PACE and Senior Fitness: How Integrated Care Improves Health, Mobility, and Independence
Celebrating Senior Health & Fitness Day: Why It Matters
National Senior Health & Fitness Day, the nation’s largest annual older adult wellness event, highlights the importance of active aging and preventive care. Held each spring and fall on the last Wednesday of the month, the event engages more than 100,000 older adults across 1,000+ community programs.
This observance underscores a critical truth: senior fitness is foundational to healthy aging, independence, and quality of life. The Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE), a proven, integrated care approach designed to support aging in place while improving health outcomes, does just that.
What is the PACE Program?
The Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE) is a comprehensive, community-based care model designed to help seniors age in place while receiving coordinated, high-quality care. PACE integrates medical care, long-term services and supports, social services, and rehabilitation therapies. Each participant is supported by an interdisciplinary care team representing 11 disciplines, including, physicians, nurses, social workers, physical therapists (PTs), occupational therapists (OTs), and recreational therapists (RTs).
Unlike traditional care models, PACE embeds health and fitness programs for seniors directly into care delivery. This is a key differentiator emphasized across leading health care consulting and policy organizations. This continuous, coordinated approach ensures fitness is not episodic — it is part of daily life.
Why Senior Fitness Is Central to PACE
One aspect of the multi-disciplinary approach in PACE is maintaining functional strength as participants age, with a focus on rehabilitation and the goal of independence, even when eligible for nursing home-level care. The OTs and PTs work collaboratively with the team to address the spectrum of physical strength and functionality. Services are provided in adult day centers, homes, and community settings, allowing continuous functional rehabilitation.
These therapies work synergistically to help the participant with overall functioning and wellbeing in ways that demonstrably improve quality of life. Moreover, PACE programs integrate physical, occupational, and recreational therapies as core services, not optional extras.
Physical Therapy
PT plays a critical role in restoring and maintaining mobility, using strength and balance training with the objective greater ability to perform daily activities independently and a focus on:
- Improving mobility, muscle strength, and stability.
- Preventing falls.
- Reducing pain and improving joint function and range of motion.
- Recovering from injury or illness.
Occupational Therapy
OT focuses on real-world functions, helping participants safely perform activities of daily living (ADLs, which then become the basis for greater independence, enabling safer daily routines and maximizing quality of life. OT focuses on:
- Instrumental ADLs (cooking, medication management, home safety).
- Cognitive and functional skills.
- Adaptive equipment and environmental modifications.
- Home safety and adaptive equipment.
What a Fitness Focus Looks Like
When you walk into a PACE center, you will often see some sort of fitness class happening – chair yoga, modified aerobics classes, or independent health and fitness exercises occurring. Many centers are set up so participants can walk a lap around the activities area or around the facility. “I’ve even seen participants playing cornhole in the day center,” says Lydia Powell, senior manager on the PACE team. “On one visit, the toughest competitor and the clear cornhole master was a woman in her 80s who played while seated in her wheelchair.”
Recreational Therapy (RT)
The recreational therapists in PACE centers guide participants through a range of enjoyable activities and games that are intended to engage their brains differently for sharpness, encourage socialization, and support motor skills. RT goes beyond physical benefits to provide substantial emotional and mental health benefits, including reducing stress and building confidence. Activities can include crafts, outings, bingo, woodworking, and floral design. RT is an essential complement to OT and PT.
Powerful Therapies, Strong Benefits
As we reported in our blog post for Older Americans Month, PACE participants experience fewer hospital admissions, better chronic disease management, and enhanced access to preventive care, and the National PACE Association reports that roughly 97 percent of participants remain in their communities, even though they qualify for nursing home-level care. This contributes to extended independent living and improved quality of life overall.
For More Information
Myers and Stauffer supports states across the full PACE lifecycle, from early exploration through implementation to ongoing oversight. We help states assess feasibility, improve existing programs, and align clinical, financial, operational, and compliance priorities that support sustainable, high-quality outcomes. Our work is grounded in objective analysis, deep regulatory knowledge, and a shared commitment to helping states achieve their goals.
Contact a member of our PACE team today.
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