Blue Zones Project is a community-wide well-being improvement initiative to help make healthy choices easier for everyone in Southwest Florida.
A vital part of Southwest Florida’s well-being improvement initiative, Blue Zones Project encourages changes to our community that lead to healthier options. When our entire community participates – from our worksites and schools to our restaurants and grocery stores – the small changes contribute to huge benefits for all of us: lowered healthcare costs, improved productivity, and ultimately, a higher quality of life.
HISTORY OF BLUE ZONES
What began as a New York Times bestseller by National Geographic Fellow Dan Buettner has evolved into a global movement that’s inspiring people to live longer, more active lives with lower rates of chronic disease.
From Sardinia, Italy, to Okinawa, Japan, to Loma Linda, California, people are living vibrant, active lives well into their hundreds. Buettner calls these areas Blue Zones and they’re the inspiration behind his book, The Blue Zones: Lessons for Living Longer from the People Who’ve Lived the Longest. Buettner’s research, along with a global longevity study, have led to a program that helps us live longer, healthier, and happier lives.
Established in 1986, The Florida State Guardianship Association (FSGA) is a 501c3 non-profit organization. FSGA is the premier statewide organization promoting and supporting excellence in the practice of guardianship and is the voice advocating for the incapacitated and their guardians.
The Florida State Guardianship Association is dedicated to the protection of the dignity and rights of incapacitated persons and to increasing the professionalism of guardianship through education, networking and legislative action.
The FSGA is approximately 550 members strong, made up of guardians, attorneys, care providers, fiduciaries, social workers, nurses, court personnel and many other disciplines, and many others make up this dynamic not for profit member organization. We have a statewide presence through our thirteen chapters and our members meet regularly for education, training, networking and development in their own communities.
Address:
Florida State Guardianship Association (FSGA)
P.O. Box 1185
Palm City, Florida 34991
The National Aging in Place Council® is a senior support network. We work together to solve your problems. NAIPC® was founded on the belief that an overwhelming majority of older Americans want to remain in their homes for as long as possible, but lack awareness of home and community-based services that make independent living possible.
Most Americans do not make a plan to age in place, although you should start thinking about one before you plan to retire. Creating a plan can prevent unexpected events from turning into crises that compromise one’s ability to live independently.
Just as many of us made a plan to go to college, we should have a plan to age. In planning for college, we knew what school we would attend, approximately what we would spend on books and tuition, where we would live and what we would do for transportation. A plan to age needs to be just as detailed and just as common.
If that is your goal, we urge you to take advantage of our senior support network. Our members are experts in healthcare, financial services, elder law, design and home remodeling. We are dedicated to helping meet the needs of our aging population, and assist you so that you can remain independent in the housing of your choice.
Our Mission
NAIPC® wants to be your primary informational resource so that you remain active and healthy throughout your retirement years.
We have established a network of professionals from the private, public and non-profit sectors who can help you plan for your future housing and care needs.
Our web site provides additional ideas and information to help you accomplish whatever goals you may have.
NAIPC® works to achieve our mission by:
Reaching out to seniors.
Establishing local Aging in Place Councils among businesses, public agencies, non-profit organizations, the aging in place professional network, and the health care system. Homeowners benefit if professionals from the various disciplines are knowledgeable about one another, and better professional referral networks are established.Increasing the level of knowledge and skills of Aging in Place professionals from a wide variety of fields whose collaboration and involvement is essential to insuring greater public access to programs and support services that promote independent living.
Advocating for policies, regulations and business practices that promote Aging in Place.
Promoting National Aging in Place Week and other events through various media. During this week, members of the National Aging in Place Council® coordinate events in their communities to highlight local programs and services available to help increase independent living.
Established in 1996, the National Alliance for Caregiving is a non-profit coalition of national organizations focusing on advancing family caregiving through research, innovation, and advocacy. The Alliance conducts research, does policy analysis, develops national best-practice programs, and works to increase public awareness of family caregiving issues.
Recognizing that family caregivers provide important societal and financial contributions toward maintaining the well-being of those they care for, the Alliance is dedicated to improving quality of life for families and their care recipients through research, innovation, and advocacy.
Address:
National Alliance for Caregiving
4720 Montgomery Lane, Suite 205
Bethesda, MD 20814
We are a private, non-profit organization with a mission to safeguard the human dignity of people as they age or face serious illness. For nearly 20 years, Aging with Dignity has been an advocate for quality care for those near the end of life. We have touched the lives of more than 23 million people and their families. And we have been honored to work with more than 40,000 organizations across America that distribute our Five Wishes document to help people plan in advance of a serious illness. With resources available in 27 different languages, we serve all people of diverse cultures and faith traditions.
Today we are the most trusted resource for people who want to plan for care in advance of a health crisis. Our Five Wishes document is the most widely used advance directive or living will in America. It is often called the “living will with a heart and soul” because it includes the things that matter the most. Unlike most other advance directives, it is easy to use and understand. Caring for people with a serious illness involves more than providing the best medical care. It means helping them to maintain their human dignity. That’s where we come in.
Address:
Mailing Address:
PO Box 1661
Tallahassee FL 32302-1661
The National Long-Term Care Ombudsman Resource Center (NORC) provides support, technical assistance and training to the 53 State Long-Term Care Ombudsman Programs and their statewide networks of almost 600 regional (local) programs. The Center’s objectives are to enhance the skills, knowledge, and management capacity of the State programs to enable them to handle residents’ complaints and represent resident interests (individual and systemic advocacy). Funded by the Administration on Aging(AoA), the Center is operated by Consumer Voice, The National Consumer Voice for Quality Long-Term Care, in cooperation with the National Association of States United for Aging and Disabilities (NASUAD)
Long-term care ombudsmen are advocates for residents of nursing homes, board and care homes and assisted living facilities. Ombudsmen provide information about how to find a facility and what to do to get quality care. They are trained to resolve problems. If you want, the ombudsman can assist you with complaints. However, unless you give the ombudsman permission to share your concerns, these matters are kept confidential. Under the federal Older Americans Act, every state is required to have an Ombudsman Program that addresses complaints and advocates for improvements in the long-term care system.
The ombudsman program is administered by the Administration on Aging (AoA). The network has 8,813 volunteers certified to handle complaints and 1,167 paid staff. Most state ombudsman programs are housed in their State Unit on Aging. Nationally, in 2011 the ombudsman program investigated over 200,463 complaints on behalf of 131,078 individuals and provided information on long-term care to another 288,698 people.
Address:
NORC
1001 Connecticut Avenue, NW, Suite 425
Washington, DC 20036
