Ageing and Employment Policies Project

In an era of rapid population ageing, many employment and social policies, practices and attitudes that discourage work at an older age have passed their sell-by date and need to be overhauled. They not only deny older workers choice about when and how to retire but are costly for business, the economy and society.

If nothing is done to promote better employment prospects for older workers, the number of retirees per worker in OECD countries will double over the next five decades. This will threaten living standards and put enormous pressure on the financing of social protection systems.

To help meet these daunting challenges, work needs to be made a more attractive and rewarding proposition for older workers.

First, there must be strong financial incentives to carry on working and existing, subsidised pathways to early retirement have to be eliminated.

Second, wage-setting and employment practices must be adapted to ensure that employers have stronger incentives to hire and retain older workers.

Third, older workers must be given appropriate help and encouragement to improve their employability.

Finally, a major shift in attitudes to working at an older age will be required on the part of both employers and older workers themselves.

This report makes an important contribution to establishing a new agenda of age-friendly employment policies and practices. It draws out the main lessons that have emerged from the 21 country reviews which have been published separately under the OECD’s series on "Ageing and Employment Policies/Vieillissement et politiques de l’emploi".




Get the report here: http://www.oecd.org/document/42/0,3343,en_2649_34747_36104426_1_1_1_1,00.html

International Longevity Center-USA and Atria Senior Living Group Project

As people live longer and increasingly make the decision to relocate to a senior living community, their life satisfaction and happiness, or "subjective well-being" (SWB) in later life become issues of vital concern and are the basis for a new project linking the International Longevity Center-USA, a leading policy and research center on healthy aging, and Atria Senior Living Group, one of the nation's largest providers of independent and assisted living services.

The project, which will probe keys to satisfaction and well-being, a growing topic of research interest and practical application, is bringing together leading experts from health care, senior living organizations and related fields.

"Our project's outcomes will be of importance to older persons who leave their longtime home for a new residence and new community environment," says Dr. Robert N. Butler, president and CEO of the ILC-USA and one of the world's leading geriatricians.

"We've learned that fine facilities, thoughtful programming and good intentions are not enough to ensure true satisfaction and ultimate happiness for older people moving into new environments at a challenging time in their lives when they are fearful of losing independence," Dr. Butler says.

Recent studies show that older adults with low self-esteem, high depressive symptoms and low quality of life prior to a move are at high risk for poor outcomes in relocating to senior living communities, regardless of whether they relocate to independent or assisted living.

"The knowledge that we will gain from this groundbreaking study will allow us to provide even better service to older men and women who choose to make their home with us," said Julie Harding, Chief Operating Officer for Atria Senior Living Group. "Helping seniors and their families make the best possible transition into the senior living environment is something we want to ensure we're focusing on during those critical first few months."

While there is a growing body of systematic research about SWB, both in the U.S. and in Europe, little of it trickles down to those who can benefit most from it," according to Dr. Butler who hails Atria's effort and educational grant as "important leadership" that will benefit older persons, their families, medical institutions, and senior living communities.

The project organized by the ILC, a policy research center dedicated to healthy aging, productive engagement and quality of life, in partnership with Atria Senior Living Group, one of the largest and most comprehensive providers of independent and assisted living communities nationwide, includes a scientific consensus conference, a report of research findings and other efforts aimed at enhancing independent and assisted living options.

The ILC-USA recently hosted a conference gathering leading research, direct service, medical and health experts that probed several major questions on what we can derive from the latest empirical research, the experience of staff in senior living communities, and the experience of clinicians, to improve subjective well being and satisfaction outcomes for new residents of independent and assisted living environments.

The conference also featured several research reports by participants, including Eileen Rossen, PhD, from the University of North Carolina Greensboro who discussed the necessity for older adults to preserve the highest level of agency over personal life decisions during a senior housing transition-a high degree of "relocation self-efficacy" as she termed it in a recently published journal article and validated Relocation Self-Efficacy Scale.

Among those represented at the session were leading experts on aging, public policy, consumer advocacy, health care, and social work from such organizations as New York Presbyterian Hospital, Visiting Nurse Service of New York, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia's Aging and Public Health Program, Atria Senior Living Group, and the National Association of Senior Move Managers.


