“Health and Wellness” means much more than heart healthy menus and eating right. To the latest generation of seniors, health and wellness is a conscious choice to have a healthier lifestyle.

“What the majority of older Americans are seeking by adhering to a lifestyle based on health and wellness is to live life to the fullest-to look fit, feel energetic, interact with family and friends, slow the aging process, relieve pain, and generally feel good well into their elder years,” said Cindy Lauer, M.S., R.D. and national director of nutrition services for Sodexho USA’s Senior Services Division.

According to Sodexho Senior Services, the nation’s leading provider of food and facilities management to retirement communities, there are eight lifestyle attributes necessary for seniors to achieve an optimal quality of life and enjoy living to the fullest.

Sodexho’s eight components of Wellness are:

• Nutritional-a balanced diet that provides energy and vitality

• Physical-a focus on the health, welfare, and integrity of the body

• Spiritual-the vital and animating force that governs thoughts, actions and emotions

• Intellectual-a unique way of perceiving things so that a solution to a challenge is more evident

• Social-personal skills that affect relationships between individuals, society and nature

• Safety-a feeling of safety, security, and a sense of being free from danger

• Environmental-the physical, emotional, and psychological circumstances and influences that surrounds people

• Community-a group of people who have a common cultural and historical heritage and live within the same area

HealthAbility, Sodexho’s newest health and wellness initiative, incorporates these eight simple elements into a holistic programmatic approach to providing service to the communities they serve.

“HealthAbility promotes an improved feeling of well-being through a variety of dining options and activities, all designed to foster socialization, independence and health,” added Lauer. This program is just one way Sodexho Senior Services is working to ensure seniors enjoy an active, stimulating, and comfortable future.