Cornell Legacy Project 

The Cornell Legacy Project has systematically collected practical advice from over 1500 older Americans who have lived through extraordinary experiences and historical events. They offer tips on surviving and thriving despite the challenges we all encounter. The project is based on the work of Cornell University gerontologist Karl Pillemer.

The interviews are focused on “lessons for living”.  You can watch some of the wonderful, short video clips with some very wise and insightful octogenarians and nonagenarians on YouTube HERE.

With elder abuse on the rise, as is all domestic violence in this stressful time of financial struggle, there have been almost no shelters available for elder abuse victims in the entire country. The first elder abuse shelter in Ohio has just launched at Cedar Village Retirement Community.

“For decades, many communities have had shelters for victims of domestic violence. But those shelters do not fully meet the needs of older adults who are victims of abuse, even though the issues may be similar. About a half-dozen shelters for elderly abuse victims exist in nursing homes around the country—including in Connecticut, New Jersey, Rhode Island and Atlanta. The first opened six years ago in New York City.

Research indicates that more than one in ten elders may experience some type of abuse. Only one in five cases is reported. Annual estimates range from 700,000 to 3.5 million victims in the U.S. Elder abuse is defined as intentional or neglectful acts by a caregiver or “trusted” individual that lead to, or may lead to, harm of an elder. Abuse includes physical abuse, neglect, emotional or psychological abuse, verbal abuse and threats, financial abuse and exploitation, sexual abuse and abandonment. “

To read the rest of the article, click here  Ohio’s First Elder Abuse Shelter   .

Marin County is the oldest county, population-wise, in California. It is also the fastest aging county in the state.

• Currently 1 in 4 people in Marin are 60 years old or older.

• In about 15 years, it is projected that 1 in 3 people will be 60 or older.

• The change in 60+ population from 2000 to 2010 has been a 41% increase.

• The projected change in 60+ population from 2010 to 2020 will be another 27%.

• The median age in Marin is 45; in Boca Raton it is 43. In Scottsdale, the US city with the oldest median age, it’s 46.

• In 11 areas in Marin, the average age is 51. Dillon Beach has the oldest median age at 58 years old.

The myth is that everybody in Marin is wealthy and well taken care of. This is not true. Many thousands of people in Marin live below the Federal Poverty Level and many more below the Adjusted Elder Index.

Many older people in Marin moved here and bought their homes many years ago when real estate was affordable. Now, they are “house rich and cash poor”. Some choose to sell their homes and move to new, more affordable locations. Some who love their communities in Marin, opt to stay and, if they reject reverse mortgages, are struggling to have enough money for food and medications.

The “silver tsunami” has arrived and is growing larger in Marin. Here is a link to the disturbing Marin County Grand Jury report from 5 years ago that accurately predicted what we see happening now. Aging in Marin – An Essay in Uneasiness .

I have long found this list of emotions – nouns and adjectives – very helpful. So many of us were not brought up to give our emotions much attention let alone encouragement to describe or communicate about them.

It can be evocative to have a list of a full palette of feelings with which to develop a more finely tuned thought process, ability to understand ourselves and ability to communicate.

For instance, here are the “A”‘s through “B”‘s:

• absorbed
• abusive
• accepting
• accommodating
• accomplished
• adaptable
• adversarial
• aggressive
• agreeable
• alert
• altruistic
• analytical
• angry
• annoyed
• antagonistic
• anxious
• approved of
• arrogant
• ashamed
• authentic
• balanced
• beautiful
• belligerent
• bereft
• bitter
• bored
• brave
• broken down
• bullied

Click here to see the rest Emotions & Feelings – A List of Choices

Recently I discovered a remarkable new online tool for locating and matching the best Marin senior housing options for each individual. It’s called Lucille’s List.

Lucille’s List was started by two partners, Tia Small and Hilary Parkhill, who had experienced their own personal struggles with finding the best housing options for their loved ones. It was such a frustrating experience for them that they began to realize that “something better could be done for all people looking for senior housing.”

In 2009, the two women joined forces to found “Lucille’s List”. They have spent countless hours researching and organization the latest information on resources available to older adults in Marin.

Lucille’s List is committed to:

• helping seniors find appropriate living situations,
• listing housing options regardless of socio-economic status, and
• providing the most comprehensive listings of senior communities.

This is a free and user-friendly service. The initial version of Lucille’s List has information and photographs on all:

• 55+ Active Adult communities,
• Senior Apartments,
• Senior Mobile Home Parks,
• aging in place Villages,
• Continuing Care Retirement Communities,
• Low-Income/Subsidized options,
• Assisted Living, and
• Skilled Nursing Facilities inMarin County,CA.

Soon to follow will be the entire San Francisco Bay Area

What a welcome and valuable addition to tools for older adults and their families in MarinCounty!

BABY BOOMERS & OLDER ADULTS – WORKING LONGER

More and more older people are continuing to work. In the last 4 1/2 years, the number of people 65 and older who are working has increased by 1.4 million – a huge increase of 25%. People are staying healthier longer – Americans reaching age 65 can expect to live to an average of 83 for men and 85 for women. So, people are working longer partly because they want to and partly because they feel financially squeezed since the Great Recession. Read this very interesting and informative essay from the NY Times: “Working Late, By Choice or Not”.

Many of us are hoping and planning to “age in place”, i.e. to stay living at home as long as we can. Most of us probably would prefer never to move into a retirement community or nursing home. However, this sobering report from NPR shows that we have a lot to consider in our decision-making.  There are no easy answers – for ourselves, or our families.  Discovering the True Cost of At-Home Caregiving .

