Caregiving: The Next Green Movement
It took me nine-months to plan for a baby; I only had 9 hours to prepare for my father’s care.'I recently heard that statement, which rings true for thousands of Americans.Caregiving is becoming a hot topic. Here are a few pieces of that rising heat from the last 24 hours:- One of the highest-attended sessions at Mary Furlong’s 'What’s Next' Boomer Summit yesterday in Washington, D.C. was on caregiving.- At the Boomer Summit, best-selling author Gail Sheehy discussed her work on the future best-seller, which will come out next year about the next 'green movement' caregiving. - Today H.R. representatives from Twin Cities companies and other organizations gathered at Twin Cities Public Television to watch an advance screening of the PBS documentary 'Caring for Your Parents,' which will premier next week. A number of those participants shared how 'caring for parents' is becoming a significant issue at their workplaces.-And AARP just launched a new interactive caregiver resource web site.The heat is rising … because we all feel or will feel it.
Senior Centers: If They Don’t Innovate, They Will Die
'If they don’t innovate, they will die.' So says John Krout, director of the Gerontology Institute at Ithaca College, in today’s New York Times story about the future of senior centers.'Changing Aging' broached this subject earlier this month in a post about a new kind of center at Ecumen’s Parmly LifePointes community (pictured above).This and other successful new centers such as Mathers Lifeways Cafes don’t scream 'senior center.' They scream 'aging is all about living … even at the end of life.'
Meet Some Real Life Teachers of Successful Aging Courtesy of KSTP-TV’s Jason Davis
Meet some of our fellow senior Minnesotans who are showing the next generation how to age successfully.These videos are courtesy of Jason Davis (above), who leads the entertaining 'On the Road' segments at KSTP-TV in Minneapolis/St. Paul. Watch Jason’s stories of the following invigorating and inspiring seniors here: Charlie Ryan, who is well known for his skiing accidents …Farm reporter Cliff Mitchell …Dorothy Raines, who has been waitressing since coffee was 15 cents a cup …Bartending legend Earl Wiehoff …Evelyn Roelke, who recently retired after banking for 70 years …The Silver Thread Cloggers …
10 Things to Know About the Next Generation Senior
The SmartSilvers Alliance is an thought-provoking Silicon Valley group that sees technology as key to active, successful aging. They’ve compiled a 10 Things to Know About The Silvers Market llist below. While many Baby Boomers aren’t representative of these stats, these are interesting figures around the large wave of Americans who have seniority next. To read more about technology in aging services, we invite you to visit our whitepaper library.
- An American turns 50 every 8 seconds €” that’s over 10,000 people every day (AARP). That makes it the fastest growing population segment.
- 78 million Americans who were 50 or older as of 2001 controlled 67% of the country’s wealth, or $28 trillion (U.S. Census and Federal Reserve). Adults 50+ account for an estimated $2 trillion in total expenditures for 2005.
- The 50+ have $2.4 trillion in annual income, which accounts for 42% of all after-tax income (U.S. Consumer Expenditure Survey)
- One-third of the 195.3 million Internet users in the U.S., 50+ silvers represent the Web’s largest constituency (Jupiter Research) -- that means 2/3 of Americans age 50-64 use the Internet (SeniorNet).
- Email is the most popular online activity among 50+ users, followed by web browsing, research, and shopping (ThirdAge and JWT Boom).
- 72 percent of baby boomers have broadband Internet in their homes (ThirdAge and JWT Boom); they watch more TV than any other group.
- Adults 50+ spend an average of $7 billion online annually (SeniorNet). Silvers Account for 40% of total consumer demand
- The Internet is the most important source of information for baby boomers when they make a major marketing purchase, such as automobiles or appliances (Zoomerang).
- 82 percent of adults aged 50+ who use the Internet research health and wellness information online (Pew Internet and American Life Project).
- Contrary to popular belief €“ Silvers are not fanatically loyal to brands in fact 96 percent of baby boomers participate in word-of-mouth or viral marketing by passing a product or service information on to friends (ThirdAge and JWT Boom).
