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Aging and Politics: How to Adapt and Stay Engaged

The inundation of political ads lately has had me thinking of how much politics has changed in my lifetime. As we age, we may find ourselves confronted with changes in the political landscape. This can be challenging, especially if we have held certain beliefs and values for many years. However, adjusting to how politics is done these days is essential to staying informed and engaged in our communities. Here are some tips for adapting to our dynamic political atmosphere: Keep an open mindIt can be tempting to stick to our long-held beliefs and values, but it is important to approach

March 25, 2023 No Comments

Staying Informed and Taking Action: A Roadmap to Retirement Security Amid Uncertainty

Retirement is a time in life when people should be able to enjoy the fruits of their labor and live comfortably without financial worry. However, in times of inflation and concerns about the volitlity of the banking and market systems, retirees may find it challenging to maintain their standard of living without proper financial planning. Let’s take a brief look at what seniors, including those on a limited income, can do to ensure that their retirement is financially stable in these uncertain times. Diversify your investments – Investing in a diverse range of assets, such as stocks, bonds, and real

March 19, 2023 No Comments

The Power of Intergenerational Connections: Benefits for Individuals and Communities

Intergenerational events and initiatives bring people of different age groups together to learn from each other and share their experiences. These efforts have numerous benefits that can positively impact both individuals and communities. Here are some of the key benefits: Promoting social connections and reducing social isolation Intergenerational events provide an opportunity for people of different age groups to come together and form new relationships. Older adults often face social isolation, which can lead to a decline in physical and mental health. Intergenerational events can combat social isolation by providing opportunities for older adults to connect with younger people and

March 12, 2023 No Comments

From Retired to Rewired: Volunteering in Later Life

As we age, it’s important to stay active and engaged in our communities. One way to do this is through volunteering. Volunteering is not only a way to give back to the community but it also offers numerous physical, cognitive, and emotional benefits for older adults. Volunteering can be an excellent way for older adults to stay active and healthy. Physical activities such as gardening, walking, and cleaning can help keep the body in shape. Volunteering can also help reduce the risk of chronic diseases such as heart disease and hypertension. Studies have shown that volunteers have lower levels of

March 5, 2023 No Comments

Why Being Social is So Important

In the Age in Place survey done last October, more than one-third of Door residents indicated that they are or expect to feel lonliness or experience sadness and depression as they age. More than half want to be social in community events or through volunteer work. As humans, we are social creatures and our social connections are an integral part of our overall health and well-being. Unfortunately, many older adults face social isolation and loneliness, which can contribute to a host of negative health outcomes including depression and decreased physical health. Isolation and loneliness are often intertwined, but they are

February 26, 2023 No Comments

The Eighth Domain: Community and Health Services

As we wrap up the 8 domains of livability, we look at the 8th domain – community and health services. As with the other domains, this looks at how to keep seniors healthy, independent and actively engaged in the community. This involves an adequate amount of care services conveniently located close by and are provided by trained professionals. And as with the other domains, there is also a consideration of affordability. To say that seniors have different health care needs and preferences is an understatement. As we look at our aging population, we see the oldest of the aged, those

January 30, 2023 No Comments

The Seventh Domain: Communication and Information

A key part of growing old in an age-friendly community is staying connected with events, news and activities with timely, accessible and practical information. Technology is often tapped to spread information quickly but also plays a role in social exclusion.. A community needs to offer information in an accessible format and consider a wide range of needs and resources of their older citizens. Media outlets are key to communicating information to the wider community. Older people tend to receive information through traditional print and broadcast media, and through direct personal contact such as telephone calls, attending community centers, etc. Some

January 22, 2023 1 Comment

The Sixth Domain: Work and Civic Engagement

An age-friendly community actively engages older adults in community life and has opportunities for residents to work for pay or volunteer their skills. Older people can increase their quality of life from active involvement in voluntary activities or work, providing satisfaction and social engagement. A variety of volunteer and employment opportunities should offer choices that meet diverse preferences, needs and skills. Key to this process is an awareness on the vacancies available, connecting seniors to these opportunities. In addition to job access, entrepreneurial opportunities are another way to support seniors’ participation in the workforce and increase their self-sufficiency. Transporation is

January 15, 2023 1 Comment

The Fifth Domain: Respect and Social Inclusion

First, let me thank all you wonderful followers for your patience. Since I generally post on Sundays, the holidays certainly delayed the process! Let’s talk about the fifth domain of livability – respect and social inclusion. At first glance, the importance of a community being inclusive of older adults may not rise to the same importance as say transporation and housing. And perhaps some may think this happens naturally if you have social opportunities in your community. But there is some much more to encouraging older people to participate in their community’s social, civic and economic life. Most may think

January 8, 2023 1 Comment

The Fourth Domain: Social Participation

Well, here’s one that needs quite a bit of attention, and that’s not said lightly. According to the Age-in-Place survey done here in October, more than 1/3 of us are experiencing or expect to experience lonliness as they age. As of July, 2021, there are 30,369 residents of Door County. This means that over 10,000 of our friends and neighbors will feel alone and sad at any given time. Whoa! Social participation in an Age-Friendly community means older adults participating in leisure, social, cultural and spiritual activities that keeps them integrated in the community, helps them stay engaged, and ensures