Experts participating in the conference series include:

-Robert N. Butler, M.D.
Founding President and CEO, the International Longevity Center

-Eileen Rossen, Ph.D.
Associate Professor - Community Practice Department, University of North Carolina, Greensboro; Author of study: Older Adults Relocating to Independent Living Communities: Factors Affecting Depression and Quality of Life

-Leonard Kelly, Ph.D.
Research Scientist at the Center for Studies in Education and Human Development at Gallaudet University and Co-author of Wiz Quiz for older adults

-Julie Harding
Chief Operating Officer, Atria Senior Living Group

-Khristine Rogers
Vice President, Active Aging for Atria Senior Living Group

-Jennifer Rehm
Executive Director for Atria Glen Cove, NY location, Atria Senior Living Group

-J. Ryan Fuller, Ph.D.
Director of Research, Albert Ellis Institute (psychotherapy); Author of study: Interpersonal Relationships and Irrationality as Predictors of Life Satisfaction

-Ron Adelman, M.D.
Medical Director of the Irving Wright Center of Aging, Weill Cornell Medical College, and Co-Chief of the Division of Geriatrics Medicine and Gerontology at New York-Presbyterian Hospital

-Kathryn Haslanger
Vice President, Community Benefit and External Affairs, Visiting Nurse Service of NY

-Barry Gurland, M.D.
Sidney Katz Professor of Psychiatry and Director of the Columbia University Stroud Center for the Study of Quality of Life in Health and Aging.

-Colin Milner
CEO of International Council on Active Aging in Vancouver

-Thuy-Tien Dam, Ph.D.
Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons

-Jaclyn Kelly, Ed.M.
Co-author of Wiz Quiz for older adults

-David Dworkin
CEO of Conductorcise

-Victoria Raveis, Ph.D.
Co-Director, Center for the Psychosocial Study of Health & Illness & Director, Aging & Public Health Program, Columbia University

-Mary Kay Buysse
National Association of Senior Move Managers


About the International Longevity Center-USA:
The International Longevity Center-USA is a research policy organization in New York City and has sister centers in Europe, Asia, Latin America, Africa and Israel. Led by Dr. Robert N. Butler, a world renowned physician specializing in geriatrics, the Center is a non-for-profit, non-partisan organization with a staff of economists, medical and health researchers, demographers and others who study the impact of population aging on society. The ILC-USA focuses on combating ageism, healthy aging, productive engagement and the financing of old age. The ILC-USA is an independent affiliate of Mount Sinai School of Medicine and is incorporated as a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) entity. More information on the ILC-USA can be found at www.ilcusa.org


About Atria Senior Living Group:
Atria Senior Living Group, the nation's fourth largest assisted living owner-operator, provides respectful, quality care that helps approximately 13,000 older people live life to the fullest. Atria communities are not nursing homes; rather, they are active communities where seniors can get the care they need to live as independently as possible. At the heart of Atria's approach is our belief that superior care depends on running a superior business. That's why Atria has developed some of the industry's most stringent measurement tools and comprehensive training protocols. To learn more, log onto www.atriaseniorliving.com.


News from International Longevity Center

What Is Alzheimer's Disease? What Causes Alzheimer's Disease?

Alzheimer's disease is a progressive neurologic disease of the brain leading to the irreversible loss of neurons and the loss of intellectual abilities, including memory and reasoning, which become severe enough to impede social or occupational functioning. Alzheimer's disease is also known as simply Alzheimer's, and Senile Dementia of the Alzheimer Type (SDAT) .

During the course of the disease plaques and tangles develop within the structure of the brain. This causes brain cells to die. Patients with Alzheimer's also have a deficiency in the levels of some vital brain chemicals which are involved with the transmission of messages in the brain - neurotransmitters.

Alzheimer's disease is the most common form of dementia. The disease gets worse as it develops - it is a progressive disease. There is no current cure for Alzheimer's, although there are ways of slowing down its advance and helping patients with some of the symptoms. Alzheimer's is also a terminal disease - it is incurable and causes death.

According the National Institute on Aging, there are estimated to be between 2.4 million and 4.5 million Americans who have Alzheimer's. There are approximately 417,000 people in the UK with Alzheimer's, according to the Alzheimer's Society.


Know everything about Alzheimer's here: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/159442.php

Special Tour for Senior Citizens to Valley of Flowers of Maharashtra

This is a special for Senior Citizens (above 55yrs) -Sept 4 (evening) to Sept 7 (early morning), to explore the outdoors without the hectic rush of younger & hyperenergetic people - at their own pace and leisure. Kaas Plateau is famed as the Valley of Flowers of Maharashtra and has thousands of blossoms of orchids, balsams, Senecios and lilies. It also has a rich bird and butterfly diversity besides rare plants like the insectivorous Droscera indica also called the Sundew Plant.


