{"id":16789,"date":"2016-12-08T05:00:19","date_gmt":"2016-12-08T13:00:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.yardi.com\/blog\/?p=16789"},"modified":"2026-02-22T15:33:54","modified_gmt":"2026-02-22T23:33:54","slug":"young-at-heart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.yardi.com\/blog\/young-at-heart\/","title":{"rendered":"Young at Heart"},"content":{"rendered":"

Forget sitting on a bench feeding pigeons; these days older adults are ditching the breadcrumbs for senior-friendly playgrounds.<\/p>\n

We all know bodies at rest tend to stay at rest, and for older adults, physical activity can be particularly challenging. Fitness experts often counse\"shutterstock_328995869\"l that the exercise is whatever is comfortable and convenient.<\/p>\n

And what could be easier than a spending some time on the playground?<\/p>\n

That\u2019s certainly the notion behind senior citizen playgrounds. By putting the \u201cfun\u201d back in fitness, these next-generation playgrounds are designed to appeal to all ages.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese playgrounds allow us to promote healthy living in cities across the country,\u201d Humana President and CEO Bruce Broussard recently explained<\/a>. \u201cIt\u2019s important to us to make it easy for people to achieve their best health \u2013 kids and adults alike.\u201d<\/p>\n

Play Time<\/strong><\/p>\n

They\u2019re calling it the \u201cplayability\u201d movement: communities working to create safe spaces for families to have fun and stay active. In support of the cause, KaBOOM! has created the Playful City USA initiative with help from the Humana foundation.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are proud to partner with Humana to help give all children the childhood they deserve. We are confident that, together, we can help families make healthy, playful choices that build a new generation of \u2018Healthy People,’\u201d said Darell Hammond, CEO and Founder of KaBOOM! \u201cPlay matters \u2013 not just as an activity for children, but as a foundation for lifelong well-being and strong communities.\u201d<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s Get Physical<\/strong><\/p>\n

In Europe and Asia, playgrounds for senior citizens provide low-impact exercise equipment to help older adults safely raise their heart rate. These parks often include elliptical machines, static bikes and other body flexor equipment for enhanced balance and flexibility.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe wanted to break the myth of the old person coming to the park and just sitting while the grandkids play,\u201d says Paz Vidal Physical in a Public Radio International (PRI) video<\/a> about the play areas for older adults popping up around Spain, including 300 in Barcelona alone.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s very social,\u201d adds Vidal. \u201cThe parks help create family cohesion.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the US it\u2019s the multigenerational aspect that\u2019s sparked the KaBOOM!\/Humana partnership. By providing a space for all ages to mingle and exercise, these parks strengthen community connections and encourage cross-generation communication.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe playground in my neighborhood has really improved the quality of life for many people who live at Gateway Park,\u201d said Marcus French, a Gateway Park resident in Portland, Ore., where Humana and KaBOOM! teamed up on a playground in the fall of 2012. \u201cNow, everyone living at Gateway Park has a great place to gather together,\u201d French said.<\/p>\n

The Social Factor<\/strong><\/p>\n

For the seniors braving the swing set, the benefits go beyond physical. Isolation can be an easy trap for older adults. Coming to the playground allows them to forge friendships, make connections, and maybe even find love.<\/p>\n

