Three Generations members that participate in the walking program on Thursday mornings. Photo by Victoria Hernandez.
Methodist Health System has seven hospital locations across North Texas, but the offices of Generations, a program that recently celebrated its 35th anniversary, are found in Oak Cliff’s Methodist Dallas Medical Center.
Since 1991, Generations has run with the purpose of creating accessible health education, wellness, and activity-based programming for adults ages 55 and older who live in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex.
Wynnewood neighbor Dr. Laura Motta-Mena currently serves as the director of healthy aging for Methodist Health System. She works with a coordinator and a program assistant on the healthy aging team to lead Generations.
Her introduction to the program didn’t come with her starting her current position in 2024. She previously served as the community director for Methodist Dallas Medical Center four years before her move to work in consulting. It was her past experience at Methodist that inspired her to come back and work with healthy aging.
“I wanted to be part of Methodist, of the organization, be in the hospital,” she said. “Providing education, hopefully preventing diseases, or connecting them with providers at our hospital — that sort of thing — and that’s really rewarding.”
Generations does just that through an array of opportunities, including social activities, fitness and meditation classes, art and beginner foreign language classes, and online resources. Programs are spread out throughout the hospital system and also include virtual options for individuals who register through the free online application.
One of the most popular classes is chair yoga.
“People love that it’s in person,” Motta-Mena said. “It’s really gentle yoga poses that you are done sitting down. We’ve now taken that to Methodist Charlton and then Methodist Mansfield, and we hosted those events there, and there have been really good responses.”
They also partner on some of their classes, like a technology class taught in collaboration with The Senior Source and Dallas Area Agency on Aging that has brought in instructors that teach workshops on chronic disease management or fall prevention paired with lunch and take-home resources.
Students of the French class taught in the Generations offices in Oak Cliff. Photo by Victoria Hernandez.
Another impactful aspect of Generations is the informational seminars that address the health issues often experienced by older adults.
“People in Generations take advantage of the doctor being there. Just ask away all the questions. They’re not shy; they’re very engaged, and it’s a great opportunity to have access to those specialists, and just, like, you know, get that information directly from a professional, instead of having people maybe go online and get lost in all the information,” Motta-Mena said. “If there’s something on your mind, we have access to those kinds of providers that can provide some clarity on subjects, from infectious disease to cardiology, rheumatology.”
Those seminars have even been life-saving. For sisters Mary Stierhoff and Carmen Alfaro, attending a seminar led to bypass surgery.
The pair had attended an information session with cardiologist Dr. Akash Ghai and decided to see him as their doctor. A couple of weeks after the talk, Stierhoff began to experience symptoms similar to the ones she had during her first heart attack, pain in her chest and jaw.
They each took a stress test and echocardiogram (EKG) to check on their heart health, then later underwent a coronary angiography to see how the blood flows through the arteries of their hearts and discovered a blockage. This led to each of them scheduling a surgery, first Stierhoff for having symptoms and then Alfaro.
Alfaro said that if she had not had these experiences, a heart attack would have been her silent killer.
“I could have been walking around and just have a heart attack, and it could have been more severe or even death because I didn’t go and get it taken care of,” she said.
Stierhoff added that if individuals who qualify are questioning whether or not to attend a Generations program, she still recommends it because of the variety of choices available.
“I think what Generations has helped me, and in going to these classes and learning and hearing, it kind of educates you about your risk, and so then you pay more attention, and you’re more attentive to yourself,” she said.
Updated June 16 at 4:07 p.m.
