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As kids, we all had heroes in our lives. Your hero might have been a favorite teacher or the President of the United States, a baseball player or even a fictional character. These were women and men whom we admired. These were people we wanted to be like when we grew up.
As we grow older, we still need heroes in our lives.
Katie Sloan, AAHSA Consumer Focus Columnist
But the heroes we choose today will be different than the ones we selected when we were young. Presumably, we’ve already grown up. Now we need heroes to help us grow old.
These new heroes are people we admire because they remained actively engaged in the business of living right up until they had no life left in them. These are people we’d like to emulate because they don’t let their age stand in the way of making a difference in their world.
Tran Thi My is my hero. This 86-year-old Vietnamese woman has run the Center for Lonely Mothers in Saigon for the past 20 years. Twice a month, Ms. My and her cadre of retired doctors and nurses climb into a donated truck and head for remote areas, where they offer free medical examinations, treatment and gifts to poor older women who live alone.
It’s not an easy task. The roads are rough and muddy; the trips are long and uncomfortable. But Ms. May endures all this because she has committed her heart to this work – and she’s not afraid to translate that commitment into action.
Ms. My’s family wants her to quit her job so she can enjoy her old age in peace and comfort. She refuses. The long trips into the countryside don’t bother her, she maintains. On the contrary, she says, giving help to old, needy people makes her feel useful and happy.
I want to be like Tran Thi My when I grow old. Who would you like to be like?
Katie Sloan, AAHSA Consumer Focus Columnist
“It’s good to be young, but getting old isn’t half bad either.”
That’s the opinion of Kenji Toba, a professor of geriatrics at Kyorin University in Tokyo. Toba is the eternal optimist – and we could learn a lot from him.
Got wrinkles? Don’t worry about it, he says. Those lines on your face are “indelible evidence of maturity.”
Getting forgetful? That’s only half the story, says Toba. Your memories may fade, but your thoughts and feelings become richer as you age.
It’s no wonder that Toba doesn’t like the term “anti-aging,” which we have come to associate with skin creams and vitamin supplements that promise to keep us young forever. Toba prefers the term “with aging.” Instead of fighting the aging process, he says, we really should be looking for ways to see aging as something natural – and to embrace it gracefully and gratefully.
Reading about Kenji Toba got me thinking about the words we use to describe aging – and what that language says about our attitudes toward older people. Think about it. When we talk about 85-year-olds, do our words focus on “disabilities” and “deficits” or do they recognize “abilities” and “assets”? As providers of long-term services and supports, do we “care for” older people or do we find ways to “empower” them?
The language we use may seem insignificant at first blush, but we can’t ignore the power of words to form our perceptions and direct our actions.
What words should we stop using when talking about aging and older people? What new words should we adopt? I’d love to hear your suggestions.
Katie Sloan, AAHSA Consumer Focus Columnist
There’s nothing like a 401(k) statement to give you a reality check on your retirement. Sure, some of the big financial institutions are starting to bounce back from the recession. But the financial crisis promises to have a long-lasting impact on retirement nest eggs, especially for baby boomers.
Dreaming of a retirement filled only with travel, leisure time and volunteer activities? Think again. As our 401(k)s lose value, it becomes more likely that many of us will have to work for more years than we expected, just to pay the bills.
Depressing thought? Maybe not.
A recent study suggests that this turn of events may, in fact, be good for us. The study, published in the October issue of the Journal of Occupational Health Psychology and reported in Science Daily, found that people who work after retiring have fewer major diseases and are able to function better on a day-to-day basis than people who stop working altogether.
We’re not talking about working 40 hours a week. The researchers studied people who engaged in “bridge employment” – a transition period between full-time work and full-time retirement in which people work part time, are self-employed or temporarily employed. Having this kind of work makes it more likely that retirees will transition into full retirement in good physical and mental health.
These results, which are based on data from over 12,000 people age 51-61, are pretty compelling. As more of us consider the likelihood that we will have to work during retirement, it is reassuring to know that, in addition to drawing a paycheck, we’ll achieve important health benefits.
There’s another important message here. Bridge employment may be good for retirees, but it can also be good for providers of long-term services and supports who are concerned about the labor shortages that are likely to occur when more baby boomers begin to reach retirement age. Encouraging our employees to work part-time as they transition into full retirement will help our workers stay healthy. But it will also help our organizations maintain a trained workforce that has had years of experience providing quality care and services to our residents and clients. Do you agree?
Katie Sloan, AAHSA's Consumer Focus Columnist
A few weeks ago, I shared the startling information that baby boomers were turning out to be less healthy than their parents. Now comes the news that boomers also aren’t doing very well economically, in comparison with previous generations.
Today’s seniors are generally better off economically than boomers, according to AARP. The association reports that more 45-to-64-year-olds have difficulty paying medical bills and buying gasoline than those over age 65. As a result, Americans in their middle years are putting off health care, including dental treatments. They’re often not filling prescriptions or they’re stretching those prescriptions by skipping doses and cutting pills. These are trends we’re used to seeing among older people living on fixed incomes, not among boomers who should be enjoying the apex of their careers.
It used to be that seniority at a company translated into job security. But, according to the latest brief from the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College, that’s no longer the case for baby boomers. Even having a college degree – as opposed to a high school diploma – doesn’t insulate workers from job loss in the current economic climate. Once displaced, older workers are less likely to be reemployed, which often wrecks havoc with their retirement incomes and plans.
This disturbing trend is already being borne out by unemployment statistics. Unemployment for middle-aged workers is the highest it’s been since data was first collected 60 years ago. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, joblessness among those over 45 is worse for men than for women, but it’s no picnic for either sex. In 2008, laid-off people over 45 were out of work 22.2 weeks, compared to 16.2 weeks for younger workers, according to The New York Times.
On the bright side, boomers are resilient and optimistic. In past years, they have taken charge of their own circumstances no matter what they may have been. The first wave of boomers faced overflowing schools, more competitive college admissions standards and a tight job market. As writer Brent Green observes, “We change with the events in our lives; we evolve as our values become tested by triumph and tragedy.”
Even so, these statistics are a staggering reminder of how fragile our circumstances are and how flexible we need to be with our plans. The statistics also have significant implications for those of us who provide services to people as they age. As we prepare to serve growing numbers of people whose economic security may be at risk, it makes sense to consider offering a variety of payment options and service levels to meet a range of needs.
We can only hope that a steady economic turnaround will reverse the present reality for many boomers. But, in the meantime, what can boomers do to cope with the threat of economic insecurity that we all face? And what can aging services providers do to help this population if the current economic downturn impacts their future well-being?
