A lot of “positive aging” is going on out there. Googling the term produced centers, nonprofits, business ventures, and publications, as well as some motivational stuff. Here’s a look at a few random sites:

In 2002, National-Louis University in Chicago instituted its Center for Positive Aging, which promotes continuing education, research, and community engagement. In 2006, the center launched the Lifelong Learning Institute and in 2007 began Project Second Act, a program to help women over 40 achieve economic success. (While the program made me envy those living in Chicago, the cloud pictures on many of the site’s pages, probably meant to be restful, kinda spooked me.)

The Taos Institute, a nonprofit organization composed of scholars and practitioners, offers an electronic newsletter called Positive Aging. The newsletter “brings to light resources—from scientific research on aging, gerontology practices, and daily life—that contribute to an appreciation of the aging process.” It is free for the downloading.

The third annual National Positive Aging Conference: Wave of the Future is planned for December 7-9 at Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, Florida. Experts in the field of aging will lead workshops, discussions, and experiential activities on the themes of life transitions, creativity, wellness, and community.

The Positive Aging Resource Center at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston provides resources to older adults and caregivers, health and social service professionals, and policymakers. It was established in 2002 to improve the quality of mental health care and service delivery for older adults. As an aside, the home page has a series of alternating quotes; I liked “In youth we learn, in age we understand” (Ebner Eschenbach) and “Years may wrinkle the skin, but to give up interest wrinkles the soul” (Douglas MacArthur).

The Tri-City Elder Coalition is an affiliation of more than 60 organizations—senior service providers, cultural and faith groups, hospitals, long-term care facilities, and businesses—in the Fremont, Newark, and Union City, California, area. Its Pathways to Positive Aging is a partnership between the coalition and the city of Fremont’s Human Services Department and works to provide programs, services, and opportunities for seniors there.

The Center for Positive Aging in Atlanta was founded in 1982 and in 2008 became an arm of Aging Services of Georgia. It offers help with finding quality providers of housing and care at home, which will become “local centers for positive aging in the communities they service.”

I also discovered Robert D. Hill, PhD, who is a professor in the Department of Educational Psychology at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City and has studied normal and pathological aging processes for more than three decades. In 2005, he wrote Positive Aging: A Guide for Mental Health Professionals and Consumers, and his 2008 book, The Seven Strategies for Positive Aging, describes a concrete approach for dealing with the challenges of growing old. His Web site is called Positive Aging. 

And finally (for now), the University of Michigan is forming a Program for Positive Aging, which proposes to become a regional and national leader in the field of geriatric mental health. It hopes to help reduce the impact of depression and other mental disorders in later life.