Active Aging: The Opportunities Abound

Welcome to the Living to 100 Club Podcast. Here's our host, Dr. Joseph Casciani.

Well, good day to everyone. I'm Joe Casciani, your host for the Living to 100 Club Podcast. Our conversations are all about aging well and doing what it takes mentally and physically to live longer and healthier. Our guests share insights and recommendations about successful aging, stories of perseverance, and inspiration about our future. Today's program explores the many opportunities to stay active in our senior years. Our guest, Richard Ashworth, discusses one of the leading programs that is available, SilverSneakers, and the new joint offering with Apple Fitness Plus. What is SilverSneakers? What does the affiliation with Apple Fitness mean for its members? And how is technology impacting the healthcare space for older Americans? Join us as we talk with our guests about healthy life-changing solutions and learn what opportunities are available for the senior population to stay active. First, just a little background. Richard Ashworth is President and CEO at Tivity Health. A leading provider of healthy, life-changing solutions with flagship brands including SilverSneakers, the nation's leading fitness program for older adults, along with Prime Fitness and Whole Health Living. Richard, welcome to our program.

Well, Joe, thanks for having me.

Great, great. Glad to have you with us. I'm looking forward to our conversation. I always like to open by asking our guests to tell us a little bit about the journey that brought you to where you are today.

I don't think your podcast is long enough for that, but I'll be brief.

Highlights, okay.

Yeah, highlights will work. You know, as a young guy, I got a job at Walgreens when I was in high school and kind of fell in love with pharmacy, seeing what the pharmacist did for the community as a local, accessible, kind of free in many regards in terms of at least having a discussion healthcare provider. Just fell in love with that and went to pharmacy school. I stayed at Walgreens for 30 years and almost every role you could have. And then I've been at Tivity Health now, which, which has the Silver Sneakers brand, for a little bit over 2 years. I came here right as the pandemic was really kind of, uh, kind of kicking off. And, you know, healthcare, helping people age, you know, is, has been a passion of mine since I was a young guy. And that's why I'm on the podcast with you today.

Yeah. So I'm curious about the Silver Sneakers program. Um, I've heard of it, I don't know a lot about it, but, um, who's it for? How do you become a member? And What are the benefits?

Yeah, so it's, um, it's really an active fitness benefit for people over the age of 65 who qualify for Medicare. In there, we have 22,000 fitness locations all across the country that individuals and members can go to at no out-of-pocket cost to themselves. So they get to go to the gym kind of for free. We have a significant amount of online classes as well that people can go to. We have on-demand workouts. It's really, we're kind of the expert in senior fitness. So we're very focused on types of classes and types of experiences for all walks of life. So whether you're running marathons at 75 or you're having difficulty getting out of a chair, we've got a class for you. And we're continuing to innovate on that. The other thing that Silver Sneakers does is it really helps with social connection and mental enrichment. We have classes for those as well, and we can connect people together A lot of working out is actually very social, right? We can do that together. We can pickleball, we can swim together, or we can even just use Nautilus equipment together. But we've been doing this for over 30 years now. The Silver Sneakers brand has been around for a very long time, and it's offered through over 70 Medicare Advantage plans nationwide.

So only available to Advantage members, not traditional Medicare?

So fee-for-service or traditional Medicare does not offer any fitness benefits. Many MedSupps plans do, and we have a significant amount of Medicare supplement business, but the majority of it is Medicare Advantage plans.

Advantage plans. Sure. Okay. So 22,000 locations around the US. That's a lot. That's a lot. And both online and in-person classes you offer. Yeah. I'm sure people were eager to stay connected during the pandemic, of course, because of the quarantine and isolation and kind of longing for more contact, but, uh, just advised to avoid it. So did your class enrollment drop, or did it increase, or did you see any difference?

