Skip to main content

A Practical Guide to Senior Odyssey

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Enhancing Cognitive Fitness in Adults

Abstract

This chapter describes Senior Odyssey, a program of activity engagement which offers opportunities for intellectual challenge in a social context. Core elements include ill-defined problem-solving, team-based collaboration, competition, and play. We provide the history of the Senior Odyssey, a description of program logistics, and an overview of outcomes.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 84.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Chabris, C., & Simons, D. (2010). The invisible gorilla: And other ways our intuitions deceive us. New York: Crown.

    Google Scholar 

  • Christensen, K., Doblhammer, G., Rau, R., & Vaupel, J. W. (2009). Ageing populations: The challenges ahead. The Lancet, 374, 1196–1208.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hertzog, C., Kramer, A. F., Wilson, R. S., & Lindenberger, U. (2008). Enrichment effects on adult cognitive development: Can the functional capacity of older adults be preserved and enhanced? Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 9, 1–65.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hultsch, D. F., Hertzog, C., Small, B. J., & Dixon, R. A. (1999). Use it or lose it: Engaged lifestyle as a buffer of cognitive decline in aging? Psychology and Aging, 14, 245–263.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kinsellla, K., & He, W. (2009). International Population Reports, P95/09-1, An Aging World: 2008. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kramer, A. F., & Willis, S. L. (2002). Enhancing the cognitive vitality of older adults. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 11, 173–177.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Langer, E. (1997). The power of mindful learning. Boston, MA: Addison-Wesley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Li, S.-C. (2003). Biocultural orchestration of developmental plasticity across levels: The interplay of biology and culture in shaping the mind and behavior across the life span. Psychological Bulletin, 129, 171–194.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Parisi, J. M., Greene, J. C., Morrow, D. G., & Stine-Morrow, E. A. L. (2007). The Senior Odyssey: Participant experiences of a program of social and intellectual engagement. Activities, Adaptation, and Aging, 31, 31–49.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Parisi, J. M., Stine-Morrow, E. A. L., Noh, S. R., & Morrow, D. G. (2009). Predispositional engagement, activity engagement, and cognition among older adults. Aging, Neuropsychology, and Cognition, 16, 485–504.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Riley, M. W., & Riley, J. W., Jr. (1994). Age integration and the lives of older people. The Gerontologist, 34, 110–115.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Riley, M. W., & Riley, J. W., Jr. (2000). Age integration: Conceptual and historical background. The Gerontologist, 40, 266–270.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Schooler, C., & Mulatu, M. S. (2001). The reciprocal effects of leisure time activities and intellectual functioning in older people: A longitudinal analysis. Psychology and Aging, 16, 466–482.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Schooler, C., Mulatu, M. S., & Oates, G. (1999). The continuing effects of substantively complex work on the intellectual functioning of older workers. Psychology and Aging, 14, 483–506.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Schooler, C., Mulatu, M. S., & Oates, G. (2004). Occupational self-direction intellectual functioning, and self-directed orientation in older workers: Findings and implications for individuals and society. American Journal of Sociology, 110, 161–197.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stine-Morrow, E. A. L., & Basak, C. (2011). Cognitive interventions. In K. W. Schaie & S. L. Willis (Eds.), Handbook of the psychology of aging (7th ed.). New York: Elsevier (in press).

    Google Scholar 

  • Stine-Morrow, E. A. L., Parisi, J. M., Morrow, D. G., Greene, J. C., & Park, D. C. (2007). An engagement model of cognitive optimization through adulthood. Journal of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences, 62, 62–69.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stine-Morrow, E. A. L., Parisi, J. M., Morrow, D. G., & Park, D. C. (2008). The effects of an engaged lifestyle on cognitive vitality: A field experiment. Psychology and Aging, 23, 778–786.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Verghese, J., Lipton, R. B., Katz, M. J., Hall, C. B., Derby, C. A., Kuslansky, G., et al. (2003). Leisure activities and risk of dementia in the elderly. New England Journal of Medicine, 348, 2508–2516.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Willis, S. L. (2001). Methodological issues in behavioral intervention research with the elderly. In J. E. Birren & K. W. Schaie (Eds.), Handbook of the psychology of aging (5th ed., pp. 78–108). N.Y.: Academic Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Willis, S. L., Tennstedt, S. L., Marsiske, M., Ball, K., Elias, J., Koepke, K. M., et al. (2006). Long-term effects of cognitive training on everyday functional outcomes in older adults. JAMA, 296, 2805–2814.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

We are grateful for support from the National Institute on Aging (Grants R03 AG024551 and R01 AG029475). We also wish to thank Joanne Rompel and Sammy Micklus for their support in helping us develop the Senior version of their Odyssey; Donna Whitehill, MT Campbell, Jennifer Kapolnek, and all of the Illinois Senior Odyssey coaches for keeping the program running so smoothly; and Donna Whitehill for thoughtful comments on an earlier version. For updates on published reports and photos of Senior Odyssey events, go to http://www.seniorodyssey.org.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Elizabeth A. L. Stine-Morrow Ph.D. .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2011 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Stine-Morrow, E.A.L., Parisi, J.M. (2011). A Practical Guide to Senior Odyssey. In: Hartman-Stein, P., LaRue, A. (eds) Enhancing Cognitive Fitness in Adults. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-0636-6_9

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-0636-6_9

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4419-0635-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4419-0636-6

  • eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics