ChangingAging.org

As editor of ChangingAging.org, I’ve been helping Bill harness the power of social media and the web to spread the message that there are positive alternatives to the declinist, anti-aging paradigms that dominate our society.

Starting today, I’d like to share some of our social media techniques and strategies in a regular weekly blog post. And I’m going to try to target this advice particularly for those ChangingAging.org readers engaged in the front lines of the culture change movement to reshape eldercare and aging services, here in the U.S. and around the globe, because I know they are the largest part of our audience.

I think we’ve built an amazing community through ChangingAging.org and it’s been great to see friends, colleagues, students and strangers interact through the blog, Bill’s Facebook page, video channels and on Twitter.

What I’d like to do is get feedback from our community on what kinds of questions you have regarding social media. And to help generate that feedback, I’m going to offer a three-step plan on the best way to write a blog post that generates lots of comments!

Step one: Express a strong opinion! A good blog post is similar to a good newspaper editorial: it expresses a clear opinion or argument that inspires people to react based on their own personal feelings.

My opinion: Social media is proving to be a powerful driver of positive social change.

Step two: Make a claim and/or challenge — If you want to get people’s attention (and REACTION), don’t be afraid to tell them what you think about something, and challenge those who might disagree with you. It’s not about picking fights, but about expressing your best ideas and being open to hearing the best ideas of others.

My claim: It’s ESSENTIAL for organizations or people interested in engaging people through social media to use a blog as their central platform of communication.

Step three: Invite a response — Finish your blog post by inviting your readers to answer specific questions or share specific ideas.

I’ll wrap up with my invitation for a response: How are you or your organizations using social media tools? Which social media tools have worked well for you, and which ones baffle you? Feel free so share your own blogs, videos or other social media content.

Here is a bone-chilling look at ageism…

Not for the faint of heart.

Look at the comments.

If you dare…

“What are Old People For?”

It’s a provocative question and the title of Dr. Bill Thomas’ last book. Bill recently sat down with Allison McNair of New Hampshire Public Television to answer this question.

The video is hosted on the Changingaging channel in the right hand column of the blog.

Enjoy!

I recently received news that an old friend of mine is taking the reins at AARP’s Global Network.

Edward Newburn has been appointed the Senior Vice President to lead AARP’s international work. Since joining AARP in 2002, he has worked in State and National Initiatives, the Office of the CEO, and currently is in the Office of the Corporate Secretary where he works closely with both the AARP Board of Directors and the Executive Team.

Prior to AARP, Edward was with Arthur Andersen LLP where he was part of a global business unit and worked on projects in countries ranging from the Russian Federation to Kenya to South Korea. At Andersen, he not only worked in a number of countries, but also developed strong management skills. Earlier in his career, Edward worked in corporate finance for The Industrial Bank of Japan, Limited.

He has an undergraduate degree from Clemson University and an International MBA from a joint degree program at the University of South Carolina and the Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration in Vienna, Austria.

Edward brings a broad knowledge of AARP, strong management skills and significant international experience to this new position.

I’m a big fan and I think he will work wonders in this job.

This continues a spate of bad economic news for older people.

The  Great Recession has been especially hard on Real Estate and Equities– two of what had been reliable havens for economic security in old age.

Now the labor market for older people is in trouble…

In times of economic downturn, young people often bemoan their job prospects: The ranks of the unemployed swell with people slightly older, more experienced and increasingly willing to work for less money as their time spent unemployed drags on. But for all the difficultly recent graduates have finding jobs in this economy, older unemployed workers have it far worse, as a new AARP study shows.

An analysis of unemployment data from January 2000 to December 2009 shows that the number of unemployed Americans 55 and older increased by more than 331 percent last decade. Importantly, the analysis uses data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which does not count people as unemployed if they are retired or if they have ceased to look for work. That means that the more than 2 million Americans over the age of 55 who are unemployed are not retirees –  they are people actively looking for work but unable to find any.

The statistics for unemployment duration are even worse for older Americans.

Read More Here

Also the post title is the name of a band– long gone– that I still like…

My book has been out for a month, and although I have sold several copies face-to-face, I am surprised by the number of people, friends and strangers alike, who have contacted me to say they bought my book and have read it through already.

I guess I should have expected this one outcome, but I didn’t: I am already being called by care partners who have read the book and wish to set up a consultation, because they like the approach, but need more help and guidance. Here’s an example:

“Carl” is 59 and has lived with a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s for 5 years. His wife “Mandy” has been caring for him at home, but is clearly getting worn out. They are now living on Medicaid, and although this provides about 7 hours of aide service per day, Mandy finds that she usually needs to be around to help the aides attend to his episodes of distress.