December 18, 2022 No Comments

The Third Domain: Housing

To continue our series about the 8 domains of livability of an age-friendly community, we take a look at housing. This is defined as housing that is designed for an older person to live comfortably and be in proximity to community and social services. Certainly, a part of this equation is the affordabiity of housing. If the cost of housing is high, this discourages older people from moving to more appropriate age-friendly housing. In addition, being affordable for many seniors on a fixed income can mean property tax caps or assistance. And then there is the question of affording modifications

December 14, 2022 No Comments

The Second Domain: Transportation

Continuing on with the deep dive into the 8 Domains of Livability of an Age-Friendly Community, let’s look at transportation. This domain is focused the ability of an individual to comfortably move in and around their community. Transportation, including accessible and affordable public transport, is a key factor influencing active aging. Elements of mobility and access are deeply integrated across all of the eight domains. Being able to move about in public determines social and civic participation and access to community and health services. This domain encompasses the availability and affordability of transportation, the reliability, and frequency of transportation, age-friendly

December 5, 2022 1 Comment

The First Domain: Outdoor Spaces and Buildings

At the Community Forums, we used the 8 Domains of Livability of an Age-Friendly community to guide the conversations. Let’s take a closer look at each domain, the first being Outdoor Spaces and Buildings. The World Health Organization views this as important because “the environment has a major impact on the mobility, independence and quality of life of older people as they go about their daily lives beyond the comfort of their homes. A clean city with well-maintained recreational areas, ample rest areas, well-developed and safe pedestrian and building infrastructure, and a secure environment provides an ideal living environment for

November 28, 2022 No Comments

Thank You Forum Participants!

We hosted forums throughout Door County from November 8th through November 17th and it was awesome! Some forums were big and others small but all were interactive and informative for all in attendance. We learned so much about the different communities of Door and the thoughts of residents about their community. After sharing a little bit about our organization, we stepped through some interesting information that came from the Age-in-Place survey. If you weren’t able to make it, here’s a quick summary: The conversation then began. We used the 8 domains of an Age-Friendly Community as a backdrop for the

November 20, 2022 No Comments

What is an Age-Friendly Community?

We’ve been talking a lot about this in the Community Forums being held throughout Door County this month so let’s take a look at it. The Age Friendly initiative was developed by the World Health Organization and adopted by AARP to provide a framework for communities to identify and address barriers to the well-being and participation of older adults. An Age-Friendly Community is a place that adapts its services and physical structures in order to improve the quality of life of residents as they age. That being said, people of all ages benefit from policies and programs that make neighborhoods

November 12, 2022 No Comments

Can Door County become a “Village”?

The Village Movement is an innovative movement in communities that coordinates services for older adults. Villages are one of the most promising options to cope with the upcoming “Graying of America” dilemma. The Village Movement began in 1999 with a group of older adults in Boston that wanted to live in their own homes while staying engaged in social activities within their neighborhood. This group of older adults recognized the need for support in the future and didn’t want to rely on existing solutions such as nursing homes, retirement communities, and hired helpers. As a result, the Village Movement

November 6, 2022 No Comments

They is Us – A Cornerstone

In the summer of 2016, a series of conversations happened in the many communities of Door County. It was an effort to understand what our residents wanted as they age here. The Door County Community Foundation describes the project as not a strategic planning process or a means to an end goal, but rather an opportunity for the people of the community to come together and talk about what they wanted for Door County as they grow older. The summary that resulted has a wealth of information and was an inspiration to me to pursue all things aging in Door

November 3, 2022 No Comments

The results are in!

The Age-in-Place survey launched on October 4th, and at its close on October 25th, it had 1,233 responses. Now that doesn’t sound like much but put into context, it’s actually extraordinary. Customer surveys can typically garner 25-30% response rate but these have an “invested” audience…they have made a purchase or had a service so have a desire to give feedback. Other surveys, not prompted by a purchase or service, can have a 5-25% rate. According to St. Norbert College Strategic Research Institute, however, community surveys have a much lower response rate, typically 2-3%. So 1,233 responses, was that really so

October 30, 2022 No Comments

Why the survey phone number

Full disclosure! When we were planning for the Age-in-Place survey six months ago, we honestly hadn’t considered how people could complete it outside of the internet. We knew that there were access troubles in the county, and certainly there were those who didn’t have computers or otherwise not able to complete the survey online. And then we met Jessica Hatch, the county’s Broadband Coordinator. If you want to know just how concerning accessibility is in Door County, visit https://www.fibernetdoorcounty.org/. To be sure every resident had an opportunity to have a voice on how we age, we secured an answering service.

October 23, 2022 No Comments

Research Participants Needed

There are a lot of great research going on out there and this one will make a direct impact on future federal funding of supports for direct care workers. Pass it on!

October 16, 2022 No Comments