Yeah, we saw a massive difference. So, you know, from, call it, you know, April, May of '20, all the way through till almost January of '21, when then Omicron started to kind of come in, the majority of our network locations you know, all the gym loca— brands that you know of, well, they were all closed. And then when they did begin to reopen, there were a lot of restrictions, right? Have to stay certain far apart, have to wear a mask, can only go during certain times of the day. And then, and you know this, Joe, this is one of our passions, but, you know, the COVID was disproportionately affecting the elderly, right? Folks that are of age, it was, it was more difficult for them. And so that's where our online business just exploded. So online, we have some amazing trainers with awesome personalities and just great workouts. And it exploded. We went from zero online classes pre-pandemic to millions of visits a year. So it's significant. One of the things that we really, really appreciate about our population is their adaptability. You know, we hear all the time, well, seniors don't like technology and they, you know, they're not good at it. That's not true. They're fantastic at technology, especially once they just get a little time to kind of understand it. If the routines are really strong. So In the end, what's happened now is people can go to the gym, and we have up to 22,000 locations. They can go online on SilverSneakers Live. They can do pre-recorded classes if they choose. And now with our launching of, um, of Apple Fitness Plus for, for our Medicare members, it's a whole nother avenue for them to engage in physical, um, activity. Wow.

Yeah, I had the same experience with telehealth when I was working as a psychologist. A few years ago, we started doing telehealth, and people would say, no, seniors, you know, they're in another location, they don't know how to use the monitors or turn it on or connect. And well, I found just the opposite. They were just so eager to connect, and they were right there on the, you know, on the camera and very comfortable with it, very comfortable with it. So I'm not surprised to hear that. Yeah, I always I wonder, Richard, about those folks that might need this service or offering but are unable to access it. Do you have any way to reach out to people that cannot connect or don't know how or don't have the equipment?

Yeah, we do have some ways that we can help. A lot of Medicare Advantage plans actually help their members get access to the internet because a lot of the services, the supplemental benefits plus the actual telehealth itself, whether it be mental health like you mentioned, which I think is an awesome avenue for telehealth opportunity. There is still something very powerful about eyeball to eyeball and person to person. And for different types of experiences, I think telehealth is great. And so Medicare Advantage plans do help a lot with members to get access. A lot of Medicare Advantage members also have transportation benefits that help them go to and from places as well. So a lot of times people just don't really know everything they have access to. It's a lot actually. When you become a Medicare Advantage member, you're like, you get your enrollment packet and it's so overwhelming. Oh, sure. And I can't even remember which benefits I have or don't have. And so we can be helpful in that regard as well.

Mm-hmm. Yeah. And I don't recall you saying it's no cost to the members?

That's correct. No cost.

It's included if you're a part of that plan. Wow. That's huge. That's huge. And now you, You mentioned the connection with Apple Fitness, Apple Fitness Plus. Tell us about that. What is that all about?

Well, we're really excited about this one. You know, when we announced it, you know, a lot of the members that are in our plans now, you know, are able to get access starting in January to it. And Apple Fitness Plus is typical Apple, right? Like, really well done, high-end production quality, really focused on brand experience. And it's a wellness service that is like a studio-style workout. They do it— they focus a lot on mental, on meditation, inclusivity, and accessibility for anyone and everyone from all walks of life, no matter where you are. Thousands of workouts, thousands of meditations. And so our members that are participating in health plans can activate their subscription right on their iPhone, and they don't pay anything for it. So they get Apple Fitness Plus at no additional cost as part of their Silver Sneakers benefit. And we're, we're really excited about the experience that the Apple Fitness brings.

Yeah, Apple does some good, good products, good services. Obviously, they're probably the biggest in the world, so I'm not surprised to hear that the, um, the offerings are going to be especially suited for this population. I mean, the studio-style workout sounds great. So do people go back and forth between SilverSneaker programs and Apple programs? It's a different link or a different channel?

So it is a different kind of avenue to get there. But what's interesting about these offerings, I think, are, is that we're putting the control in the member's hands. So it's in the individual. So I'm in Chicago today. It snowed all day long. My kids are out, you know, playing in the backyard now. You know what, I might not feel comfortable driving in the snow today to go to the gym, so I'll do an Apple Fitness workout this morning, or I'll do some meditation tonight. Tomorrow it doesn't snow, the sun came out, everything melted, I'll run down to Anytime Fitness to get my workout in, or Lifetime, and come home. We're putting the control for them. And Silver Sneakers Live is live, so it's like this, like what we're doing right now, right? Um, Apple Fitness Plus is, is a different way to consume the experience of working out and being physical. It's connected to your watch. You can put it on your TV. Some people like that. Some people like live. Some people like going to the gym. Our job is just to help you on your path to better health, however it is that you need to get there. And I think the more choices we provide for people, the more people will get to engage in physical activity, which we know all the benefits of, like clearly for longevity, for quality, for sleeping, for social relationships, for ego, for everything, right? We just know how much, how powerful physical activity, right?

