Adults today are living much longer than previous generations, so how do we make the most of these extra years? Since 2018, The Oasis Institute has been engaging older adults in St. Louis, Indianapolis, and San Antonio through the Aging Mastery Program® (AMP), developed by the National Council on Aging. This 10-class program aims to help older adults take key steps to improve their overall well-being, add stability to their lives, and strengthen their involvement in the community. Participants are encouraged to create their personalized playbook for aging well through actionable goals, sustainable behaviors, and social engagement.
The program promotes mastery; participants design sustainable solutions for their everyday life that will lead to improved health, stronger financial security, enhanced well-being, and increased connectedness to their community. Individuals set their own goals and create their unique pathways to these goals, opening the door to creativity and self-reflection in the process. Upon completion of AMP, participants are encouraged to have a set of goals for positive actions in many aspects of their lives, including exercise, nutrition, finances, advance care planning, community engagement, and healthy relationships.
The Oasis Institute is preparing older adults like Mary Tate to live their later years to the fullest.
“Longevity is important to all of us, but to ensure quality of life, we must stay active and engaged,” says Mary.
Mary is among 51 Oasis participants in San Antonio designated as AMP “graduates,” having attended at least seven of the ten sessions. She rated all the sessions as very relevant and highly informative. Her fellow graduates also reviewed the program favorably, with 100 percent reporting improved health and a willingness to recommend the program to a friend. Many participants also indicated that they had made positive changes based on what they learned from the sessions, including starting exercise classes, updating estate plans and finances, and making more efforts to socialize.
Arthur Jackson attended the program with his wife Doris in San Antonio and said the experience was affirming and time well-spent:
“We really enjoyed the peer-to-peer interaction with classmates going through some of the same life changes we are.”
Another participant, Clay Rembert from Oasis Indianapolis, said
“This has been a fantastic program. I’ve learned a lot that I can implement into my daily routine.”
Dorothy Suther volunteers as an AMP facilitator and presenter at Indianapolis Oasis.
“One of the pleasures of leading a group is the opportunity to see the same people for 10 weeks and get to know them,” she says. “Attendees become comfortable with each other and participate freely, sharing their experiences.”
Since fall of 2018, 147 participants have completed the program in St. Louis, 208 in Indianapolis, and in San Antonio, 244 older adults. Overall, The Oasis Institute has reached nearly 600 older adults through our AMP program.
To register for an upcoming AMP class near you, please visit our spring catalogs at https://www.oasisnet.org/class-catalog.
This sounds like an amazing program due to the fact that it is important for older adults to stay connected with their community. Having older adults connected to the community is a great help for many age groups including young children, middle and older adults. As you get older you still need friends. Life is about making the best out of what you have and friends make life just that much more enjoyable.
Sierra, thank you for reading and for your comment. We are proud to participate in the AMP program and excited to see it expand into more communities. Oasis offers many Health and Wellness programs in addition to AMP, including Social Connectedness, Falls Prevention, Self-Management and Caregiving, all working towards the same goal of helping older adults live richer, fuller lives by staying healthy and socially connected.