Star Bradbury
A former Florida licensed administrator and Executive Director for both an Assisted Living and Memory Care facility, Star has a broad understanding of the variety of options and choices families face. Her 18 years working with a nationally recognized Life Care Community (Oak Hammock at the University of Florida) allows her to share her expertise in this otherwise confusing and complex senior living option as well.
As the founder of Senior Living Strategies, and the author of Successfully Navigating Your Parents’ Senior Years, she regularly collaborates and consults with individuals and families from all walks of life as well as professionals in the legal, medical, financial, and long-term care insurance world.
Her passion is public speaking about aging successfully for seniors, solo seniors, and their families. As a lifelong dancer and arts advocate, Star also enjoys sharing how the arts can help with aging well!
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The Secret Of Successful Aging
How to Stay in Charge of Your Life for the Rest of Your Life
Having a flexible plan is the most important key to aging successfully. It is critical to be proactive before you need to make decisions that are uninformed and in a panic. As an Aging Life Care Specialist with 25 years’ experience in guiding seniors, Star will share her expertise with your registrants. Star is down to earth, humorous, and persuasive. In this lively program, she will help your audience to realize this important truth; the decisions made today will determine future success and continued independence!
The attendees will discover:
• The MOST important question to start with to age successfully
• Two principles that will guide you through the decades
• The Five Pillars of Aging Successfully
• What decisions and choices do I need to make now that will lead me to my goals later?
A Roadmap For SOLO Agers
How can I maintain my independence for the longest possible time?
Millions of solo agers find themselves facing the challenges that come with aging alone. Whether they have become single, chose to be single, never had children, or have children they cannot depend on, the challenges are real and can be daunting. This presentation focuses on the secrets of aging successfully with special emphasis on addressing what attendees can do now to be prepared as a solo ager. Attendees will walk away with a clear strategy, eager and prepared to act today so they can set themselves up to age successfully.
The attendees will discover:
• The MOST important question to start with!
• How to identify someone to be your personal health decision assistant…different than your Health Care Surrogate!
• What decisions and choices do I need to make now that will lead me to my goals later?
• Why having a short term and long-term plan is the best plan!
• Where is my social network the strongest?
How Do The Creative Arts Contribute To Your Health and Longevity?
Does dancing, listening to music, or journaling help my brain?
Research on the brain shows creative activities like writing, painting, music, and dancing engage multiple brain areas, including the prefrontal cortex, limbic regions, and more. Creativity isn’t confined to one region, it involves networks related to emotion, decision, and sensory processing. Studies such as the “English Longitudinal Study of Ageing and HUNT Study in Norway found that people regularly participating in creative or cultural activities had a lower mortality risk.
In fact, one study suggests that arts engagement may slow biological aging by about 4%, similar to the effect of physical activity! Attendees will be excited to learn how what they are already doing is helping their brains to age well…and be inspired to incorporate the arts, however known, into their lives in new ways!
The attendees will discover:
• How creative hobbies promote cognitive flexibility, reserve, and resilience.
• Only dance was associated with a significantly reduced risk of dementia, reducing the risk by about 76%, twice as much as reading! (A study in the New England Journal of Medicine)
• How listening to music, writing, and attending theater helps maintain mental agility in older adults!
• Journaling, writing poetry, or actual handwriting supports cognitive health, memory consolidation and improve mental health!
• Painting and other artistic activities can stimulate the brain, reduce stress, and improve cognitive function
• Research published in the British Journal of Psychiatry found that visiting museums and galleries is associated with a lower risk of developing dementia.
Do Acts Of Generosity And Paying It Forward Increase Your Physical & Mental Health?
What is the legacy you want for yourself?
Most people do not even realize that the volunteer work they do every week…simply helping others…. can lower their blood pressure and is associated with longer lifespans! According to the latest research, acts of kindness or generosity can add to your mental well-being and cognitive resilience. Listening to the latest research on this topic may inspire attendees to volunteer more or organize an outreach project. Making a difference to someone else, be it strangers or friends and family, actually benefits you in many ways. Generosity has its perks!
The attendees will discover:
• Generosity boosts happiness and reduces depressive symptoms
• It also enhances self-esteem and provides a sense of purpose
• Greatly contributes to feelings of belonging
• Reduces stress hormones and improves cardiovascular health
• Acts of kindness trigger the brains reward system releasing dopamine and endorphins
• Research shows that those older adults how regularly volunteer in their community are more relaxes, feel happier and are more energized.