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| Aging with Dignity – How Do You Want to Live? |
| by Senator Richard T. Moore |
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In the next fifteen years, the number of senior citizens will double as the “baby boomer” generation reaches age sixty-five and beyond. Not only will a larger number of our fellow citizens achieve senior citizen status, but those who do will live longer. In fact, the fastest growing part of our population is those above age eighty-five. Only a century ago, in 1906, our great-grandparents had a life expectancy of only forty-five years, but one of the wonderful aspects of modern life is that we have more of it. All of us hope that we can live longer, especially if we are relatively healthy and have all, or at least most, of our mental faculties. Of course, we can help ourselves to achieve this goal by good nutrition, exercise – both physical and mental – and working with our health care providers to practice prevention such as getting our flu shots, renewing our tetanus shots, checking blood pressure, blood sugar, and cholesterol, etc. In addition, some good financial planning is important. As we live longer, some of the “guarantees” offered by government or our pensions – if we have one – will have less purchasing power than they do today. While many look forward to “retirement,” that status is frequently not the end of our need to work. We may simply want jobs that offer more free time for other pursuits or which help us from spending our savings to quickly. Few, if any, of us look forward to the prospect of losing our independence. We couldn’t wait to get it when we were teenagers, and we definitely want to keep it as long as we can. Independence can mean the continued ability to drive a car, living on our own without constant help, getting up when we want, eating what we choose, going places, etc. We don’t want our life options to be limited by our health conditions, lack of supportive family or friends, or our financial status. No one wants to have nursing home residence as our only option. The good news is that both federal and state governments are shifting policies and funding to help all of us remain in our homes or in the community. Recently, the Massachusetts Legislature passed the “Equal Choice Bill,” which is intended to help older people, and those with disabilities of any age, to live in their homes rather than institutional settings. We’re also working on making long term care insurance more affordable and attractive, and we’re promoting health prevention programs to help us remain healthy longer. Nursing homes will continue to be needed, but not for all senior citizens. They must change their culture and improve in quality in order to survive. The better nursing homes – places like Beaumont in Northbridge, Blaire House in Milford, or Lydia Taft in Uxbridge – are already advancing with programs such as “elder day care.” More than today, they will house those with the most debilitating illnesses such as Alzheimer’s Disease (unless a cure is ultimately found that dread illness) that require constant care and protection. The real questions for long-term care providers and for government will be: How do we meet growing demands? How do we meet greater expectations for a more responsive system? In order to meet the growing demand and higher expectations we need to address several problem areas. We need to find more personnel to provide health and social services, and to do that, we will need to provide training, attractive salaries and benefits, quality monitoring. We will also need to value the jobs of service providers much more highly than we seem to today in order to attract and retain competent, caring care workers, to give them a career ladder, and to help them learn to use the latest technology especially in home care settings. Even more important will be the questions that we ask ourselves. We will have to decide how do we want to live, to age with dignity and reasonably good health? Who do we want to care for us when we need some level of assistance? We all have different preferences so we will not want to live in facilities that follow a hospital model of early rising and the same, bland menus. Senior citizens of tomorrow will not be content to stop by the local senior center for a hot meal and bingo. They will want volunteer experiences, cultural events, learning and travel opportunities. They will also want to be able to teach others, to share their knowledge, skills, and life experiences in meaningful ways. They will also want to find ways to make a difference in their communities through public or community service. All of this means jobs and economic growth for others in society and a better quality of life for everyone. As noted earlier, Massachusetts has already begun to plan for this “new world” for seniors and the disabled. More changes in law and regulations as well as funding will be needed in coming years. Seniors are invited and encouraged to share any ideas they might have with me and my State House staff in the coming months as we prepare for the next legislative session. Please check my web site, www.senatormoore.com for more information as it becomes available. Richard T. Moore is a Democratic state senator from Uxbridge who represents the people of the 14 town Worcester and Norfolk Senatorial District. He serves as Senate Chairman of the Legislature’s Committee on Health Care Financing and recently participated in a Cross-Atlantic Exchange for Improving Long Term Care sponsored by AARP and the European Union. |