The Thoseghar Waterfall is majestic and is surrounded by Wind Mills and is located in a really picturesque region.


The stay arrangements are comfortable and clean with simple veg food. There will be slide shows and discussions about wildlife on the trip and the members will thoroughly enjoy this memorable 'Weekend with Flowers'.


This trip has been brought to senior citizens at a special concessional price of Rs. 4000 (the regular rate being Rs. 4750)Ex.Mumbai .

There are ONLY 25 seats and you would need to rush your bookings to grab your seat on this fantastic trip.


Contact Gaurav (98705-05785) or Anand (98201-40254) for bookings & inquiries.

--
Anand Pendharkar
SPROUTS,
68/4 Tarun Bharat Society,
Chakala, Sahar Road,
Andheri (Eas), Mumbai - 400 099.
Tel: (022) - 28368647
Mobile: +91-98201-40254
Website : www.sproutsenvttrust.org
Group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/sproutsonline
Email: sproutsonline@gmail.com

Noodle hockey keeps seniors in the game

Close your eyes and it could be a pickup hockey game like any of thousands played daily across this country.

"Ooh, sorry," apologizes one speedster as she accidentally knocks a teammate across his head.

"The other way, George!" someone yells at a latecomer who has just whaled a shot in the wrong direction.

"Uh oh, look who's here," catcalls a third. "It's the Gretzky of noodle hockey."

Oh yes, it's hockey in the best Canadian tradition--jam-packed with fierce competition, good-natured ribbing, and not a little illegal action when spirits run high.

The one big difference about this game?Most of the players are hitting 90 or more, and we're talking years, not points.

Among this crowd, just because you're in your 80s or 90s and using a walker is no excuse for mind and body to grind to a stately crawl. Kinetics experts would applaud. The prevailing theory is that for most people, moving slowly and cautiously with age is counterproductive. Rather than being protective, years of slow, deliberate movement simply exacerbates weakness. Use it or lose it.

The hockey players at Elim Village retirement community in Surrey, B. C., know all about that. They come from a generation for whom physical fitness has always been a life necessity as well as recreation. They are determined, they are disciplined and, make no mistake, they are tough.

"I'm a Saskatchewan girl," retired teacher Edna McFarlane, 89, said. Although she skated, rode horseback and played softball all her life, this is the first time she's put any time into playing hockey. It doesn't bother her that she's sitting in a chair, the stick is a foam noodle and the puck's a beach ball. The adrenalin is there, the camaraderie is there. What more could you want?

Margaret -- "We call her 'Kick' " --Martin, 91, used to ride bareback to school, herd cattle and teach in a one-room school.

"The problem is now, you can't put your arm around a child and that's what the little ones need if they are feeling blue," said Martin, who remembers teaching phys-ed in days gone by. "I think there's too many children left out."

A team player in the past, she's still a team player now: "We have people in there that need to hit the ball and you give it to those who are a little more handicapped than we are. We give them a chance."

George Gunn, 89, was a trapper in northernAlbertaandanarmyphysical training instructor. He's had a stroke and a spinal fusion, walks with a cane, and these days, can barely see.

"I never played hockey. I can't even skate. No wonder I'm no good at (noodle hockey)," he said.

Gunn calls McFarlane "one of these tough girls."

McFarlane said keeping fit comes down to grit and determination.

"What I find is I just make myself do it. Some mornings I get up and I just don't feel like doing it. I have to make myself. I get up and I don't let myself think that way. I absolutely won't let myself think that way," she said. "Before, my blood pressure was high and I was having trouble walking. I started doing the recumbent bike, the resistance chair. My blood pressure went down, dear!It took three or four months. Then it was boring, sitting there on this bike for 40 minutes."

Retired physiotherapist Phyllis Taylor, 91, is in the game to score goals. Period.

Is it frustrating playing hockey from a chair? In a word, yes, she said, but "pain goes away when you're busy."

"I like it. I think it's challenging," she said. "I wanted to be a doctor, but my father said it was a waste of time because he thought I would get married and not use my skills."

Like many of her teammates, Taylor views the younger generation with concern.

"I don't think people in their middle ages have much exercise, but they are learning," she said.

"I think we have a lot to learn from this generation," Elim recreation coordinator Jessica Baker said. "These are the people who built Canada."