And, um, Apple is only online, or do they have any live, uh, sites? Location?

All, all online, all through their Apple Fitness Plus, uh, program.

Yeah, that's, that's really some great combination. I, you know, I, I could see where people might feel a little overwhelmed with the, you you know, how broad this selection process is and any help narrowing it down or people just have to kind of find their way through it?

Well, I think in terms of picking their Medicare Advantage plan, like which plans have Silver Sneakers or you mean the—

No, which program, which class, which session? Yeah.

Yeah. You know, they actually do a really good job on that, Joe, to be honest. It's like, you know, for our, for Silver Sneakers Live, if you say I want 10 minutes or 30 minutes, I want high intensity, I want low intensity, I want weight, I want cardio. So we have really simple navigation tools to help you kind of find what you want. For Apple, you know, again, typical Apple, I mean, the majority of people who are Apple users, which is, you know, 50, 60% of the population, they have an Apple TV probably, they project stuff on their TV already, they're FaceTiming with family. So there's a lot of things already doing. And so if you have your iPhone, your iPad, your MacBook, whatever, it's all, kind of a built-in environment that's pretty easy to use. What we're seeing is that the majority of our members have smartphones and they're used to using that smartphone in very smart ways, just in the way they live their life. You know, I was actually talking to a member this week. I was on a plane and I wear SilverSneakers hat, you know, everything, right? All the time. Like, hey, I'm a member of SilverSneakers, you know, and was talking about how they were— they've done one of our live classes. And just how it was so easy to project onto the TV, you know, and they're an Apple user. And so I explained that they had Apple Fitness Plus. They didn't know that yet, and so they're really excited because they actually do that now and they pay for it. And so now, because of their Medicare Advantage plan and SilverSneakers, they don't have to in the future. Really, really an interesting opportunity for them, I think.

Now, who are your competitors, Richard? Um, yeah, obviously a lot of independent small studio physical fitness experts. I just came back from a conference in Florida where they had half of the attendees were, you know, part of their fitness programs and all mostly running their own show. So are they your competitors, or—

Most of those you mentioned are pretty complementary, actually. So, you know, we have a whole, a whole business called Whole Health Living, and in there we offer programs for acupuncture, for acute therapeutic massage, for PT, for OT, you know, so there's chiropractic care, there's a lot of that. I'm a pharmacist, like I said, but I really love it when people can not need medicinal or surgical needs to handle pain. And that's why the whole health living business is so important to us. But there's a natural connection between the fitness side of things and the musculoskeletal side of things, right? So either you're coming out of having an event, a fall or some, you know, activity problem,, or you're going into having a problem, the physical fitness side can really help. A lot of what you mentioned, like boutiques in the local towns where people live, a lot of them are SilverSneakers, part of that 22,000 gym network.

Oh, sure.

Yeah, and we allow them to be in there. We do have typical competitors, you know, there are a couple of other companies that try and do what SilverSneakers does, which is, you know, provide access for, um, some Medicare Advantage members to use clubs, but the actual clubs themselves are more partners I see.

Sure. Yeah. Is it available only on iPhones or Apple products, or, uh, Android, Samsung, can they access these?

Yeah, so for, for Apple Fitness Plus, they just made an announcement now where they're actually expanding access to Fitness Plus. So if you just have an iPhone but you don't have an Apple Watch, you can actually use Apple Fitness Plus. So it's accessible on iPhone, it's accessible on iPad or Apple TV, or it can be streamed with AirPlay onto any third-party TV. But what you had said, on an Android device, it is not available.

Not available, sure, sure. Okay, yeah, well, just the same, you've got plenty of people out there with this kind of device to access this information. I wonder what the, um, medical community can support and make referrals, I guess, you know, orthopedists and, you know, people coming out of a rehab hospital or whatever. Do they make a lot of referrals to you, to the programs?

