For many people, staying healthy while they age means nothing more than taking pills to treat their diseases and ailments.

But according to one expert on the aging process, being happy and healthy through the retirement years is more about personal fulfillment - physically, mentally and spiritually - than about preventing disease.

Marge Coalman is the vice president for wellness and programs for Portland, Ore.-based Touchmark, the parent company of The Waterford retirement community in Helena. She will speak as part of St. Peter's Hospital's Better Living Lecture Series Jan. 6. The talk states at 6 p.m. in the hospital's Education Center.

Coalman said that among the most important things for an aging person's well-being is civic engagement, remaining connected with the community.

That can mean anything from volunteering at schools, preparing food boxes for food banks or knitting afghans, booties and caps for hospital neonatal units.

At Touchmark, Coalman is in charge of developing wellness programs for residents of the communities.

Coalman said that since her background is in exercise and physiology for the aging, she tends to have a bias toward the importance of physical aspects. But she added that remaining physically active while ignoring the emotional, intellectual, social, spiritual and vocational aspects of wellness will not result in a healthy aging process.

"People can get so focused on the physical side, they don't do anything about the emotional side," Coalman said. "Learning new skills, having good relationships - those things turn out to be as important as the whole idea of diet and exercise."

Coalman said the most appropriate audience for her talk is people 50 and older, but she said there are aspects that pertain to people of any age.

In fact, when asked at what age a person should start thinking about preparing themselves for healthy aging, she replied with a big laugh, "probably when they're an adolescent, but I don't think most of them do.

"If the message could get there early, it would help people to make good choices instead of changing choices. Ideally, I think we'd be teaching this in our elementary schools."

At the same time, she said, it's never too late to make positive changes in a person's aging process. People who quit smoking at 80 can improve their lung functioning. Conversely, people who start fulfilling activities at that age can improve their physical and emotional well being.

When setting up residents in recreational programs, Coalman always asks them what their wishes, hopes and dreams are. They usually say she's the first person since their high school guidance counselor or college adviser to ask them that question.

"They have to think about it," Coalman said. "Then they begin to talk about those things. 'I can learn a new language. I've got time for these things now.' "

Many people forget, Coalman said, that they still have about one-third of their lives left after they reach retirement age.

"The goal is to live well, not just live long," she said. "We should look at (retirement) as an opportunity, not a sentence."

Features editor Joe Menden: joe.menden@helenair.com or 447-4087