Taylor's generation walked five miles to school every day--uphill both ways, as the joke goes--played street games, carried rifles, lived through a war, know how to make use of routine, and have a tremendous respect for honour and friendship, Baker said. They were physically active their whole lives, and that's what's helping them now.

"You don't all of a sudden wake up one morning knitting," Baker said.

Retired bookkeeper Dorothy Padmore, 97, certainly didn't.She played ice hockey as a kid in Armstrong, B. C. And she had her Burnaby, B. C., apartment until a year ago.

"I did the vacuuming, cleaning and I went for a walk every day," she said.

She's taken computer lessons and checks out as many new activities as she can. Her goal is to improve her balance. Just standing is tricky. And showering. But she really gets a kick out of the hockey.


Source: http://www.canada.com/health/seniors/Noodle+hockey+keeps+seniors+game/1809451/story.html

Nigeria Senate Establishes Agency for the Aged

The senate on 14th July 2009 passed a bill seeking to establish the National Agency for the Elderly Persons which will provide welfare and recreational facilities for the aged. Also, the agency is expected to design development programmes and activities aimed at the advancement of elderly persons in Nigeria.

The bill which was Sponsored by Senator Ganiyu Solomon (AC, Lagos West) stated that the agency when fully established, will be charged with the responsibility of providing basic welfare, maintaining and protecting the rights of older persons as well as providing recreational facilities for them.

In his contribution in the debate before the bill was passed, Senator Heineken Lokpobiri (PDP, Bayelsa) whose committee of Sports and Social Development worked on the bill, said, "The bill is a landmark one that seeks to give proper legal support to this segment of our population who suffer untold hardship. It is a bill that requires the support of each and every one of us because all of us will be old one day."


"Although the family remains the most important source of support for older people, family structures are changing and traditional patterns of care are no longer guaranteed. Living patterns are fundamentally changing; urbanization has resulted in many older people living alone in rural areas."

After a clause by clause consideration of the bill which lasted for three hours, Senators unanimously voted in favour of the bill and read it the third time.



Source: http://www.globalaging.org/elderrights/world/2009/senate.htm

Study on Ageing in Rural Areas of Ireland

NUI GALWAY is to lead a cross-border research network which will explore “healthy ageing” in rural communities on the island of Ireland.


The network is the first of its type and will draw on expertise in social care and public health, gerontology, economics, spatial planning and rural geography.

It involves NUIG’s Irish Centre for Social Gerontology and its geography school; Queen’s University Belfast (QUB); and the Rural Community Network and Forum community group in Letterfrack, Co Galway.

The network, known as Health Ageing in Rural Communities (Harc), has received grant aid from the Centre for Ageing Research and Development in Ireland (Cardi). The Cardi programme aims to promote North-South partnerships on issues affecting older people, and the research will involve senior citizens with the aim of improving policies and services.

Kieran Walsh, of the NUIG Irish Centre for Social Gerontology, said although there is an over-representation of older people in rural areas throughout Ireland, research into rural ageing has been limited to small-scale studies.

There has also been a “total absence of any cross-border coordination”, Walsh said. “Even though there are many similar issues facing both regions, the cross-border and interdisciplinary study of rural ageing in Ireland has not been developed.”

“There is a lack of understanding of the difficulties and inequalities that face older people in rural areas, as well as the opportunities and benefits that are to be obtained from living in our villages and countryside,” Walsh said.

“This, in turn, makes it very difficult to get a full picture of rural ageing and undermines our ability to develop a long-term strategy for ageing in rural Ireland – both north and south of the border.

“Harc will allow us to share existing knowledge, identify key research questions for future study and ultimately increase the capacity for rural ageing research across Ireland,” he said.


The Harc initiative is a part of a broader research programme on rural ageing at the Irish Centre for Social Gerontology. The multidisciplinary research centre has been focusing on the economics of ageing; technology and ageing; and rural ageing. It has been awarded more than €5 million in funding since its establishment in 2006.

The cross-border network is one of six recipients of grant-aid recently announced by CARDI for all-island studies. Trinity College, Dublin (TCD), QUB, the University of Ulster (UU) and the Quality Initiatives consultancy will examine different standards in long-stay care, and will also work with older people to draw up specific standards to meet the needs of those diagnosed with dementia.

The transport needs of vulnerable older people, especially in rural areas, is the subject of another grant-aided study, which is due to be carried out by University College, Dublin, UU and Age Action Ireland.



Source: http://www.globalaging.org/ruralaging/world/2009/Ireland%20Study.htm