\u201cLove in the elderly playground!\u201d laughs Vidal. \u201cNo, but at least they get together for dinner. They start to create links.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cStaying home is very boring,\u201d says 84-year-old Francesca Guerrera in the PRI video. \u201cYou never think of the good things.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI am not someone to stay at home. I get out a lot,\u201d she smiles as she waves goodbye to her playground pals.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Forget sitting on a bench feeding pigeons; these days older adults are ditching the breadcrumbs for senior-friendly playgrounds.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":103,"featured_media":16802,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_s2mail":"yes","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,2952],"tags":[678,1734,1417,1666,842],"class_list":["post-16789","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-senior-living","tag-health","tag-senior","tag-senior-care","tag-senior-citizens","tag-senior-living"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nYardi Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Forget sitting on a bench feeding pigeons; these days older adults are ditching the breadcrumbs for senior-friendly playgrounds.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Young at Heart\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Forget sitting on a bench feeding pigeons; these days older adults are ditching the breadcrumbs for senior-friendly playgrounds.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.yardi.com\/blog\/young-at-heart\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Yardi Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-12-08T13:00:19+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-02-22T23:33:54+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.yardi.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2016\/12\/shutterstock_328995869.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"667\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Cutright Elizabeth\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Cutright Elizabeth\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.yardi.com\/blog\/young-at-heart\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.yardi.com\/blog\/young-at-heart\/\",\"name\":\"Young at Heart - Yardi Corporate Blog\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.yardi.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.yardi.com\/blog\/young-at-heart\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.yardi.com\/blog\/young-at-heart\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.yardi.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2016\/12\/shutterstock_328995869.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-12-08T13:00:19+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-02-22T23:33:54+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.yardi.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/dba832121806bbec3d280d6cdde90b4d\"},\"description\":\"Forget sitting on a bench feeding pigeons; these days older adults are ditching the breadcrumbs for senior-friendly playgrounds.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.yardi.com\/blog\/young-at-heart\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.yardi.com\/blog\/young-at-heart\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.yardi.com\/blog\/young-at-heart\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.yardi.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2016\/12\/shutterstock_328995869.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.yardi.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2016\/12\/shutterstock_328995869.jpg\",\"width\":1000,\"height\":667},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.yardi.com\/blog\/young-at-heart\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.yardi.com\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Young at Heart\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.yardi.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.yardi.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Yardi Blog\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.yardi.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.yardi.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/dba832121806bbec3d280d6cdde90b4d\",\"name\":\"Cutright Elizabeth\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.yardi.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4016b5eabd512619820fc63946d01cd983acc211f98fbc559a890a5b4b27c559?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4016b5eabd512619820fc63946d01cd983acc211f98fbc559a890a5b4b27c559?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Cutright Elizabeth\"},\"description\":\"Elizabeth Cutright is an award-winning writer and editor with over 20 years of experience in journalism, publishing and online content creation. A film school grad with a law degree from the University of San Diego, outside of work Elizabeth can usually be found in the pool, on a hiking trail, or sampling Santa Barbara\u2019s latest vintage.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.yardi.com\/blog\/author\/elizabeth-cutright-2\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Yardi Blog","description":"Forget sitting on a bench feeding pigeons; these days older adults are ditching the breadcrumbs for senior-friendly playgrounds.","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Young at Heart","og_description":"Forget sitting on a bench feeding pigeons; these days older adults are ditching the breadcrumbs for senior-friendly playgrounds.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.yardi.com\/blog\/young-at-heart\/","og_site_name":"Yardi Blog","article_published_time":"2016-12-08T13:00:19+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-02-22T23:33:54+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1000,"height":667,"url":"https:\/\/www.yardi.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2016\/12\/shutterstock_328995869.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Cutright Elizabeth","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Cutright Elizabeth","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.yardi.com\/blog\/young-at-heart\/","url":"https:\/\/www.yardi.com\/blog\/young-at-heart\/","name":"Young at Heart - Yardi Corporate Blog","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.yardi.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.yardi.com\/blog\/young-at-heart\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.yardi.com\/blog\/young-at-heart\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.yardi.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2016\/12\/shutterstock_328995869.jpg","datePublished":"2016-12-08T13:00:19+00:00","dateModified":"2026-02-22T23:33:54+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.yardi.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/dba832121806bbec3d280d6cdde90b4d"},"description":"Forget sitting on a bench feeding pigeons; these days older adults are ditching the breadcrumbs for senior-friendly playgrounds.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.yardi.com\/blog\/young-at-heart\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.yardi.com\/blog\/young-at-heart\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.yardi.com\/blog\/young-at-heart\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.yardi.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2016\/12\/shutterstock_328995869.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.yardi.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2016\/12\/shutterstock_328995869.jpg","width":1000,"height":667},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.yardi.com\/blog\/young-at-heart\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.yardi.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Young at Heart"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.yardi.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.yardi.com\/blog\/","name":"Yardi Blog","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.yardi.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.yardi.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/dba832121806bbec3d280d6cdde90b4d","name":"Cutright Elizabeth","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.yardi.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4016b5eabd512619820fc63946d01cd983acc211f98fbc559a890a5b4b27c559?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4016b5eabd512619820fc63946d01cd983acc211f98fbc559a890a5b4b27c559?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Cutright Elizabeth"},"description":"Elizabeth Cutright is an award-winning writer and editor with over 20 years of experience in journalism, publishing and online content creation. A film school grad with a law degree from the University of San Diego, outside of work Elizabeth can usually be found in the pool, on a hiking trail, or sampling Santa Barbara\u2019s latest vintage.","url":"https:\/\/www.yardi.com\/blog\/author\/elizabeth-cutright-2\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.yardi.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2016\/12\/shutterstock_328995869.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.yardi.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16789","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.yardi.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.yardi.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yardi.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/103"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yardi.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16789"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.yardi.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16789\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16804,"href":"https:\/\/www.yardi.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16789\/revisions\/16804"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yardi.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16802"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.yardi.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16789"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yardi.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16789"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yardi.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16789"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}