Active senior living is all about moving naturally, keeping a positive outlook, eating wisely, and being connected with others as you age. Community living helps you achieve these goals and enhance your overall well-being by putting the resources to maintain your health and fuel your passions within easy reach.
Let’s look at some benefits you can experience with independent living for active seniors.
1. Access to Amenities and Services
Convenience is one of the greatest benefits of senior living. Each community is built to provide the amenities and services you need for a healthy, fulfilling life.
Daily convenience starts with on-site services located just a few steps outside your front door. Depending on the community, these can include a salon and barbershop, on-site banking, and a general store. The WesleyLife Community for Healthy Living concierge desk is also just a phone call away, ready to answer questions and provide the information you need.
In addition to these services, community living provides amenities and gathering spaces perfect for exercising, relaxing, and catching up with old and new friends. Look for independent living for active seniors that can provide on-site amenities such as outdoor courtyards, a fire pit, a movie theater, a game room, indoor social seating areas, a swimming pool, or athletic courts.
2. Physical Fitness and Well-Being
When you’re looking to maintain physical health as you age, active senior living provides convenient access to the resources you need. For instance, on-site medical services such physical therapists are available so you don’t need to drive to appointments.
The community fitness center is just outside your front door, and it’s stocked with equipment and staffed with trainers who can help you achieve and maintain your goals for physical well-being. For days when you want to practice yoga or Jazzercise with friends, group fitness classes feature regularly on the community calendar. Prefer to work out on a court? Tennis, pickleball, and basketball games can spark your competitive spirit, and neighbors are conveniently on hand to play doubles or a pick-up game.
If organized well-being programming isn’t for you, then the community’s walkable areas are filled with safe, level trails you can follow to your own adventure. For pet lovers, on-campus dog parks are a perfect place to meet with fellow dog owners, stretch your legs, and let your pooch get out the zoomies.
3. Nutritious Dining
Choosing nutritious foods to nourish your body as you age can help prevent long-term health issues such as high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease, and hypertension. A key benefit of community living is the fresh and varied food options tailored to the nutritional needs of older adults.
Independent living includes kitchens in each unit, but you can choose to cook as much or as little as you want. The convenience of on-site dining choices — from casual bistros to date-night restaurants to take-out options — means you can step out for a bite without leaving the community. Additionally, WesleyLife emphasizes fresh food options and farm-to-table greens, such as those grown at our own Prairie Meadows Hydroponic Farm.
4. Social Engagement
The U.S. Surgeon General declared loneliness a national health crisis. Building robust social connections as you age can prevent loneliness and help you maintain mental and physical health. Active senior living provides a rich variety of social opportunities, from organized events to casual meet-ups.
Game nights aren’t just for classic favorites like bingo and bridge. Board game events occur regularly, and casino nights feature poker and blackjack. If gaming isn’t your scene, you might prefer to join a singing group, show up for community movie night with your friends, or sip a glass of chardonnay at a Wine at Five evening event.
Take a peek at one of WesleyLife’s sample programming calendars to discover the full variety of social opportunities you can enjoy when you choose independent living for active seniors.
5. Cultural and Recreational Programming
Community living means you’ll live alongside people from all walks of life and connect with diverse neighbors.
If faith is an integral part of your life, you can participate in on-campus worship ceremonies, Bible studies, and other small-group discussion opportunities. WesleyLife Communities for Healthy Living prioritize inclusion, and we love celebrating our residents and their identities through diversity and inclusion-related programming and observances, including Black History Month and Pride Month.
Are you looking for recreational opportunities that will inspire you? How about joining a gardening group to grow food that feeds your neighbors? At Hearthstone, a WesleyLife Community for Healthy Living in Pella, a group of residents who enjoy gardening chose to grow fresh food in raised beds on campus. The culinary team cooks and serves these homegrown vegetables to residents and team members!
6. Intellectual Stimulation and Lifelong Learning
Curiosity and lifelong learning are cornerstones to maintaining long-term cognitive well-being. An active senior living community opens the door to plenty of neighbors who are ready to join you at a book club meeting to discuss the latest bestseller, attend an on-site lecture given by a visiting expert, or hop onto community-provided transportation to tour a local museum.
At WesleyLife Communities for Healthy Living, you can join regular meetups to socialize and dive into interesting conversations during the Men’s Early Morning Chat and World Topics Discussion. And when you’re in the mood to listen instead of talk, the calendar includes live entertainment opportunities such as comedians, musicians, karaoke, and more.
7. Opportunities for Volunteerism and Giving Back
Active senior living helps you build relationships by providing numerous convenient opportunities to serve alongside your friends and fellow residents.
You can choose community-sponsored volunteer opportunities based on your talents and passions, and even use the skills you’ve developed during your career to help others. Embrace on-campus opportunities by joining community boards and leading community groups. Engage in off-campus service with community-sponsored events, such as delivering Meals on Wheels to nearby neighborhoods.
When you’re inspired to action by current events, your neighbors are on hand to help you make a real impact. For instance, at Edgewater, a WesleyLife community in West Des Moines, the residents raised $20,000 in two days for a Hurricane Dorian relief fund.
8. A Sense of Community and Belonging
Every amenity, service, and benefit we’ve discussed builds into a sense of community and belonging you experience when you choose senior living. Your independent living apartment provides all the privacy you want or need, but in those moments when you crave connection with others, it’s right outside your front door.
The team members and residents in the community can be more than just neighbors; they can be lifelong friends. In active senior living, you build long-term relationships by playing together, pursuing well-being together, supporting and encouraging each other, and showing up for each other during major life events.
Active Senior Living Opportunities with WesleyLife
Are you wondering which WesleyLife Community for Healthy Living can help you achieve your goals during the next phase of life? Our Senior Living Community Assessment can provide insights into the type of housing and home features available, the amenities that will fuel your passions, and the amount of assistance you might need.
