WebJunction

And you have to love a website that refers to the aging of baby boomers as "escalating societal, cultural, economic and medical Armageddon".

Thanks for the good laugh.

Emily

Age in America is Libraries for the Future's newest thing.

It focuses in on Hartford CT, Norfolk VA and Middle Country on Long Island. It's a "two-year project designed to demonstrate the potential for museums and libraries, working together both locally and nationally, to strengthen public understanding of aging as an historical and cultural phenomenon."

They got something like 241 grand from IMLS to "develop public programming among cultural institutions that engage intergenerational audiences in exploring the experience of aging in America from historical, cultural, and artistic perspectives."

I'm looking forward to seeing some action here.

Doug

Doubtless many of you already know about this resource, but just in case.

The federal Administration on Aging (AoA) recently put out some interesting statistical figures about older Americans.

AoA’s figures, some as recent as 2007, cover most every census category one can think: future growth, marital status, racial and ethnic composition, housing, employment, education, etc.

Each section is in html for ease of use, though the entire publication is 17 pages in pdf (http://www.aoa.gov/prof/statistics/profile/2007/2007profile.pdf). It's quick and authoritative.

Factoids:

• The number of Americans aged 45-64 – who will reach 65 over the next two decades – increased by 39% during this decade.
• About 9.4% (3.4 million elderly persons nationally) live below the poverty level;
• Some type of disability (sensory disability, physical disability, or mental disability). was reported by 52% of older persons;
• Older men are much more likely to be married than older women (72% of men, 42% of women);
• Almost half of all older women are widows (43%)
• There were over four times as many widows (8.6 million) as widowers (2.0 million).
• Most older persons have at least one chronic condition and many have multiple conditions. Among the most frequently occurring conditions of elderly in 2004-2005 were:
• hypertension (48%),
• diagnosed arthritis (47%),
• all types of heart disease (29%),
• any cancer (20%),
• diabetes (16%), and
• sinusitis (14%)

Need proof that your population has special needs? Need to show your funders that older adults shouldn't actually depend on 'special revenue streams'? Here's some data to back it up.

A recent report by the Temple University Center for Intergenerational Learning analyzes the motivations of immigrant elders engaged in civic roles and highlights the promising practices of agencies who successfully engage them.

Excerpt from the Key Findings: "Trusted ethnic-based organizations and religious institutions, immediate and extended family units, and informal social groups serve as civic connectors that facilitate elder engagement and can also serve as access points for more formal opportunities."

While the material in the 'Key Findings' and 'Implications for Organizations and Community Leaders' sections isn't exactly riveting, it confirms for me the difficulty of contacting and linking up with older immigrants and refugees; this confirms that this group is a tough nut to crack.

Has anyone seen this site? MetLife is sponsoring or underwriting this Mature Market Institute.

The first thing I'll point to by them is a 'Boomer Map,' a sort of preview of what they see is coming up for Boomers and the rest of us.

It's filled with the kind of hyperbole that I love (e.g., the world is "fraught with dilemmas: the decline of legacy institutions that they have both opposed and worked within, the meteoric advance of technologies..." blah blah blah) and the map has some great looking retro fonts.

Another notable future trend: "more people adopt attitudes that could be called 'transhuman.'" Now that's GOTTA be cool.

This is an undated pdf published by the National Institute on Aging and the National Library of Medicine.

Rocket science it's not; (e.g., "use a sans serif typeface") but there are good bits here for those of us that do web content and, importantly, that we can pass along to the webmasters to whom we are subject.

Other tips:

Use single mouse clicks to access information.
Use pull down menus sparingly.
Solicit unbiased comments from older adults through focus groups, usability testing or other means, to evaluate the accessibility and friendliness of the web site.

FWIW.

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/pubs/checklist.pdf

I believe I've mentioned Aging in Stride's electronic newsletter before, but just in case I haven't or it's gotten lost in the shuffle.

http://enews.aginginstride.org/ is the site, which is of course available off the 'usual' Aging in Stride] site.

This month's newsletter includes:

10 Myths and Facts About Falls (e.g., Each year, one in three people age 65 experiences a fall serious enough to require medical attention)

Rx Friendship: Add More Socialization to Your Healthy Aging Prescription (which reinforces that "Loneliness can be a debilitating, distressing condition" for people)

Age-Related Eye Problems Can Lead to Computer Vision Syndrome (gives readers tips such as "Keep blinking. To minimize the chances of developing dry eye when using a computer, make an effort to blink frequently. Blinking keeps the front surface of the eye moist")

Be Healthy and Safe in the Garden (e.g., "Limit distractions, use chemicals and equipment properly, and be aware of possible hazards to lower your risk for injury")

And there's a wordfind. I always seem to find unintentional words in those.

Does anyone have any personal or library-related experiences with Senior Net, about which we have posted before? It almost seems like a competitor to libraries, but maybe 'potential partner' is a more hopeful term.

SeniorNet is a nonprofit organization of computer-using adults, age 50+ with a mission to provide older adults education for and access to computer technologies to enhance their lives and enable them to share their knowledge and wisdom.

There is some free educational content on the site, but most of it seems driven towards joining($40; $30 to renew) and taking classes online or at learning centers. Members get “privileges” in Learning Centers and online.

www.seniornet.org and (800) 747-6848.