Reframing Aging:
Older People as Community Assets
RHODA MEADOR, PH.D.
DIRECTOR, ITHACA COLLEGE GERONTOLOGY INSTITUTE
YOU WILL NOTICE A COLORED CARD ON YOUR SEAT.
ON THE CARD, WRITE SIDE # 1 AND LIST 5 WORDS THAT
COME TO MIND WHEN YOU THINK ABOUT AGING.
DON’T OVER THINK THINGS-JUST WRITE THE FIRST FIVE
WORDS THAT COME TO MIND.
We live in an Aging Society
Crossroads - Need to Reframe Aging
 Current view of aging in our culture often
emphasizes costs and challenges associated with
aging population




Physical and mental decline
Losses
Burden on families and society
Health problems and associated costs
Negative Perspective on Aging
Human Cost of Ageism
 Becca Levy, PhD, of Yale University conducted
longitudinal study of 660 people 50 years and
older, those with more positive self-perceptions of
aging lived 7.5 years longer than those with
negative self-perceptions of aging.
-Journal of Personality and Social Psychology (Vol. 83, No. 2).
Ageism = Unbalanced View of Aging
Challenges
Losses
Reframed Perspective
 Increasing recognition that older adults can be
dynamic, generative contributors to their families
and communities






Supportive family members
Active, participatory health care consumers
Healthy aging
Seasoned , dedicated volunteers
Encore careers
Productive, dependable workforce
Positive Perspective on Aging
Balanced View of Aging
Challenges
Contributions
Losses
Family Support
Physical and Mental
Decline
Encore Careers and
Older Workers
Increased Burden on
Families and Society
Civic Engagement
Ageist Stereotypes
Creativity &Wisdom
Types of Contributions
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Family Support
Civic Engagement
Older Workers
Creativity
Wisdom
Family Support
 Older adults support their families via many
different roles, including:






Grandparents
Family caregivers
Health care advocates
Advisors
Teachers
Passing down values and traditions
Heart of the Family
Family Support: Economic Value of Caregiving
 Family caregivers provided the equivalent of $450 billion worth of care
to their adult parents and other loved ones in 2009, an amount that
makes caregivers one of the largest and most overlooked pillars of the
U.S. health care system.

AARP Public Policy Institute, "Valuing the Invaluable: The Growing Contributions and Costs of Family Caregiving, 2011 Update."
Family Support: Priceless
Civic Engagement: Formal and Informal
 Most engagement happens on an informal basis
 Look around-a large proportion of volunteers and
community leaders are 60+




Local governments
Community boards
Faith-based organizations
Philanthropy
Civic Engagement: Experience Corps
 Formal, research-informed program model
 High intensity volunteering for older adults
 High impact roles in public elementary schools improving
outcomes for children
 Critical mass of older adults:
 Shift outcomes for schools
 Force for social benefit
 Social networks and friendships
Experience Corps Model









Volunteers 60 and older
Serve in public elementary schools: K-3
Provides meaningful roles;
Addresses important unmet needs: at-risk schools
High intensity: 15 hours per week
Sustained dose: full school year
Critical mass, teams in each school
Monthly stipend to reimburse for expenses
Health behaviors: physical, social and cognitive activity
 Fried et al, 2004
Older People in Workforce
 In a 2008 AARP survey of older adults, 75% of women and
78% of men considered "need the money" as a major reason
for working. The need to maintain health insurance coverage
was cited by 63% of men and 58% of women.
Support and Training for Older Workers:
Experience Works
 National community-based organization that helps
older adults get the training to find good jobs
 2009-2010 31,142 older workers in 30 states and
Puerto Rico were served
 2009-2010 3,288 older workers got jobs
 Past 10 years more than 55,600 low-income
seniors found employment
Experience Works-Emily Abrego
 At 60, Emily no longer able to make homemade
tortillas that she sold to help cover living expenses
 Training and placement in Audubon Science Center,
where she helps with children’s programs
Creativity and Aging
 Artists who flourished as they aged-Matisse, Titian,
Monet, Grandma Moses, Da Vinci, Tennyson,
Rembrandt, etc.
Creativity:
Linden Center for Creativity and Aging
 Explores the relationship between the creative arts
(e.g. music, acting, painting, photography and
writing) and the enhancement of quality of life
among older adults.
Creativity: Enduring Masters Series
 A partnership of the Ithaca College Gerontology Institute,
Ithaca College School of Music, Linden Center for Creativity
and Aging
 Features older artists and musicians like Stanley Drucker,
Marian McPartland and Billy Taylor performing and
reflecting on aging and their art
Wisdom
 Wisdom has been attributed to older people in nearly all
world societies from ancient times.
 Wisdom of the Elders, Inc. records and preserves
traditional cultural values, oral history, prophesy and other
messages of guidance from indigenous elders in order to
regenerate the greatness of culture among today’s and
future generations of native peoples.
http://wisdomoftheelders.org/
Wisdom: Legacy Project
 For the Legacy Project, Karl Pillemer and his Cornell
research team systematically gathered nearly 1500
responses to the question : “What are the most
important lessons you have learned over the course
of your life?”
Life’s Lessons from Legacy Project

“Take each day and live it, love it, it might be your very last day
here.”

“When you face a decision really think it through, then don’t
look back.”

“Awe, that rush of quiet passion in the presence of great beauty
or immensity, is a necessary ingredient for the full
appreciation of life.”

“You learn as much from unpleasant experiences as you do
from pleasureable ones.”
Revisiting Challenges
Challenges
Contributions
Losses
Family Support
Physical and Mental
Decline
Encore Careers and
Older Workers
Increased Burden on
Families and Society
Civic Engagement
Ageist Stereotypes
Creativity &Wisdom
Reframing Challenges as Opportunities
 Obesity and sedentary lifestyles are creating the
perfect storm for the increased prevalence of chronic
conditions



Arthritis
Diabetes
Chronic pain
 "If I had known I was going to live this long, I would
have taken better care of myself"--Jazz pianist Eubie
Blake, upon reaching the age of 100.
Opportunities-Health and Wellness
 Physical changes and negative health events can be
mediated by attention to health and well-being.
 Prevention
 Recovery
Opportunities-Health and Wellness
 Wellness activities in
senior centers
 NYC-United Hindu Senior Center
Wellness:
Ithaca College Center for Life Skills
 Partnership between Longview, IC School of Health
Sciences & Human Performance, and ICGI-Ithaca College
faculty and students from a variety of disciplines come
together to offer individuals rehabilitation services to
enhance their quality of life, independence, health, and
personal growth.
Finally, what will it take to reframe aging?
 Challenge ageism!
 Advocate for policies that provide structural supports.

New York State Office for the Aging: Livable New York

http://www.aging.ny.gov/LivableNY/ResourceManual/Index.cfm
The Future of Successful Aging
 “We maintain that the future of old age depends to a
significant degree on making images of aging more
positive, empowering people to live healthy lives, and
redesigning society to include more age-friendly
technology and opportunities for challenging and
meaningful roles in old age.” (Baltes, Smith, &
Staudinger, 1992)
 It’s our choice
Closing Activity
 Now, on the other side of the card, write Side # 2 and
list 5 words that come to mind when you think about
aging.

Thank You!