Into Aging: Understanding Issues Affecting the Later Stages of Life, Second Edition

For the past 25 years, Into Aging, has been applauded by many that work in the health care field with the elderly. Its interactive nature and reality-based outcomes awaken the awareness of the health care providers and their dealings with patients.

SLACK Incorporated is giving a new, fresh look to this classic simulation game. It contains the same quality, informative information, but will be available with new, more durable packaging and pieces.

This game is designed to help individuals develop a personal understanding of the aging process. Players encounter conditions associated with aging that may hinder the accomplishment of their goals and/or break down their self-images. These difficulties come in different forms, including physical disabilities, social judgements, financial setbacks and the loss of loved ones.

This interactive game offers progressive learning and creates a setting of empathy and compassion for the elderly and the tribulations that come along with the aging process. Different "stages of life" are set up for the players to walk through as they imitate life and learn. Into Aging allows for 5 to 15 players to participate per game.

Players will gain the insight necessary to respect the concerns of daily living that the elderly must face. This game will promote meaningful discussion and encourage participants to employ a new set of values in everyday practice.

Perfect or nurses, nursing assistants, allied health professionals, health care professionals, long-term care facilities, and all that work with the elderly.

Inside you will find:

1 Directors Manual
Large, durable envelope for storage
10 sets of Players Directions
105 game pieces
6 posters
3 Table Operator Manuals

 "To my delight, I found the game as relevant today (not just to nurses, but to a broad array of health care professionals as well as informal caregivers and older adults themselves) as it was (when it was published)…players are prompted to reflect on the ways in which they treat elders…as active participants in this powerful game, they vicariously confront the many physical, social, emotional and financial problems, common in later life…I find I can endorse Into Aging as a learning tool as enthusiastically today as I did in 1984." 

— Kitty Buckwalter, PhD, RN, FAAN, Professor and Associate Director, University of Iowa

 "…a valuable and powerful teaching tool because it allows the participant to be an active learner leading one to easily bridge the gap between play and real life/work situations to apply lessons learned. The game allows the players to personally feel these negative aspects which helps motivate them to discuss and develop positively impacting strategies for aging on an individual, organization and societal basis." 

— Lenore Weinstein, RN, MA, Activities, Adaptation & Aging

 "Teaches the consequences of restraints, over-medication, insensitivity to the needs of the frail elderly. I will continue to use this game to teach. Each game is a different experience for all who participate." 

— Theresa Redling, DO, FACP, Chief, Geriatrics Division, Newark Beth Israel Medical Center

 "Sometimes in the classroom setting we are so busy learning facts, that we forget how to apply the process-this game is reality!" 

— Paula Forest, MSN, OCN, GNP, ARNP, University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics

 "I played this game for the first time over 15 years ago and still remember how it felt to have everyone treat me as I was labeled-confused. It is impossible to really understand what it feels like to be old and devalued until we get there, but this game helps greatly in increasing one's sensitivity." 

— Cornelia Beck, PhD, RN, FAAN, Professor, Department of Geriatrics, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences

 "The greatest benefits for participants would be the increased awareness of not only their own biases but those of the other participants, the opportunity of discussion, critique, and debate." 

— Diane Heliker, RN, PhD, University of Texas Medical Branch-Galveston

 "We find the game most helpful in creating a deeper understanding of the elderly in the nursing assistants." 

— Nursing Care Center, Boone, North Carolina

 "Approximately 275 people have participated in one of 20 separate gaming experiences. Verbal responses and written evaluations support our belief that this simulation game provides a valuable and exciting learning experience." 

— Annabelle Lee Marte, MSN, RN, The Journal of Continuing Education in Nursing