Behind the Alzheimer’s Cure Headlines
Every 72 seconds another person gets Alzheimer’s. No surprise that baby boomers list it as one of their biggest concerns about growing older.You might have seen the recent headlines about a potential Alzheimer’s cure reported in the United Kingdom. Here’s a quick summary: An 81-year-old man was injected with arthritis drug (Etanercept) and within 10-minutes, his memory came back to the utter amazement of his family.It was fabulous news, and if you heard it, you might have wondered, why didn’t it get more headlines in the coming days? You wouldn’t be alone. The devil is in the details. Trisha Torrey, who blogs at Every Patient’s Advocate, provides some great context on this story and goes behind the headlines as does this article by the British Broadcasting System.
Baby Boomer Grandparents Redefining Grandparenting in Age Wave
Are you a grandboomer? Is it different than what your experience was like with your grandparents?The Age Wave is redefining grandparenting.- More than one in three baby boomers are grandparents, with the average age of grandboomers being 53.-With life expectancy at record lengths, baby boomer grandparents will be part of their grandchildren’s lives longer than any previous generation. - The newest grandchildren will see work as an integral part of their grandparents' lives as boomers will work longer than previous generations of grandparents according to our study of boomers.- Grandboomers are driving new products such as grandboomers.com and Grand Magazine, which was founded by grandboomer Christine Crosby, who skates, does yoga and videoconferences with her grandchildren.
The Age Wave and America’s Public Policy Agenda
Thirty years ago last Sunday, former Vice President and Minnesota U.S. Senator Hubert H. Humphrey died. He was only 66.It’s interesting how America’s public policy agenda changes over time. In Humphrey’s 1976 campaign brochure the theme was: Humphrey … The Man for All Reasons.Guess what Reason # 1 was? Senior Citizens.When you open his 1976 brochure this is the text that hits you first:Senator Humphrey believes that Older Americans should be able to live in dignity, independence and security. The man who fought for Medicare also has worked to improve Social Security and Supplemental Security Income and to ease the restrictions on Social Security recipients. Senator Humphrey’s legislative efforts have focused on providing older persons with better nutrition and medical care, improved access to transportation, adequate housing, and expanded opportunities for recreation and enjoyment of the arts. In short, Senator Humphrey wants to see that older citizens have a place in the mainstream of American life.Aging is going to rise on the American agenda again, especially as 78 million baby boomers find that aging is very personal. Yes, it’s interesting how America’s agenda changes over time.
What’s Your Successful Aging Story?
Every person has a story. You really see that when you read the obituaries. Many of them are stories in successful aging, people living fully to the end of their life. I was struck by this story I came across on the obituary page last month. Here are a few excerpts.Seward Renwick Moore, 105, retired in 1966 to Sedona, Arizona and lived in his home until his death on November 27, 2007. He lived a healthy, beautiful life for 41 years in Arizona, where he was able to enjoy the miracles in nature year around. He continued to ride his beloved horses up to his 102nd birthday.He was preceded in death by his wife Dorathey who died in 1993 after celebrating 72 years of marriage.The enduring legacy he left to his family are the principles he valued above all others: trustworthiness, freedom of spirit, and the independence to pursue his hopes and dreams.How cool … I think most Americans would like their legacy to read like this, no matter their age. Is there a person who inspires you (living or dead) by their approach to successful aging?Posted by Eric Schubert, Director of Communications, Ecumen
Citizens League Diving into the Age Wave
We’re very fortunate in Minnesota to have the Citizens League, one of the country’s leading citizen-based, non-partisan think tanks and their dynamic director Sean Kershaw. The League has generated many of our state’s most innovative policy ideas.Now the League is moving into aging. One of the focus areas of the League in this Minnesota’s Sequicentennial year is 'Empowering Older Minnesotans.' Specifically, the League is going to engage citizens in looking at how we can live more independently and fully as older Minnesotans. (Ecumen is helping sponsor this work.) The time to do this is NOW as the age wave is lapping on our shores.In 2004, Minnesota became one of the first states to adopt 'cash and counseling,' a program that allows Medicaid-qualified seniors to use Medicaid dollars for services that help them remain in their home. While the program can help many seniors stay out of higher-cost institutional care, only about 200 of an estimated 11,000 eligible seniors in Minnesota use that program today. We can do better … in Minnesota and across this country.
Adult Day Care and Growth in the Age Wave (Can We Call Adult Day Care Something Else?)
Jeff Opdyke of the Wall Street Journal had an interesting article today on the growth of adult day care in the United States.(We have to change that name. Yes, it provides care, but my mind goes to child care, and this isn’t child care. We can (have to) do better. Some Ecumen communities call it Adult Day Services …any other names come to mind?)Some interesting stats from the National Adult Day Services Association: - Demand is growing up to 15% per year. (You can count on that growing a heck of a lot more with more two-income earning baby boomer families who fall in that sandwich generation).- At least 400,000 people are served nationally in adult day services.- The average national cost is $61 a day. A home health aide in comparison runs $152 per day.
