Aging Event Highlights Ways to Improve Elder Care Worldwide – Center for Retirement Research
I recently attended the Leading Age and Global Aging Network conference in Boston. Leading Age is the trade association for not-for-profit aged care providers, including aged care and home health facilities. The Global Aging Network (based in Britain) promotes the sharing of ideas and information between aging service providers around the world. The event – titled “The Power of Purpose: Creating Ripples of Change” – attracted more than 6,000 people from around the world to learn how to improve the lives of older adults and the disabled people they care for.
Attendees participated in a number of breakout sessions, most of which covered the nitty gritty of running a senior care facility or program. The exhibition hall was overflowing with over 100 vendors selling their services.
The session I attended covered the challenges of providing elder care in Africa in the face of major demographic changes, new software to help family caregivers, and how changing US immigration policy is reducing the caregiver workforce.
Africa
African adults are living longer as their children and grandchildren, who traditionally provided care, move from rural areas to cities – not so different from trends in the United States. Francis Njuakom from Cameroon spoke movingly about the difficulties that older women often had to marry older men, sometimes as one of several wives. They often lose their status and protection when their husbands die and, as a result, lack respect and dignity in their communities. His organization works with young people to create volunteer activities that support senior citizens including farming, beekeeping and goat rearing.
The software
The next session I attended presented emerging software solutions for family caregivers. One was through a startup, Trualta, which offers online services, including a video learning library, helpful checklists, webinars, and peer support groups. It is powerful, so users get information about its offerings as their support progress needs.
Immigration to another country
Luis Salvador of the American Business Immigration Coalition and Misty Chally from the Critical Labor Coalition explained, that according to KFF Health News, about one quarter of the long-term care workforce is made up of immigrants. The Trump administration announced the end of parole and temporary protection status in several countries and also imposed a complete travel ban on various countries, meaning that their citizens will no longer receive work-related visas to come to the United States. Salvador and Chally are in contact with other organizations, such as those representing farmers, who are trying to ease these restrictions and open new ways for workers to come here, such as three-year renewable work visas.
Cycling Without Age
Finally, one of the most inspiring parts of the conference was the screening of a documentary about the movement to bring the elderly out into the open and on bicycles in specially built rickshaws. The Cycling Without Age movement, which started in Copenhagen, has chapters in 41 countries.
The documentary describes the experience of the Santa Barbara chapter that takes the elderly out of assisted living. It seems exciting and life-enhancing for them and for the cyclists – or “pilots” – who take them out on the ride. It includes chapter founder John Seigel-Boettner and was created by his two sons, all of whom attended the conference.
For more from Harry Margolis, check out his Risking Old Age in America blog and podcast. He also answers consumer property planning questions on AskHarry.info. To stay updated on the Squared Away blog, join our free mailing list.
