Changing Aging

Many of us have pets that we absolutely love and are essential to our home being “home.”

Lakeshore, an Ecumen community in Duluth, was the site of a great ecumenical Blessing of the Animals service. 

The service was led by Rev. Alice Olson, chaplain at the Lakeshore and Bayshore communities; Lakeshore resident Monsignor Patrick McDowell; and Rev. Cy Solberg, who doubled as St. Francis of Assisi. 

Pretty neat seeing the march of cats and dogs of all sizes walking, prancing and trotting into the Lakeshore chapel.  Here are more photos:

Posted by Kathy Bakkenist, Chief Operating Officer and Senior Vice President of Strategy and Operations 

What do people want?  That question looms so largely in our work at Ecumen.  And that’s why we conduct a significant amount of research with our current and future customers.   

Many of you have read our Age Wave Study.  Recently we conducted an intergenerational series of three 2-hour Twin Cities focus groups, largely of baby boomers and members of The Silent Generation, those born between the two World Wars.  We also had several members of the Greatest Generation.  All are currently living independently, most in condos or town homes. 

We asked them to think about living life as older people and what would be their ultimate lifestyle.  I’d like to share with you some interesting themes that cut across all of the focus group sessions: 

What state is your ideal retirement place?

Below are the top 10 states where retirees 60+ relocate.  The data comes from  Dr. Mark Fagan at Jacksonville State University in Alabama and his report called “Retirement Development and Job Creation.”

 STATE                   NUMBER
1. Florida                     394,254
2. Arizona                   134,583
3. California                 127,757
4. Texas                      100,700
5. North Carolina           74,937
6. Nevada                      61,627
7. Pennsylvania             60,430
8. Virginia                      59,976
9. Georgia                      57,992
10. New Jersey             54,657

It will be interesting to see if other communities or regions, such as Northern Wisconsin where a lot of people from the Twin Cities and Chicago go in the summer, become larger senior housing and healthcare hubs to serve people that want to stay in those areas.

The other day the Minneapolis Star Tribune did a story on the job of nursing assistants.  Nursing assistants are on the frontline of care and to be great, they have to be absolutely fabulous in delivering customer service. 

They ensure dignity, helping people eat, bathe and dress; they listen (instead of simply hearing) what the people in their care say; they deliver authentic warmth that simply makes people feel good; they provide encouragement.  Bottom line: Great nursing assistants make life better.

Walking is a great exercise and so beneficial for successful aging.

 How walkable is your neighborhood or the one you’re considering living in?  Find out at walkscore.com.

Pretty cool tool.

We get a lot of calls from people wanting to develop senior housing.  Sometimes those calls turn into fabulous projects that truly help make communities places where people can grow up and grow old.

A number of these calls, however, come from starry-eyed speculators who really don’t understand the complexities of building a high-quality, vibrant senior community.  For those truly interested in learning more about senior housing development, we have a new white paper that you can download (It’s on the left-hand side of the page link above).  It looks at key things to think about before delving into a senior housing project. 

Thanks to Michelle DeBace of Ecumen for the heads up on a National Public Radio story on the Beacon Hill Model on National Public Radio’s Marketplace, which is being adopted in Washington, D.C., and hopefully you’ll see it in full force here in the Twin Cities soon . . . a couple of groups are working on it.

You can listen to the NPR piece here.  To see the Beacon Hill web site, go here.

National Geographic Magazine about two years ago traveled the world and looked at several communities and their secrets for longevity.  You can watch a video clip from their travels here.  Here are a few interesting things they learned about successful aging:

From Sardinia in Italy, where men reach 100 at a rate more than twice as high as the average for Italy, they took these tips:

- Drink red wine (in moderation)
- Share the work burden with spouse
- Eat pecorino cheese (and other omega-3 foods)

Michael Graves, the renowned designer who has created many cool wares for Target, was in Minneapolis this weekend to receive the National Courage Award from the amazing  Courage Center, which empowers people with disabilities.  

When he received his award, he commented on the people in the audience with wheelchairs and walkers, saying “I love it, welcome to what will soon be the new normal.”  He, of course, is talking about the age wave.  Michael Graves became paralyzed three years ago when he contracted a viral infection.  It changed his life and, undoubtedly, because of that, he’s going to change the lives of many others.

It’s LaRhae Knatterud’s title at the Minnesota’s Department of Human Services.  She was a driving force behind the fabulous Project 2030 research done between 1997 and 2002, looking ahead at the Age Wave that is moving ever closer.

She and others from the Minnesota Department of Human Services have begun an extensive Minnesota 2010 road trip talking about the “age wave” and opportunities for transformation.  Go here  for more information and to find an upcoming 2010 Summit near your community.