BU Research Blog

You are invited to a research seminar from a distinguished Professor visiting the UK from the US.

Please email Samuel Nyman (snyman@bournemouth.ac.uk) if you plan to attend to help with tracking numbers and to send you a calendar invitation.

Title: Fifty Years of Research into Exercise and Physical Activity for Older Adults
Abstract: For more than half a century researchers and practitioners have enthusiastically advocated for the promotion and adoption of physically active lifestyles as an affordable and effective means to prevent chronic diseases and conditions, and enhance independence and high quality of life for older adults. I have argued that it is possible to discern distinct evolutionary stages when examining scholarship related to the role of physical activity in the promotion of healthy aging. Research into physical activity and aging began with critical early studies that established the underlying scientific evidence for a relationship between physical activity and healthy aging. More recent work has addressed such topics as building consumer demand, developing policies and legislation to support active aging, and understanding the complex interrelationships between physical activity and other lifestyle factors in the prevention and treatment of chronic diseases and conditions. In my presentation, I will suggest that future research should move away from the promotion of physical activity in isolation, in favor of more complex public health initiatives in which physical activity is embedded as an integral component of a broader health promotion and disease prevention strategy.

Where and when:
Wednesday 22nd June
Bournemouth Gateway Building, room 307
12-1pm Presentation and Q&A
1-2pm Time for informal discussions

Biography
Wojtek Chodzko Zajko earned a bachelor’s degree in Education from the University of London and a Ph.D. degree in Kinesiology from Purdue University. Chodzko-Zajko’s primary research interests are in the area of aging and health. For many years he was the Head of the Department of Kinesiology and Community Health and the Shahid and Ann Carlson Khan Endowed Professor of Applied Health Sciences at the University of Illinois. For the past seven years, he has served as Dean of the Graduate College at the University of Illinois.

In his role as Dean of the Graduate College, Chodzko-Zajko leads campus efforts in setting policies, defining standards, and enabling excellence in graduate programs, graduate research, and graduate student life. With graduate programs in more than 100 disciplinary areas, the Graduate College at the University of Illinois fosters a vibrant campus community of scholars. Graduate students and faculty at Illinois enjoy an intellectual environment that reaches across the Arts, Sciences, Humanities, Social Sciences, and Engineering to create, challenge, and transform knowledge.

In his professional life, Chodzko Zajko remains active in the dissemination of information about healthy aging through his work on several major professional advisory boards. Chodzko Zajko research focuses on public policy and public health recommendations related to physical activity and healthy living. He served on the World Health Organization committee that developed the WHO Guidelines for Physical Activity among Older Persons. Chodzko-Zajko was the Principal Investigator for a series of projects charged with developing a national strategy for promoting healthy aging in the USA. The National Blueprint: Increasing Physical Activity among Adults Aged 50 and Older serves as a guide for multiple organizations, associations, and agencies, to inform and support their planning work related to increasing physical activity among America’s aging population. Chodzko-Zajko chaired the writing group that authored the American College of Sports Medicine’s Position Stand on Physical Activity and Exercise for Older Adults.

Chodzko-Zajko was the founding Editor of the Journal of Aging and Physical Activity from 1992-2002. He served as Chairman of the Board of Directors of the American Council on Exercise and is a Past-President of the American Kinesiology Association. He currently serves as President of the AAU Association of Graduate Schools and Chair of the ETS Graduate Education Advisory Council.