Yeah, interesting you say that. So there's a lot of conversation with providers. So physicians, nurse, discharge nurses, and centers like that. Is definitely a part of what we do. There's a lot of new providers in the market that are kind of at-risk Medicare providers. And in those, they actually will prescribe SilverSneakers right out like a prescription and give it to the member. And then they come to us and we can help find the gym, we can help find the right working out for them. Look, this is not, you know, Peloton, right? This is not where it's high intensity and it's all about Hollywood muscles and, No, it's really about health. And so there is science to helping people over the age of 65 engage in health, physical activity the right way. So for many of us, we just, they haven't worked out in a very long time and they want to get back into it. Well, you can't start doing a bunch of crazy things on day one. You're going to hurt yourself or you're going to, you know, you're going to burn out. And so that's a big part of what we, what we focus on.

Yeah. Yeah. Well, that's good to hear. The healthcare provider community then can make referrals. And, you know, coordinate with you or with the location in terms of what their patients might need. Yeah, interesting. Yeah, it sounds like a, a really important program resource for seniors because I talk about, you know, healthy aging and longevity all the time. And, you know, what are the ingredients? And we know physical fitness and exercise and, you know, strength training and all that, essential. Uh, tell us about Activity Health, uh, do you have other, other programs? Prime Fitness, Whole Health Living, what are they?

Yeah, so that Whole Health Living is that musculoskeletal business I just talked about. Okay, that's got thousands of network providers all across the country. That is a network of acupuncture, chiropractic, therapeutic massage, PT, and OT. Um, it's a growing part of our business. It's, uh, becoming a bigger part of healthcare. And then we have Prime Fitness, which is essentially a fitness business that allows employees— so employers can partner with us to make gym access available to their employees, and therefore at a, you know, at a discount for them to be able to go to the gym less expensive than if they just paid kind of on their own. And, you know, our gym partners like this because we bring a lot more people to come to the gym than maybe what they would ordinarily get. The employers like this because they want their employees to engage in this healthier activity because a lot of them are funding their insurance and helping them with their healthcare costs. And they know that going to the gym and being healthy and active is going to be helpful in that regard. And of course, the employees like it because they get a discount, but then also we're helping motivate them to engage in health and wellbeing. And there's one other element to this, which is, you know, for working age adults, call it my age, you know, in your upper 40s, early 50s, you know, you still got 10, 15 years left in the workforce, maybe a little longer. And if we're using Prime as our kind of like, fitness benefit when we turn into Medicare will probably be a silver. Sure.

Yeah, it's hard to start in our 70s or 80s, right? I mean, it's all about planning and prevention. So is Tivity a Medicare Advantage plan?

No, sir. So we are just a— we're just a healthcare services provider. So we partner with Medicare Advantage plans and Medicare supplement plans, and we also partner with commercial health plans on the employer side. So none of our— we do no insurance ourselves. We just do the network access and the providing of physical activity.

Uh, okay, okay. Kind of a broker of sorts, does that sound right?

Yeah, broker is kind of a defined term in the healthcare space, right? We're not technically brokers, like we don't direct people to certain plans. Uh, we communicate and we try and help people pick plans that's good for them, but really getting them in touch with brokers What we really are is a service provider.

Okay, okay. So can anyone access Tivity Health, or is it regional, or—

It's, it's national. It's a good question. It's national. We're in all 50 states. And the way that you access the Silver Sneakers program is you can go to silversneakers.com and see if you're eligible. Um, you can, you can go right in, put in your name, your date of birth, and everything, and you can see if you have eligibility. So Silver Sneakers pretty straightforward. And then if you're with a Medicare Advantage plan, they can communicate and let you know if you have SilverSneakers. But the way that you get access, you can't buy it, so you can't come off the street and give us money for it. We don't do that. We only work in partnership with Medicare Advantage plans to offer the program and help people that way.

I see, I see. Okay, and of course it's important to encourage people to take advantage of plans, obviously, and to reach out, as I was asking earlier, for those that may not be, and to reconnect with those people. And kind of, I call it a gentle nudge to, you know, start doing something. It's not a big plan, it's a small step, right? It's doing something different tomorrow than I was doing today. And looking at, um, you know, running a marathon in 6 months, it's— that's not the game. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Any, um, any closing thoughts here, Richard? Any, uh, takeaways for our listeners? What, what would you encourage encourage them to think about?

