e-News from Older Dominion Partnership

Articles & Reports

Old Age as a State of Mind

When the Pew Research Center asked people under 30 when "old age" commences, the average answer was 60. But when the Center asked people over 65, the average answer was 75. "Old age is always a bit older than you are," said Jeffrey Love, research director at AARP. The study also found, reports the New York Times, that the elderly experienced the negative aspects of aging - including illness, loneliness and financial difficulty - less frequently than younger people anticipated they would. Read more.

These days, hitting 65 is a Social Security milestone, not a meaningful sociological boundary. Many of the so-called "elderly" in Virginia will continue going at life full tilt, whether that means working, starting a new business, doing volunteer work or traveling around the world. Communities should find a way to harness all that energy.

Running with the Fat Pack

If anything slows down Virginia Baby Boomers, it won't be the fact that they're reeling in the years (see story above), it will be the fact that they're packing on the pounds. Boomers have a higher rate of obesity than previous generations did at the same age, says the Trust for America's Health in "F as in Fat 2009," as reported by the Examiner. Read more.

Virginia runs in the middle of the fat pack, ranking 30th in the country by the percentage of 55- to 65-year-olds who meet the definition of obesity: a Body Mass Index (BMI) greater than 30. With 30.2% of older Boomers qualifying as obese, we're better off than Alabama at 38.7%, but we've got a lot of slimming down to do to achieve Colorado's 21.8% rate, the lowest in the nation. Society will pay a heavy price through higher Medicare and Medicaid expenses.

A Wheelchair-Eye's View of the World
David Diller, president of CSD Architects in Dallas, designs senior living communities. To gain insight into the needs of the seniors living in those communities, he initiated the Sleepover Project, in which he and other architects in his firm spent the night in a nursing home. Diller role-played a Parkinson's patient confined to a wheelchair, with his fingers taped together to simulate the infirmity. "There's nothing like wheeling through a lobby with only a sheet over you on your way to the shower to understand the importance of design" Dillard told the Dallas Morning News.

His time in the wheelchair convinced him of the need for bigger rooms, especially bathrooms. "As an architect," he said, "you can't cheat on inches when most residents have to maneuver wheelchairs." Similarly, a colleague noted that high windowsills prevent wheelchair-bound patients from enjoying the view. Read more.

Small design changes can mean a lot. Why can't Virginia lead the way in elder-friendly design? Could Virginia nursing homes and architects collaborate to organize a similar project?

Who Needs Nurses When You've Got Talking Chairs?

Last year Katerina Hristovska was being treated for an infection at Hammersmith Hospital in London when she got up unaided, slipped and broke a hip. Hopefully, that won't happen again now that her chair has been outfitted with a pressure pad device that is activated when she tries to stand. As described by BBC News, the pad triggers a recording telling her to wait for a nurse while simultaneously alerting the nurses' station. Read more.

A third of all hospital incidents among elderly patients in the UK's National Health Service involve falls. Virginia hospitals and nursing homes face similar challenges: They can't afford to post someone to watch every patient around the clock. But technology can notify nurses before a potentially harmful episode occurs. Here in the Old Dominion, it may be worth examining Medicaid and long-term care insurance policies to see if they encourage or discourage investment in these labor-saving devices.