Blueprint Partners Progress Newsletter: July 2005

In This Issue
Save the Dates for National Blueprint Conference in October
New NCOA Issue Brief Released
Third National Prevention Summit to be Held in Washington, D.C.
Study on Cobblestone Walking Benefits
Slide Show on Balance Exercises for Older Adults
Exercising for a Healthy Heart Tutorial
Senior Softball is Gaining Popularity Among Boomers

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Save the Dates for National Blueprint Conference in October
The National Blueprint Conference will be held on October 12-13, 2005 at the University of Illinois in Champaign/Urbana. At this exciting event, Blueprint partners will play a key role in sharing ideas, using their expertise to participate in strategy planning for the coming year and hearing from the lead organizations about the tremendous progress that has been made since the January 2004 conference.

The Blueprint conference will officially begin Wednesday, October 12th at 1:00 p.m. and run through 8:00 p.m., and will include a working dinner. We will reconvene on Thursday, October 13th at 9:00 a.m. and finish by 1:00 p.m. Additional information about the conference will be sent to Blueprint partners later this month.

New NCOA Issue Brief Released
NCOA’s Center for Healthy Aging has just released the latest in its series of best practice in physical activity programming issue briefs, Recruiting and Retaining Effective Instructors for Physical Activity Programs. Authored by experts Jessie Jones, PhD and Debra Rose, PhD, this issue brief offers guidelines for assessing the suitability of physical activity instructors, both in initial hiring and ongoing assessment. It also provides practical applications of the principles identified in the International Guidelines for Preparing Physical Activity Instructors of Older Adults, and utilizes illustrative examples from the best practice in physical activity programming sites.
To download a copy of Recruiting and Retaining Effective Instructors for Physical Activity Programs, please visit:
www.healthyagingprograms.org
Also from the office of the National Council on the Aging: please note the feedback form that can be found on the web pages above. Please take just a few minutes to complete this form. Your input regarding our publications and information is an important part of helping us help you!

Third National Prevention Summit
Secretary of Health and Human Services Mike Leavitt invites you to attend the 3rd National Prevention Summit to be held on October 24 and 25, 2005 in Washington, D.C. The Summit will focus on chronic disease prevention and health promotion and will feature innovative prevention programs that are making a difference in communities across the country. These programs are focused on healthy lifestyle choices, including eating a nutritious diet, being physically active, avoiding high-risk behaviors, and getting preventive screenings to prevent the major health burdens created by obesity, diabetes, asthma, cancer, heart disease, and stroke.
A special emphasis this year will be placed on health promotion and disease prevention for older Americans and on the use of health literacy and information technology to promote prevention. Registration is free. Early registration is recommended as space is limited. All participants must register to attend; there is no on-site registration. To register, visit:

Study on Cobblestone Walking Benefits
An Oregon Health & Science University study showed that when people over age 60 walked on cobblestones for just a half hour daily for four months, they significantly lowered their blood pressure and improved their balance. Researchers used synthetic mats that contained hard, flat replicas of stones in a random pattern. The study was recently published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.

Slide Show on Balance Exercises for Older Adults
Mayo Clinic

Exercising for a Healthy Heart Tutorial
Medline Plus:

Senior Softball is Gaining Popularity Among Boomers
abcnews.go.com

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The Blueprint Partners Project is an initiative of the Active Aging Partnership. For more information, contact the Blueprint Partnership Office at the University of Illinois Department of Kinesiology.
Web site: www.agingblueprint.org