Well, I know a lot of our listeners, a lot of your listeners are wanting in their minds and in their hearts to be healthier. I know that because the number one person that is keeping you from being your best self is you. So you are your own enemy. And going to the gym or taking a walk or meet— having coffee with a friend or checking in on your children or whatever it might be. And as America continues to age, you know, the vitality and the quality of our life is directly dependent on your physical activity capabilities. I mean, we saw this with COVID People are healthier and stronger, you know, they fare better. And a lot of the data is starting to come out now that really, really kind of shows that. Our programs can keep you moving all the way through. You'll be independent longer. You'll have more, you know, joy. You know, you'll be able to do the things that you enjoy longer. And socially, we can really help. We really can. It's a tribe. It's fun. I mean, and everybody is— the story and the history that our members have are— they're entertaining, but they're also enlightening and inspiring.

Sure.

And just being around people like that gives you a reason to kind of get up in the morning. We have one group that is part of our social network, and I'm an Alabama Crimson Tide fan. It's a tough year for us, but anyway. And there is a group that talks about Alabama football on Fridays before the games on Saturdays. And it sounds like a small thing, right? But we have people who lost their spouse recently and they like Alabama football, but they don't really have a friend network. They've been working their tails off their whole life. And most of their friend network was because their wife made it happen all the time. And so these guys are kind of alone. And now what they're doing is they're going on ESPN on Thursday nights, they're doing their research, they're understanding what's happening, they're listening to things, and then they get with a bunch of guys on Friday and talk football. And then all of them are watching the game. Right? And then what do they talk about next week? I know it sounds small, but it's big. It's giving a reason to get up in the morning. It's a reason to engage with other people. I just tell people to take that first step. It's kind of what you were saying, Joe. And Silver Sneakers is a great way for you to get started.

Yeah, yeah, I agree 100% there, Richard. I, you know, I talk when I speak to retirement community senior organizations, I, I talk about starting new chapters and whatever. If, you know, there's a fall and a hip fracture or stroke or a loss of a spouse, or there's always going to be some bump or pothole or, you know, major hurdle to get over. And it's so much about our attitude and our willingness to open new doors and start a new chapter. So yeah, that's good. I, I applaud you for the work and keeping people engaged. You mentioned Keep It Moving. That was the title of a book by Twyla Tharp, if you know. She's a choreographer in New York. She's in her 80s. And she's still teaching dance and choreography. And her last book is called Keep It Moving. So it's a great book on how to stay active in our seniors. And her, what I call her, you know, the favorite phrase is successful agent is all about nonstop engagement, right? So that's always, you know, having some goal. What am I going to do today? What's going to put a smile on my face? What do I think about before I put my feet on the floor? And all of that.

So love it.

Yeah, good information. Great, great. Yeah. Well, uh, we are out of time, but, um, before we wrap up, Richard, I just want to remind our listeners to visit my website, livingto100.club, and sign up for my email list and download a free copy of my 9 Tips to Make Living Longer Enjoyable. While you're there, be sure to peruse our library of blogs and podcasts. Also, you'll find my email address and an option to set up a brief call. I'd love to hear your thoughts on this episode and know what you're thinking. And finally, if you're interested, reach out to me to schedule a presentation for your group in person or online. I think there's value in helping older adults feel inspired about their future. Richard, thanks so much for being a guest on our show today. For those who might want to contact you, how can they do that?

Um, yeah, they can just go straight to silverseekers.com. Actually, that's where all of our activity is. And then, um, you know, we're, we're available 24/7. We never close.

Great. Okay, well, thanks again for being a guest on our program, and thanks to everyone for tuning in. I hope to see you next time. Thanks, Joe.

Hey everybody, Jared Sebaste here, host of Retire Repurposed. This podcast is dedicated to help people transition into fulfilling and purposeful retirements. Retirement is a big life change. In fact, the two most dangerous years of a person's life are the year they were born and the year they retire. Few people could just flip the switch from working a career 30 or 40+ years, retiring on Friday without methodical steps to living what we call a repurposed retirement. To listen now, search Retire Repurpose on your favorite podcast platform, Senior Resource, or Life Audio.