exercise, social, and community activities. It keeps seniors informed and involved in community topics as well as healthcare issues. Membership, at a modest fee of $15 per year, provides the opportunity to be part of one of the largest groups promoting healthy living, helpful benefits, and wonderful friendships. This article was provided by West Hills Hospital. For questions or more information about Senior Friends, call 818-227-6757. |
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