Consumer Focus: "Give That Man a Job!"

Katie Sloan, AAHSA Consumer Focus

“My dad was the ‘job’ person around the house,” a friend recently wrote. “He fixed things. He cooked. Now, he has no jobs or responsibilities.”

My friend’s father didn’t suddenly lose his interest in fixing the toaster or cooking dinner. So what’s changed? Only one thing. A few years back, he moved into a continuing care retirement community. He left home with the same interests that have sustained him over a lifetime. What he lost was the freedom and opportunity to pursue those interests.

My friend complains that the community where her father lives doesn’t give residents enough opportunities to contribute their time and talents for the good of others. She wishes that someone would give her father a task or chore that takes advantage of his unique skills. Her father would enjoy the work. He’d benefit from keeping up the skills that have given him pleasure for many years. Other residents would surely benefit from his talents. And, most important, he would regain the sense that he was making a contribution. No person, young or old, wants to lose that feeling.

Several studies reinforce the notion that we live longer, healthier lives when we engage in activities that we find meaningful. AAHSA’s Consumer Research Digest is filled with studies suggesting that those who do volunteer work enjoy greater longevity, higher functional ability, lower rates of depression and less incidence of heart disease. Older people benefit from paid work as well. A recent study from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation reports that people in the 55-64 age group have the highest rate of entrepreneurship activity and that “those entrepreneurial 60-year-olds could be 2020’s entrepreneurial 70-year-olds.”

Clearly, baby boomers aren’t going to check their interests – or their entrepreneurial spirit – at the door when they move into senior housing, assisted living or nursing homes. Even as we age, we’ll be working hard to continue doing the things that have always brought us the most joy and enjoyment. In its new report, AAHSA’s Cabinet on Future Needs of Consumers urges providers of long-term services and supports to design programs and care models that help residents, clients and others in the community do just that.

Here’s what I’d like to know: What skill or activity would you hate to give up as you age? What steps can providers take to make sure you don’t have to?