Craig Gima
Hawai‘i Herald Columnist
We all know we need to take better care of our bodies to live a healthy life as we age. But do you know that your brain needs exercise and care too?
“There are six strategies that we can employ to help us live a smarter and more successful life as we get older, and it’s not too late for most of us to start taking better care of our brain,” says Sarah Lenz Lock, AARP’s vice president for policy and brain health. Lock leads AARP’s policy initiatives on brain health and care for people living with dementia. She’s also the executive director of the Global Council on Brain Health, an independent collaborative of scientists, doctors and policy experts convened by AARP to offer the best possible advice about what older adults can do to maintain and improve their brain health.
“It’s never too late to make a difference,” Lock says. “Better brain health enables people’s minds to flourish so they can lead more rewarding lives.”
Lock will be in Hawai‘i in August for a series of free, public, in-person workshops on O‘ahu, Maui and in Hilo to explain what the Global Council on Brain Health calls the six pillars of brain health: Be Social, Engage Your Brain, Manage Stress, Ongoing Exercise and Restorative Sleep.
“The first step is to be aware that there are things we can do to help your brain as you age,” Lock says.
The workshops will be in Hilo on Tuesday, Aug. 8 from 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at the Arc of Hilo, 1099 Waianuenue Ave.; Maui at the Kihei Community Center, 303 East Lipoa Street on Wednesday, Aug. 9 from 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.; and on O‘ahu at the Hawaii Okinawan Center on Friday, Aug. 11 from 9 a.m. to noon. Breakfast will be available at the O‘ahu event and lunch will be served on Maui and Hilo. The workshops are free. You don’t have to be an AARP member or of AARP age to attend. But you must pre-register to reserve a spot and get a meal. Go to aarp.org/HI or the AARP Hawai‘i Facebook page and look for the events tab to see and register for all of the events AARP is offering.
Lock will also speak at an AARP panel at the annual Generations Magazine Aging in Place workshop on Saturday, Aug. 12 at the Ala Moana Hotel.
She is also meeting with Hawai‘i brain health researchers and organizations to learn about what Hawai‘i scientists and groups are doing to promote brain health and to share findings from the Global Council on Brain Health’s recent report that found that brain health is influenced by factors such as income and financial security, housing conditions, environment, and access to nutritious food and exercise.
The report recommends governments and organizations work on driving awareness of brain health, create livable communities, which foster healthy aging, promote culturally appropriate cognitive screenings and reduce barriers to healthy behaviors.
Learn more at aarp.org/brainhealth or aarp.org/stayingsharp.
Craig Gima is the communications director at AARP Hawai‘i. He is an award-winning multimedia communicator with more than 30 years of experience. A Honolulu native, Gima spent nearly 19 years at the Honolulu Star-Advertiser in a variety of reporting, editing and online roles before joining AARP in 2016. Gima graduated cum laude from the University of Southern California.
