Equally important, most seniors have experienced a health care system very different than today's health system. The system in the past was more focused on cure and less on prevention and was driven by an outdated pathophysiology on the benefits of exercise. Through much of their lives, older adults were counseled that effective treatment of illness required physical inactivity. For example, the standard care of myocardial infarction and back pain called for prolonged periods of bed rest; now, exercise is the recommended practice.