Lifespace Aims for Successful Aging Through Masterpiece Living

As a fighter pilot, Cy Kirk survived World War II and the Korean war, and he is not about to let age get him down now.

“I’ve never smoked, I’ve exercised all my life,” says Kirk, a 94-year-old resident of Deerfield, a Lifespace community in Urbandale, Iowa. “I go to yoga three days a week. I’m in the exercise room every day for at least 40 minutes. I never miss a day.”

Kirk is a strong believer in the art and science of “successful aging,” and is a prime example of it.

Lifespace has formally embraced a successful aging strategy for residents in a program called Masterpiece Living, based on the landmark MacArthur Foundation Study on Aging, published in 1988.

The Masterpiece Living motto is “Live Long, Die Short.”

“It means you have a very productive life and then a very short time when you go West,” Kirk says.

The MacArthur study challenged the widespread belief that genes primarily determine how a person ages. The study found that only 30 percent of aging is due to genetics.

“What that means is 70 percent of how we age is in our control,” says Sara Hamm, vice president of successful aging and health services.

The study found that those who age successfully have strong social connections, are physically active, intellectually stimulated, and spiritually engaged, Hamm explains.

Partnership with Masterpiece Living

Lifespace partnered with the Florida-based Masterpiece Living as consultants to help measure how residents are aging and suggest ways they can improve, Hamm says. Pilot programs were launched last year at three Lifespace communities – Deerfield; Friendship Village of South Hills in Upper St. Clair, Pennsylvania; and Beacon Hill in Lombard, Illinois – and will be expanded to all nine communities this year.

Under the program, residents volunteer to participate in a yearly Masterpiece Living review. The review gauges residents’ social connections by asking them to name five people whom they could call for help in the middle of the night in the event of an emergency. There are also questions on diet and physical activity as well as assessment of mobility.

The data is provided to the resident and aggregated to give Lifespace a snapshot of how residents are aging and to compare that to national averages.

For Tweeza Gramley, another Deerfield resident, the review was helpful, pointing out that she needs to eat more fruits and vegetables.

“I’ve upped it,” she says. “I’m not 100 percent yet, but I’m sure I’m a lot better than I was before Masterpiece Living.”

Although Gramley takes water aerobics classes four times a week, the Masterpiece Living assessment said she needs even more exercise.

“I need to get up off my sofa and my recliner and do more,” she says.

So she started taking separate trips to the dining room and mail room instead of combining them. She has also purchased a Fitbit device that allows her to measure how many steps she walks each day.

She feels better now.

“It has improved my stamina, my energy level,” Gramley says.

Gramley’s mobility review uncovered that she had trouble balancing while standing on one foot, so she is practicing to improve on that.

The Masterpiece Living review results prompted Lifespace to begin offering more fruits and vegetables on the menus of some communities, along with fruit and vegetable-infused water, Hamm says.

Programs to improve flexibility and balance have also been added as a result of the reviews, she says.

Team members are also trained for their roles in a Masterpiece Living community.

“People have said they moved in here simply because of our partnership with Masterpiece Living,” says Deerfield Executive Director James Robinson. “It provides insight with metrics and narrative that can be used by the residents to improve choices to age successfully and by the community to improve programming to create a successful aging environment.”

Emphasis on Resilience

Out of 160 residents at Deerfield, 106 volunteered to participate in the confidential Masterpiece Living program, Robinson adds. Residents don’t want to experience “a long, unhealthy decline” at the end of their lives, Robinson says.

“They are trying to make the choices that will avoid that,” he says. “They believe in resilience, that if they do have a decline, it will be brief and they will recover from it.”

There are certain aspects of aging that are beyond a person’s control such as loss of hearing and sight, says Kirk, the former fighter pilot.

“You have to adjust, you can’t get down about that, you have to just keep moving forward,” he says.

It is important, however, to take advantage of the tools you can control to help age successfully, such as eating right, exercising, socializing with others and constantly learning, Kirk adds. He still plays golf and is now in his 80th year at the sport.

“Watching television will drive you crazy,” Kirk warns.

As a knitter and quilter, Gramley has to sit sometimes.

“The rest of the time, I’m out,” she says.

Both Gramley and Kirk cite having communal meals in the Deerfield dining room as a big plus in reducing isolation and loneliness, particularly when residents make the effort to change tables each day and meet new people.

“That’s been a big plus,” Kirk says. “My wife wanted that. That’s why we came here.”

At Deerfield, Masterpiece Living was a catalyst for a program that allows team members to share their interests and hobbies with residents, holding classes on cooking and jewelry-making.

“The idea is to foster a learning community, recognizing that intellectual activity is an important part of overall health,” Hamm says.

The bottom line is that retirement is a time for continued growth, not rocking chairs.

“We used to tell retired people to sit down and take it easy,” Hamm says. “That may be the worst thing for people to do at any age. Successful aging is about engagement – finding new things to learn, new food to enjoy, and new experiences to pursue.”

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