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.
Women Are Looking Differently at Exercise and Successful Aging
According to the current national statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 16.7 percent of people ages 45 to 64; 23.1 percent of adults 65 to 74 and 35.9 percent of adults ages 75+ are inactive. In fact, only 6 percent of women over 75 report doing any type of physical activity.That has to change and it is changing thanks to new strategies and outlooks on longevity.Many women whom I work with at the Ecumen community of Parmly LifePointes grew up with doctors who thought that exercise could harm them. Many women were taught never to get sweaty. That was 'unlady' like. They’re thinking differently today.
Doctors are now telling us to 'exercise' and some older women honestly don’t know where to begin. Exercise simply hasn’t been part of their life. A good place to start is a swimming pool. Because of water’s resistance, we can work out harder and burn more calories, but feel no pain. Water supports the body and is very successful with arthritis and for people who are overweight.The next step may be a walking program and perhaps a gentle weight lifting program. Weight bearing exercise improves balance, functional strength for everyday activities, better sleep and a boost in attitude. 
We’re seeing a lot of people taking up exercise and other successful aging strategies at our new Vitalize! Wellness Centre. Our 2008 resolution is to keep our commitment to active aging by encouraging all adults to take charge of their health and life.Patricia Montgomery is Wellness Director at Vitalize! Wellness Centre at Ecumen’s Parmly LifePointes community.
Baby Boomers Should See The Savages
Have you seen the movie The Savages?It’s an irreverent look at family, love and mortality through the experiences of two baby boomer children trying to find nursing home care for their estranged father who has dementia.Many of America’s 78 million aging baby boomers should see it. Check that: anyone who is aging (all of us) should see it. The challenges the kids face in this movie are very real:- How to find the right care setting for their father … their options are limited as his assets are gone. His kids need to find a nursing home that will take Medicaid.- How to juggle jobs and regular life while trying to be there for one’s parent.- How to move a parent out of their home half way across the country and bring them closer to the child’s home.As I watched the movie, I thought about a couple things that would potentially make life easier for all involved:- A concierge service that the son and daughter could hire to help them figure out their choices for their father.- A small household setting where caregiving professionals specialized in dementia care rather than a huge institutional nursing home where the father had to share a room with a stranger.- Electronic medical records that could be easily transferred from the father’s previous home in Arizona to a physician and to caregivers in New York.I’m sure there are many other things that could make The Savages and life off-screen better. It’s 2008. It’s time to invent them.
Baby Boomers and Beyond: Retirement Revised
A New Age Wave Blog …A new blog for baby boomers and others who are thinking about retirement differently has been launched by journalist and Boomer thought leader Mark Miller. It’s called Retirement Revised and is the companion blog to his weekly syndicated national column Retire Smart.
10 New Years Resolutions for Successful Aging
Do you have New Year’s resolutions for successful aging you’d like to share? We’re all aging right now. And although genes dictate a lot, we also have a lot of control in how we age.Here are 10 resolutions for traveling the path of successful aging.Get a Physical: Find out what your health is like today. What health risk factors do you have? Work on a plan to address them.Exercise Your Brain and Body: Physical exercise (30 to 60 minutes of fast walking a couple times a week) has been proven to reduce the risk of dementia. It also makes you feel a lot better when those endorphins are pumping.Make Meaningful Connections: You just feel better when you have someone you can share with. Animals count.Do Work You Enjoy: Even if you’re retired, and you didn’t like the work you did, now you have time to do work you enjoy. Work also means volunteering.Nurture Your Spirituality: The mind-spirit-body connection works together. Spiritual experiences give greater vibrancy and meaning to our daily lives.Learn and Teach: The people who always seem most vibrant are those who are continually learning. Often those are the same people who help others grow by sharing that knowledge. That sharing feels good, too.Define Your Legacy: How do you want to be remembered when you leave this earth? Write it down. Act upon what you write. Smoking: STOP.Eat Smartly: Mayo Clinic specialist Dr. Edward Cregan says emphasize green leafy vegetables, four to six servings of fruit each day, fish and poultry rather than red meat (in moderation), and attention to unsaturated fats such as olive and canola oil. You don’t have to be a total vegetarian, just be sensible.Plan: Where do you want to live when you are 100? Will home be your home now or somewhere else? If you need care, who will provide it? You can make options realities with planning.