The 2012 Aging & Disability Technology Summit, which takes place from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Tuesday, May 15 at City Hall in San Francisco, will serve up a bevy of technology information and resources for seniors, people with disabilities and their caregivers.

There is no cost to attend. You must pre-register though. Register here.

For those of you who are interested in computer training and support for seniors, persons with disabilities and their caregivers, this conference will be a valuable resource for you. A wide range of interesting workshops and presentations will be featured on how to take advantage of the benefits of online resources. You can also see how our sister county is working to empower older and/or disabled citizens and caregivers.

For instance:

• The Summit kicks off a city-wide program of free Internet access and training for seniors and adults with disabilities.
• Touch-screen computers will be installed in 50 San Francisco non-profit community centers serving these populations.
• Free, multi-lingual classes and tutoring will be offered by trained volunteers.

The Summit is being sponsored by the Mayor’s Office of San Francisco, the Department of Aging and Adult Services, the Department of Technology and the Community Living Campaign. San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee will welcome attendees and the event is hosted by Belva Davis from KQED and Dave Clark from KTVU.

If you are unable to attend in person, you can participate online via live video streaming at SFGovTV starting at 9 a.m. on Tuesday May 15.

Some of the very useful topics featured in this conference will include:

• Finding Reliable Health Information Online
• Connecting Caregivers to Digital Support
• The Digital Divide: Addressing Multiple Barriers
• The Science of Brain Fitness
• Staying Connected for a Good Life
• Beginning Genealogy
• Protecting Your Privacy Online
• Finding and Buying the Right Computer for You
• Finding Employment and Volunteer Opportunities Online

A side note: One of the nonprofit organizers of this event is the Community Living Campaign (CLC). The CLC is part of a nation-wide “aging in place” groundswell movement sweeping the country. We in Marin can watch and learn from their successes and mistakes as we strive to empower our own older and/or disabled adults here. In their own words, this is part of how the CLC describes their mandate:

“So where does the Community Living Campaign (CLC) fit in?  We know that the challenges ahead are daunting, as the number of San Franciscans growing older with chronic conditions and disabilities is escalating.   Because of the high cost of living and the stalled economy, many now are living alone with family far away. Family members and neighborhood leaders are looking to give those they care about the ability to have a good life while they age in place. Giving individuals this choice will only be possible with a huge, grass-roots effort to mobilize financial and social capital in service of this goal. Building public awareness, strengthening relationships and building kind and just communities is at the heart of the Community Living Campaign’s efforts.”

I hope you have a chance to attend the conference either at San Francisco’s beautiful City Hall or online.

A few weeks ago, I attended the first monthly Commission on Aging meeting I had been able to attend in over a year. The April COA meeting featured Marin County’sArea Agency on Aging’s quadrennial report on life for older adults in Marin called “Live Long, Live Well”, focused on the years 2012-2016.

The report is chocked full of fascinating demographics gathered from public and government statistics alphabolin as well as a local survey answered by 891 Marin citizens. For instance, while the overall population of Marin County is fairly static, the % change in population of persons 60 and over increased by 40% between 2000 and 2010. It is projected to increase another 27% between 2010 and 2020. The number of citizens 60 years and older in 2010 was 61,454.

Marin’s population is the oldest in the Bay Area. The oldest community in Marin is Dillon Beach. 30% of Marin’s 65+ population lives alone.  73% of renters 65+ live alone. More than half of all senior renters living alone in Marin are trying to survive on incomes below the Elder Index. The Elder Index is an adjusted Federal Poverty Level Index that takes into account the actual cost of living in any particular locality.

The slides outline information on many topics in an easy to read and understand format. Topics include overall health and specific medical conditions in our older population, employment and retirement statistics, gender differences in labor force distribution (more older women are working), the race/ethnicity of the 891 survey respondents, nutritional health, top activities, mobility, use of technology, access to caregivers and perceptions of quality of life.

The top three Issues and Concerns expressed by respondents were unemployment (27%), getting services (25%) and Abuse (23%).  The top 5 sources of information when searching for services are Word of Mouth, Marin IJ, Internet, Senior Centers and Whistlestop. 1 out of every 4 respondents are caregivers. The priority areas of concern moving forward are to improve access to services, resources and information; to find local and community-based solutions to address needs; and to improve the effectiveness of the existing services system. The Division of Aging and Adult Services is doing its best to stretch the budget dollars it has to address these issues.

For more information, you can view the slide presentation Area Plan on Aging 2012 – 2016

The Pew Research Center has just published a comprehensive new report called  “Digital Differences – While increased internet adoption and the rise of mobile connectivity have reduced many gaps in technology access over the past decade, for some groups digital disparities still remain.”

Here are some interesting quotes pertaining to use of the Internet by adults 65 and over:

“Yet even groups that have persistently had the lowest access rates have still seen significant increases over the past decade. In 2000, for instance, we found that there existed “a pronounced ‘gray gap’ as young people go online and seniors shun the internet. Adults age 65 and older are still significantly less likely to use the internet than other groups, but now 41% of them use the internet. In 2000, over five times as many adults under 30 used the internet as did adults 65 and older, but as of 2011 young adults’ adoption levels are only a little over twice that of the 65-and-over age group.”

And…

“Though one of the newer online activities the Pew Internet Project studies, as of 2011 social networking sites are used by 65% of all internet users—half of all American adults. Among internet users, we see a very strong correlation in use with age, as some 87% of internet users under 30 use these sites, compared with less than a third (29%) of those 65 and older. However, though their overall numbers are still relatively low, older adults have represented one of the fastest-growing segments of the social networking site-using population. This growth may be driven by several factors, some of which include the ability to reconnect with people from the past, find supporting communities to deal with a chronic disease, and connect with younger generations. “

To read the full report, click here.