Distinctly Montana Magazine

77 w w w. d i s t i n c t l y m o n t a n a . c o m Benefis 2 full Your Life Expands with Every Year One in every four Montanans will be 65+ by 2030. We need our senior population to be as healthy and engaged as possible. The Benefis Goodnow Healthy Aging Center aims to address a nationwide care gap by bringing together geriatric specialists and services focused on supporting health maintenance through aging, promoting patients' continued independence. The dedicated 15,000-square-foot outpatient clinic will focus on these issues: • Nutrition • Medication management • Cognitive health • Mobility Commitment to healthy aging now will have a ripple effect across our region and beyond. For individuals, it's an opportunity to continue doing the things that give life meaning and joy. For communities, it will support seniors as they volunteer, lend their expertise in the workforce, help their families, recreate, and everything else for which we depend on seniors. To follow the project or invest in healthier aging in Montana, please visit Benefis.org/HealthyAging. A tradition of advanced care. Learn more at Benefis.org Trailblazing a New Future for Healthy Aging When semi-retired architect Steve L'Heureux was diagnosed with mild cognitive delay, which can be a precursor to Alzheimer's disease and dementia in general, he was taken aback — for about two hours. "Then I thought, 'OK, let's jump on that horse and ride,'" he said. "Let's find out what we can do." Steve's mother died from complications related to Alzheimer's when she was the age he is now. "She was so sharp. I watched her go, and it was so hard," he said. "I don't want that for my family." Steve's early diagnosis – thanks to prodding from his wife, Carol – and medical advancements likely mean aging will look different for Steve than it did a generation ago. "It's become obvious to me I have to take my health seriously," he said. As a member of the Benefis Foundation Board, Steve has become an advocate for the Goodnow Healthy Aging Center, now in development at Benefis Health System in Great Falls. "There are options that weren't there before. With the Healthy Aging Center, we'll have the ability to find out what's going on," he said. "We'll have the right people to help you get a diagnosis and how to deal with it. I don't feel condemned with this diagnosis. I feel energized." The biggest difference the center will make is increasing the quality of life for patients, Steve said, as the medical team will work with patients while they are still able to prevent and delay common issues of old age. "I don't know what's next, but it could be good. I don't feel like my diagnosis is a death sentence," he said. "Hell yeah, I'm nervous, but I have a lot of life to live."

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