The Silvers purchase: 41 percent of all new cars, buy 25 percent of all toys (spend over $29 Billion annually on gifts for grandchildren), go on 80 percent of all luxury travel trips , buy 60 percent of all healthcare products, 74 percent of all prescription drugs, and 51 percent of all over-the-counter drugs. Plus they visit malls more often than any other age group and dine out 4-5 times per week. (various sources)
Living Like You’re Dying
Thank you to Ecumen colleague Shelly Cornish for sharing this video with us today. The video is about 10 minutes and it makes a mind do calesthenics. We’re all living. We’re all dying. We’re all empowered.A Happy Easter from Ecumen and Changing Aging.'[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=trplwjVwt7g[/youtube]
Technology and the Future of Senior Housing Webcast
Andrew Carle, founding director of the Program in Assisted Living/Senior Housing Administration at George Mason University, will hold an online keynote webcast next Wed., March 26th at 10 a.m. central as part of the McKnight’s Online Expo. Registration is free. You can reserve your spot here. You can read more about technology in senior housing and aging services by visiting our white paper library here.
Even Aspen Needs Senior Housing and Aging Services
People even get old in Aspen, Colorado …Pitkin County, which encompasses Aspen and Snowmass Village, is embarking on a senior housing and services study to determine what kind of senior housing and aging services this ski mecca needs.This quote in the Aspen Times by Ken Canfield, head of the Aspen Steering Committee, sums it up for a lot of people in a lot of American communities:“Our goal is to find a way to provide senior living here so that our longtime residents and those who love the Aspen lifestyle don’t have to move away to retire,” Canfield said. “Just because we’re older doesn’t mean we’re willing to sacrifice the lifestyle and friendships we’ve established here in Aspen.”
Paying for Aging Services - Long-Term Care Savings Plan Modeled After 529 Savings Program
I like Nebraska’s thinking on saving for aging services. What do you think? Taking a leadership role they’ve launched a savings option called The Long-Term Care Savings Plan. Here are some key elements of the first such state plan in the United States:- You can put $1,000 ($2,000 filing jointly) in an account to qualify for savings that’s state-tax free until withdrawn. They’re looking to increase those contribution limits.- When withdrawn they can be used to pay for a multitude of aging services, including home care, nursing care, assisted living, technology and other services.- If the account is not used, and the account holder dies, it can be passed on to a spouse or other family members.- At the age of 50, the account holder can withdraw savings tax-free to pay for long-term care insurance. There are a number of appealing things about Nebraska’s program:- It elevates the importance of planning ahead for aging services and makes you think about how you want to live if you need assistance or care.- It allows you to save money beyond traditional retirement accounts.- It gives you flexibility. You ultimately determine what services your dollars buy.- If you want to buy long-term care insurance, but don’t want to buy it in your 30s and 40s (which the vast majority of Americans don’t), you can use your savings to pay for premiums later in life.- You can pass the accumulated savings to heirs for them to use to pay for aging services, undescoring the need that even though we might come from different generations, we likely all will have the need for some type of assistance and care. And we have to pay for it.
New Quality Indicator Survey (QIS) Tips Whitepaper for Nursing Homes
For our readers who are nursing home professionals: 
Mary Leber, who heads Ecumen’s consulting division, which works with many long-term care and senior housing providers, has provided key tips for nursing homes preparing for the Quality Indicator Survey (QIS). You can download the QIS tips and other articles here. If you have suggestions on other articles , please let us know here. Thanks.
Ecumen’s Senior Customers Enjoying the Nitendo Wii
The Nitendo Wii video game was originanlly designed for young consumers, but we’re finding that a number of our customers are also enjoying it. Several Ecumen communities use the Wii for bowling (which seems to be the most popular Wii sport)m tennis, baseball and boxing. It also is being incorporated into Ecumen physical therapy sessions.The photo above taken by Brian Basham of the Detroit Lakes Tribune is from Ecumen’s Emmanuel Community in Detroit Lakes, Minn. Rossman Elementary School’s 4th and 5th graders have twice monthly Wii sessions with their friends at Emmanuel Community. Emmanuel Community customer Suzy Rogstad is a former college field hockey player. Now she’s trying tennis via the Wii and says 'it’s fun.' It’s interesting … just five years ago, there weren’t any Wiis. Now seniors are using a variety of technologies in their daily lives. And it’s only going to continue increasing.
