Teaching yoga to seniors: essential considerations to enhance safety and reduce risk in a uniquely vulnerable age group.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Seniors age 65 and older represent the fastest-growing sector of the population
and, like many Americans, are increasingly drawn to yoga. This presents both an extraordinary
opportunity and a serious challenge for yoga instructors who must be both a resource
and guardians of safety for this uniquely vulnerable group. A typical class of seniors
is likely to represent the most diverse mix of abilities of any age group. While some
may be exceedingly healthy, most fit the profile of the average older adult in America,
80% of whom have at least one chronic health condition and 50% of whom have at least
two. OBJECTIVES: This article discusses the Therapeutic Yoga for Seniors program,
offered since 2007 at Duke Integrative Medicine to fill a critical need to help yoga
instructors work safely and effectively with the increasing number of older adults
coming to yoga classes, and explores three areas that pose the greatest risk of compromise
to older adult students: sedentary lifestyle, cardiovascular disease, and osteoporosis.
To provide a skillful framework for teaching yoga to seniors, we have developed specific
Principles of Practice that integrate the knowledge gained from Western medicine with
yogic teachings.
Type
Journal articleSubject
AgedCoronary Artery Disease
Exercise
Female
Health Promotion
Health Status
Humans
Hypertension
Life Style
Male
Program Evaluation
Quality of Life
Safety
Self Care
United States
Vulnerable Populations
Yoga
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https://hdl.handle.net/10161/3303Published Version (Please cite this version)
10.1089/acm.2009.0501Publication Info
Krucoff, Carol; Carson, Kimberly; Peterson, Matthew; Shipp, Kathy; & Krucoff, Mitchell (2010). Teaching yoga to seniors: essential considerations to enhance safety and reduce risk
in a uniquely vulnerable age group. J Altern Complement Med, 16(8). pp. 899-905. 10.1089/acm.2009.0501. Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/10161/3303.This is constructed from limited available data and may be imprecise. To cite this
article, please review & use the official citation provided by the journal.
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Show full item recordScholars@Duke
Mitchell Wolfe Krucoff
Professor of Medicine
Matthew John Peterson
Adjunct Associate Professor in the Department of Medicine
Dr. Peterson's broad research interests are in aging and functional decline. He has
been an investigator on VA, NIH, and foundation funded clinical trials and clinical
demonstration projects that examined the effect of physical activity on the mobility
and function in older adults from both institutionalized and community dwelling populations.
Currently Dr. Peterson is a tenured Associate Professor in the University of North
Carolina Wilmington School of Nursing, where he teaches epidemiology, s
Kathy Marlane Shipp
Adjunct Associate Professor in the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery
Kathy M. Shipp, PT, MHS, PhD studied Sociology at Oberlin College and Physical Therapy
at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She received a Master in Health
Sciences degree in Biometry from Duke University School of Medicine and a PhD in Epidemiology
from the School of Public Health at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Currently, she is an Assistant Professor in the Division of Physical Therapy, Department
of Community and Family Medicine at Duke University Me
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