The University of Arizona received the ‘Age-Friendly University” designation, which is a global network of about 100 institutions. Through Innovations in Healthy Aging, a University of Arizona Health Sciences strategic initiative, the team holds different events and activities to promote healthy aging.
Kathie Insel, the director of Innovations in Healthy Aging, said the university is meeting the needs of the aging population in Tucson through programming. Insel and her teammate Annisa Wescott, the senior program manager for Innovations in Healthy Aging, spent the last three years working toward this designation.
“It’s really embracing those principles of making the university accessible for older adults,” she said.
The team organizes events like a poetry circle or Creative Encounters in Awe Walking, where the participants walk through a museum or the outdoors, looking at things that give them a sense of awe. One of the regulars in the group is Tim Musty.
During poetry circle, there is no prose left unexplored as each break down the poem line by line. Musty said these events allow him to explore new things in depth.
“Every time I come to one of these events I meet new people,” he said. “I’m keeping my mind active and meeting new people.”
They hold these events throughout the year across campus and the greater Tucson area. The calendar of events can be found here.