e-News from Older Dominion Partnership

Articles & Reports

Set Goals, Live Longer
Seniors who expressed a purpose in life were half as likely to die during a five-year period studied by researchers at Chicago-based Rush University Medical Center. The findings were based on a group of more than 1,200 seniors living in 40 different continuous care retirement communities and senior subsidized housing facilities. During the study, 151 participants died.

Said lead researcher Patricia A. Boyle: "The finding that purpose in life is related to longevity in older persons suggests that aspects of human flourishing -- particularly the tendency to derive meaning from life's experiences and possess a sense of intentionality and goal-directedness -- contribute to successful aging." Read more.

An important goal of the ODP is to help people find that purpose in life through civic engagement. One place to start is connecting with the ODP by going to our 'Learn More' page.

Ageless Health Care

Jewish General Hospital in Montreal treats one of the oldest populations in Canada: Almost one quarter of its patients are 65 or older. Despite the large number of patents with multiple medical conditions, the hospital reports a shorter length of stay for its inpatients than do other Montreal hospitals. The secret? The hospital has established the most advanced medical services for the elderly of any acute-care hospital in the city. Among those services are a clinic for patients suffering from dementia, an acute-care ward for patients over 65, and an emergency department with a full team of geriatric specialists. The Montreal Gazette has the story. Read more.

Virginia communities are just beginning to grapple with the paucity of medical services geared to the special needs of seniors. The Jewish General Hospital provides one model of how to approach the problem.

From Mean Streets to Complete Streets

America's roads and streets are designed, for the most part, for automobiles -- automobiles driven by healthy, fully functional adults. But as the population ages, our transportation system will be increasingly poorly adapted to millions of Americans with declining vision, slower reaction times and diminished speed and flexibility of movement. Yet a new AARP study finds that two-thirds of transportation planners and engineers do not consider the needs of older people in their multimodal street planning, and a minority of states has adopted "Complete Street" policies that make explicit mention of older road users.

The AARP's "Planning Complete Streets for an Older America" hits three broad themes: reduce vehicle travel speeds, make street layouts easier to navigate, and reduce visual clutter/provide better visual cues to make it easier for elders to make roadways more intuitive. Municipal leaders should consider these guidelines for their own communities.

A Silver Lining for Silver Hairs

Baby Boomers are deciding en masse that they'll have to work longer than they once expected in order to have enough money to retire. If it's any consolation, they should have less trouble than other Americans finding work. While the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports 9.4% unemployment nationally, figures from the Urban Land Use Institute show that the 65-and-over age bracket is running around 6.0% -- a bit higher for men and lower for women.