Is it better to look good or feel good?

Shoes modeled by famous palliative care researcher KS

I’m reviewing grants for the National Palliative Care Research Center in New York, and always on the lookout for blog material.  I can’t discuss any of the grants themselves, of course, but some interesting items came up at dinner tonight.

Now I love California, but New Yorkers do have a few things on the rest of the country – they walk everywhere, have great fashion sense, and are first to try the latest cool gadgets.

And perhaps there’s a lesson here somewhere here about mobility and older adults.

Take shoes.

Most of the shoes I’ve seen for older adults are utilitarian and plain. What if shoes for older adults were really fashionable – like those modeled by famous palliative care researcher K.S. in the photograph above?  Ooh la la!  Would older adults feel better about walking?

Fuel watch from RK’s son Tønne

And in this picture we have a cool watch gadget that tracks daily “fuel” expenditure toward a set goal. (This watch belongs to the son of RK from ACS).  Would older adults feel better about themselves if they had a cool watch giving them feedback?

by: Alex Smith