With the spirit of Golden Girls a feisty group of women in France have advocated and won public funding for a self managed housing option to provide support and housing. The group calls themselves the “Baba Yagas”, a term for old witches in Slavic folklore known for eating children but also sought out for their wisdom. Their vision was a collective home, managed solely by the women and founded on solidarity among the residents. The 60somethings would help the 90somethings. [...]

Scan Foundation recently published another report in their series “Perspectives on Aging with Dignity” titled How Americans Talk, Think and Feel about Aging. Over the past year, The SCAN Foundation has embarked upon a process to renovate the way we talk about the care needs that most of us will have as we grow older. The dominant phrase, “long-term care,” poorly describes the vast network of supports and services that older people rely upon for assistance, ranging from transportation to and [...]

LeadingAge’s Center for Aging Services Technologies (CAST) recently released a series of 18 member case studies highlighting how providers are using technology to change their business model and how technology is changing and improving their work for older adults. Each study in the publication, Preparing for the Future: Developing Technology-Enabled Long-Term Services and Supports for a New Population of Older Adults, offers insights into how the organization examined how technology could help them develop new business models that meet the [...]

December 5 through 9 is Older Driver Safety Awareness Week and the American Automobile Association (AAA) wants to help keep older drivers and their families safe. The first of the baby boomers turn 65 this year, so the population of seniors will be increasing substantially over the next twenty years. According to the AAA most of us can expect to live 7-10 years past our safe driving ability, so safety is going to be a growing issue. “In less than [...]

A first of its kind study study in Great Britain, conducted by Edinburgh University , involved 572 people aged 14 to 91 who were asked to define the typical characteristics of older people. Of the hundred most commonly cited traits 46 were classed as positive and 45 as negative – an improvement on previous surveys in America. In a 1986 study participants identified 59 negative traits and only 32 positive traits, while a 1994 survey highlighted 63 negative traits and [...]

Hundreds of senior serving professionals attended the 2011 GROWS Holiday Breakfast which recognized Sue Dollins as the recipient of the inaugural GROWS Humanitarian Award. For more information visit www.growsmc.org.

It seems like every year that families gathering around the Thanksgiving table serves as a starting point for elder care discussion that spans into the new year.  While retailers have “cyber Monday”, elder care providers have a similar spike in the interest in their services.  Guide to Retirement Living SourceBook has experienced a record number of visitors to our website at www.retirement-living.com.  Not only did the site experience  a 10% increase over the same day last year, but the highest [...]

The Assisted Living Federation of America (ALFA) is now accepting submissions for the annual ALFA Senior Living Art Showcase, an art competition for residents of senior living communities. As one way of showcasing seniors’ continued zeal for life and artistic talent, current senior living residents are being asked to submit their paintings around the theme carpe diem! (seize the day!) “Senior living communities not only encourage residents to pursue the activities they have always loved, they also offer enriching environments [...]

Newstimes.com reports on the resistance for many baby boomers to join senior centers, citing our “strong youth culture” as key reason not to join.  The article also cites several strategies that senior centers are employing including “Golden Zumba” and even consider bringing the nostalgia of “disco” back to attract baby boomers. Still the centers have an uphill battle, as Patricia Kahlbaugh, a psychology professor at Southern Connecticut State University and baby boomer states in the article, “You see it a [...]