Four Healthy Aging Steps = 14 More Years
We hear all the time about changing our behaviors and habits to help us live longer, healthier lives. Now there’s some data reported by Reuters yesterday that actually quantifies how many years you might expect to get from a combination of activities. (Read and add resolutions for healthy aging and successful aging here).People who drink moderately, exercise, quit smoking and eat five servings of fruit and vegetables daily live on average 14 years longer than people who adopt none of these behaviors. We’ve heard for years that these actions will help us live longer, but this study actually quantifies their collective impact. Between 1993 and 1997 the researchers questioned 20,000 healthy British men and women about their lifestyles. They also tested every participant’s blood to measure vitamin C intake, an indicator of how much fruit and vegetables people ate.Then they assigned the participants -- aged 45-79 -- a score of between 0 and 4, giving one point for each of the healthy behaviors.After allowing for age and other factors that could affect the likelihood of dying, the researchers determined that people with a score of 0 were 4-times as likely to have died, particularly from cardiovascular disease.The researchers, who tracked deaths among the participants until 2006, also said a person with a health score of 0 had the same risk of dying as someone with a health score of 4 who was 14 years older.The lifestyle change with the biggest benefit was giving up smoking, which led to an 80 percent improvement in health, the study found. This was followed by eating fruits and vegetables.Moderate drinking and keeping active brought the same benefits, Kay-Tee Khaw and colleagues at the University of Cambridge and the Medical Research Council said.'Armed with this information, public-health officials should now be in a better position to encourage behavior changes likely to improve the health of middle-aged and older people,' the researchers wrote.
Long-Term Care Consulting and Senior Housing Consulting Welcomes New Leader
Ecumen welcomes Mary Leber as director of our senior housing consulting and long-term care consulting practices. Mary and her team’s work is focused on serving continuing care retirement communities , long-term care providers and senior housing organizations nationwide with a wide variety of consulting services. Mary succeeds Sue Schwartz Nelson, who retired from Ecumen after a wonderful career. We salute Sue for her many contributions to the senior living profession and Ecumen. Prior to joining Ecumen last year as a long-term care consultant, Mary worked for seven years for Life Care Services, providing employee training at continuing care retirement communities (CCRC) across the United States. Mary also served as director of nursing for nearly 15 years at Friendship Village, a CCRC in the Twin Cities. We’re pleased to welcome Mary to this new role in serving long-term care providers and senior housing organizations.
Age Wave Insights into the Oldest Baby Boomers
What was fascinating when we did our Age Wave study of baby boomers and looked at the crosstabs is that there were not a lot of huge statistical gaps (some subtle differences yes) between the oldest and youngest boomers.The MetLife Mature Market Institute released this week a study of the 'average' 62-year-old baby boomer (born in 1946). Some interesting results: Relationships:The average 62-year-old American:- is married to the same spouse, who is 60.- has 2.4 children over the age of 18, who are not living at home- neither parent is alive, so they are truly empty nestersHealth- They are in very good health and feel that their own health status and the age at death of their parents and grandparents most influences their own life.Education- They have at least some college education.Finances- Has a household net worth, excluding home value, of $257,800. Their home is currently worth $297,000.Housing- They own their own home and they do not plan to move from their current residence.Identity- They like the term 'baby boomer' to describe themselves- (This one’s a big disconnect) They feel they have done a good job of ensuring a steady stream of income for the future, and in planning to live their early retirement years to the fullest. At the same time they feel that they have done a only a poor to fair job of saving and investing for their children’s future, and ensuring coverage of their own long-term care costs.- They do not view themselves as being 'old' until they are 78. Retirement- They plan to be fully retired by age 66, and they like the word 'retirement' to define their next life transition.
Senior Housing Market Trends
In an earlier post we discussed 10 senior housing development trends for 2008. Another big change is the size of apartments or condos.Consider these stats from the National Apartment Association:In the 1950s, the average size of a new single-family home was 983 square feet. By 2006, that number had more than doubled, reaching a record 2,469 square feet. Today, 39 percent of new homes have four or more bedrooms (At Changing Aging, we ask, who sleeps in all those bedrooms?), almost double the rate of 20 years ago, and 26 percent of new homes have three or more bathrooms, nearly tripling the rate in 1986.In the 1980s, many senior housing developers created an influx of studio apartments. While many people want to rightsize from a single family home, they still desire ample privacy and space. Now you are seeing multiple bedrooms, full kitchens, dens, offices and other features such as robust fitness centers that weren’t in senior housing just 10 years ago.More information on senior housing development trends can be found in our white paper: A New Day and New Trends in Senior Housing Development.