Carl’s doctor has tried the gamut of medications – each one either ineffective or toxic. Mandy has been doing an exemplary job of caring for Carl without psychotropic medication, but the strain is showing. She fears moving him to a nursing home because she feels that, given his distress, sedation will be inevitable. When confronted with the burden she has taken on by being a lone care partner, her response is that to move him to a home would shift the health risks back to him, due to over-medication, and she is still willing to put her own health on the line to prevent that.

Carl and Mandy’s story is replicated well over a million times around the country. There are many reasons why I cannot take on a consultative role these days, not the least of which is that Medicare does not recognize geriatricians as consultants in dementia – only neurologists and psychiatrists.

Currently, I am working on a curriculum for nursing home staff to help teach the ideas in the book, but the greater need in the community is huge. How best to provide added value from the “experiential” approach to these folks with limited time and resources? Any thoughts?

“What are Old People For?” It’s a provocative question and the title of Dr. Bill Thomas’ last book. Bill recently sat down with Allison McNair of New Hampshire Public Television to answer this question.
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The United States Senate, filled with millionaires and trust fund babies, has less and less in common with a people’s deliberative legislature.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A measure to give some 57 million elderly people, veterans and persons with disabilities a $250 check was rejected by the Senate on Wednesday, a setback for the powerful seniors’ lobby.
President Barack Obama has called for Congress to approve the payments to make up for their benefits not increasing this year, but the Senate defeated it 50 to 47.
The payments would have added $13 billion to a $108 billion job-creation package pending in the Senate.
Congress approved payments last year as part of the $862 billion stimulus package.
Social Security payments for the elderly and disabled will stay flat this year for the first time since 1975 because they are tied to consumer prices, which decreased amid the worst economic recession in 70 years.
That follows a year in which payments rose by 5.8 percent, largely due to a spike in gasoline prices.
“It is wrong to turn our backs on seniors in this moment of economic difficulty,” said Independent Senator Bernie Sanders, who sponsored the amendment.
But Republican Senator Judd Gregg pointed out that the bill would defeat the purpose of indexing Social Security payments to inflation.
“The law says it shouldn’t be given,” Gregg said.
At least 10 Democrats agreed with Gregg and joined 40 Republicans to defeat the proposal.

My problem with this is that our “House of Lords” will gladly approve a measure sending 13 billion dollars to the wealthiest in the form tax cuts or to the most powerful in the form of defense contracts.

People living on a fixed income? Whoa. That’s a whole different kettle of fish.

It reminds me of the Merle Travis song…

You load sixteen tons
Whadda ya get
another day older
and deeper in debt

An excellent reader comment…

Relating to this post

Reece Peak
March 3rd, 2010

The concept of “intergenerational housing” is very intriguing to me. I feel like, although the article may not say so, there is a difference between housing being “intergenerational” and housing being “multi-generational”. Multi-generational housing simply could be people of different generations living together, inter-generational housing implies that the housing members are working together and living in some sort of symbiotic relationship.
Look at health and aging practices. A multi-disciplinary team is simply different professionals who share the same patient or client. On the other hand, a inter-disciplinary team is one whom are working together on a client. For example, the drugs a pharmacist assigns work with the nutrition plan that the nutritionist develops. All members of the team meet and work together in one unit instead of separate parts.
This brings me back to housing. It easy to say that because Obama’s mother in law lives with him, that the housing is intergenerational. But if Michelle’s mom doesn’t have a good, working, relationship with the family, it shouldnt be called that. Its also interesting to see its impact on the housing market due to the fact that homes with more rooms are now more important now that the younger generation have assumed the role of care-taker.
The article linked is an interesting read though, its not often I think about the housing market in Southern Californa

This just in from a very clever guy who also happens to be following the blog and the facebook page. The idea is a low cost strategy for getting the music people love delivered to the nursing home bedside. David Schofman, founder of Coro Health writes…

To us, MusicFirst represents a philosophy of using therapeutic music and media in lieu of pharmacological intervention whenever possible. Part of our program is to educate the Staff on the benefits and power that certain media can have with residents suffering from a wide range of mental, emotional and physical issues. Based on what we are seeing already with the residents we are very excited out the potential to help tens of thousands.

Our Board Certified Music Therapists and RN’s work with residents directly, creating an individual Music Prescription for each of them. Their prescription is then transmitted through a wireless network directly to their room at a predetermined schedule. In addition to music therapy, we also offer spirituality, education, audio books, current events and much, much more. The system is very simple to use and requires very little attention from the Staff to operate.

He also sent a link to an Austin TV station’s report on his work.

Warning! The TV report contains DREADFUL, AWFUL, TERRIBLE stereotypes of people living in and working in nursing homes. I had a few white knuckle moments in the early going of the report when I was tempted to punch the screen.

But.

It gets better.

The innovation is clever and, it seems to me, useful. Its highest and best use would, not surprisingly, be accomplished inside organizations that were engaged in a substantial culture change process.

Thoughts on this?