Baby Boomers to Help Seniors Rebuild Lives After Hurricane Disasters: AARP Foundation Awarded Grant to Help Provide Life Rebuilding Services to Seniors
[12 December 2005 - AARP Foundation] The AARP Foundation has been awarded a Challenge Grant for $500,000 by the Corporation for National and Community Service to engage baby boomer volunteers to provide critically-needed services for seniors and others affected by the hurricanes in Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. The project, called Partners for Independence: Restoring Hope for Seniors, is a collaborative partnership between AARP Foundation, the charity arm of AARP, and two prestigious non-profit organizations, Faith in Action and Rebuilding Together. ...

HSBC LOOKS INTO AGEING: Bank examines how we feel about getting older
[15 December 2005 - icThewharf (UK)] HSBC has teamed up with Oxford University to undertake the largest ever research project into the global implications of ageing. Under a five-year agreement, announced last week, the Canada Square-based bank and the Oxford Institute of Ageing (OIA) will interview some 24,000 people in 20 countries. The longer term aim is to build a leading research database on global ageing which will provide key information to public policy makers and corporates. HSBC will give the OIA ``significant'' funding and three new HSBC Research Fellows will work with the bank on the issue. HSBC's chief executive Stephen Green said the partnership will build on research the bank undertook on retirement, earlier this year. ...

Successful Aging is Simply 'Mind over Matter' Says New Study: Optimism and effective coping styles are found to be more important to aging
[12 December 2005 - SeniorJournal.com] A study released today suggests that the perceptions of senior citizens about the aging process depend not on disease or physical disability, but rather on attitude and coping style. Released at the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology's (ACNP) Annual Meeting, the research was conducted at and funded by the Sam and Rose Stein Institute for Research on Aging at the University of California-San Diego (UCSD) School of Medicine. ...

See also the announcement from American College of Neuropsychopharmacology.

FROM THE WHITE HOUSE CONFERENCE ON AGING
By Steve Dahlberg, Editor, ageing as exile?

U.S. Comptroller General Presents 'Just the Facts' - Will They Motivate Necessary Changes?
[12 December 2005 - Opening Plenary - White House Conference on Aging - Washington, D.C.] No matter how you cut it, you can't get around the numbers about the aging population. There are 77 million baby boomers. One will hit 60 every 7.7 seconds beginning January 1, 2006.

As comptroller general of the United States, David M. Walker raises questions about spending and planning for the U.S. government. These days, a good deal of his attention is on Social Security, Medicare and health care. He described the "demographic tidal wave" or tsunami of the 77 million baby boomers to be followed by baby bust. Unfortunately, he said, this tsunami "will never recede and we are not prepared." We went on to describe the broken private pension system, the Medicare funding problem that is seven to eight times larger than the Social Security funding problem, and the possibility that health care issues could bankrupt America.

He began to outline several directions that could help address these challenges, including that the aging population should be encouraged to work longer. Walker said that this could help the economy, help the budget challenges and help individuals themselves. He described "seasoned citizens" as an underused resource in the U.S. knowledge economy and said that the barriers that prevent people from working longer need to be addressed.

He concluded with three key ingredients that can help address these budgeting, spending and tax challenges: courage, integrity and innovation to see new ways of addressing these problems.

More information:

• Walker's presentation will be posted on the General Accountability Office Web site later today.
• Read the February 2005 (PDF) report mentioned in Walker's presentation: 21st Century Challenges: Reexamining the Base of the Federal Government
• White House Conference on Aging Web Site

Baby Boomers Approach 60: From the Age of Aquarius to the Age of Responsibility
[8 December 2005 - Pew Research Center] As the oldest of the nation�s 75 million baby boomers approach the age of 60, a Pew Research Center survey released today finds many are looking ahead to their own retirement while balancing a full plate of family responsibilities � either raising minor children or providing financial and other forms of support to adult children or to aging parents. In the past year, 50% of all boomers were raising one or more young children and/or providing primary financial support to one or more adult children, while another 17% whose only children are ages 18 and older were providing some financial assistance to at least one such child, according to the survey. In addition, the survey finds that two-in-ten boomers were providing some financial assistance to a parent. Few boomers bear all these responsibilities simultaneously; the survey finds that about 13% are providing some financial support to a parent at the same time as they are also either raising a minor child or supporting an adult child. The national survey conducted from Oct. 5 to Nov. 6 among 3,014 adults, including 1,117 boomers, looks at intergenerational relationships within families. This is the first in a new series of surveys by the Pew Research Center that examine social trends and explore the everyday lives of Americans at work, at play, in their communities and in their families. (Download PDF of report)

New strategies combat old ideas of aging
[29 November 2005 - Newsday] Long Islanders need to develop strategies to promote a more positive and accurate view of aging and to help those older than 55 deal with their prospective and actual retirements. Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy's Commission on Creative Retirement is studying the effect of a large increase in the county's adult population. Issues include the current perception of aging and how to reduce fears and misconceptions surrounding it. ...

Reimagining America: AARP�s Blueprint for the Future
[2005 - AARP] Can America afford to grow older -- with intergenerational fairness, that is -- without sticking our children and grandchildren with the bills? The answer is yes, we can. Reimagining America: AARP's Blueprint for the Future, presents a realistic framework for getting it done. It rejects the gloom and doom viewpoint that we can't afford what longer life expectancy has brought us. It identifies positive trends that are often overlooked, and it addresses nine challenges that we must overcome in the years ahead. AARP believes that as a nation, we can balance longer lives with the pressures the aging of the boomers and increased longevity will put on our social systems. While this is often described as a confounding problem of demographics, it is actually driven by the fragmented and disorganized delivery of health care, which costs too much and delivers too little. We also believe that solutions must come from collaboration among government, private organizations, and individuals. Download PDF document here.

Ageing does not cause memory loss says new study: Memory loss is not an automatic part of the ageing process, says a new study by a University of Melbourne researcher
[5 December 2005 - University of Melbourne] Neuropsychologist Dr Tracey Wardill tested the cognitive function of 200 healthy Victorians aged 65 to 94 in the largest ever study of its kind in Australia. The study, conducted for Dr Wardill's PhD in Behavioral Science, involved mostly war veterans and their widows sourced from the Austin and Repatriation Medical Centre over a five-year period from 1993. ... "The data showed there was no progressive loss of memory in the 60s, 70s or 80s," she said. "When you look at the data, it shows that many people in their 80s did just as well as people in their 60s." ...