Category Archives: Aging in the Workplace

Why We Must ALL Build a Sphere of Senior Care

urban-parkThe dictionary describes a sphere a place or environment within which a person or thing exists;  a particular social world or stratum of society.  How does this relate to how we approach society’s challenges on caring for our seniors?

I’ve had the great privilege over the years of working with many organizations who serve older adults from community based organizations, churches, eldercare providers and more.  As an advocate for education and training and the needs of society to embrace our aging population and their needs, I see opportunities at every corner.   Building a sphere takes all of these organizations in a community to work together.  Make no mistake – we have BIG challenges ahead.

Baby boomers don’t want to admit it, but the march toward old age is upon us (I’m one of them, so including myself here!).   Collaboration and coordination at all levels within our local communities is a must for building a successful sphere of senior care.  None of us can do it alone.  To make this happen it takes:

  1.  Leadership and Visionaries – those people who see beyond today and know how to pull the champions together for a singular cause.
  2. Education – we vastly overestimate public’s knowledge of age related issues from preparing for old age to chronic illness, understanding services and how we can reach out to our elders and those who care for them.
  3. Teach compassion and understanding to our younger generation, allowing them the privilege of growing up to honor and care for older adults.  Include them not as a bystander, but rather as an integral link in the aging of our world.

Healthy spheres don’t just happen.  Now more than ever, we need to see the growth of rural, suburban and urban communities coming together to address the real issues of aging and how to build a sphere of senior care that ultimately will benefit all.

 

 

Ageism – Putting on the Brakes

ageismAgeism is defined as prejudice or discrimination on the basis of someone’s age. Civic and business leaders across the globe are accelerating  “age friendly – dementia friendly” initiatives. The explosive growth of worldwide population marching quickly toward old age is forcing change in virtually every area of society.  Cities are redesigning transporation systems, public centers and revamping outdated services.  At the same time, business leaders are turning toward experts to achieve productive workplace teams made up of 4 or 5 generations.  Health and long term care is turning toward technology and how to train and retain the workforce needed to provide services for today’s elders that at a growing clip will be among the largest oldest group we have ever witnessed – centenarians.

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Juggling Waterford Crystal

Cullet heapCan you picture this?  Just the thought of it sends chills up my spine!  But that’s exactly what a caregiver recently expressed to me.  Trying to juggle a demanding job, her mother’s stubborn behavior about accepting help, complicated family situations, and keeping her marriage in tact through this all was taking it’s toll.  As she described what if felt like, I could picture her words, and thinking about so many of the other caregivers I help who feel this exact same way. Continue reading