The concept of ‘Successful Aging’ has long intrigued the scientific community. Despite this long-standing interest, a consensus definition has proven to be a difficult task, due to the inherent challenge involved in defining such a complex, multi-dimensional phenomenon. The lack of a clear set of defining characteristics for the construct of successful aging has made comparison of findings across studies difficult and has limited advances in aging research. The domain in which consensus on markers of successful aging is furthest developed is the domain of physical functioning. For example, walking speed appears to be an excellent surrogate marker of overall health and predicts the maintenance of physical independence, a cornerstone of successful aging. The purpose of the present article is to provide an overview and discussion of specific health conditions, behavioral factors, and biological mechanisms that mark declining mobility and physical function and promising interventions to counter these effects. With life expectancy continuing to increase in the United States and developed countries throughout the world, there is an increasing public health focus on the maintenance of physical independence among all older adults.

No abstract

Smartphone and smartwatch technology is changing the transmission and monitoring landscape for patients and research participants to communicate their healthcare information in real time. Flexible, bidirectional and real-time control of communication allows development of a rich set of healthcare applications that can provide interactivity with the participant and adapt dynamically to their changing environment. Additionally, smartwatches have a variety of sensors suitable for collecting physical activity and location data. The combination of all these features makes it possible to transmit the collected data to a remote server, and thus, to monitor physical activity and potentially social activity in real time. As smartwatches exhibit high user acceptability and increasing popularity, they are ideal devices for monitoring activities for extended periods of time to investigate the physical activity patterns in free-living condition and their relationship with the seemingly random occurring illnesses, which have remained a challenge in the current literature. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to develop a smartwatch-based framework for real-time and online assessment and mobility monitoring (ROAMM). The proposed ROAMM framework will include a smartwatch application and server. The smartwatch application will be used to collect and preprocess data. The server will be used to store and retrieve data, remote monitor, and for other administrative purposes. With the integration of sensor-based and user-reported data collection, the ROAMM framework allows for data visualization and summary statistics in real-time.

The multifaceted intervention is the first to combine both active-assisted cycling and resistance training. The older adult and the older adult diagnosed with Parkinson's disease exhibited both tolerance and health-related improvements in physical fitness following the intervention.