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Health and Wellness in the Third Age

mlanier52

Health and Wellness in the Third Age

Posted 02/23/2009 - 1:44pm

I’ll bet Dr. Karl Singer will live to be at least 110! Especially if he continues to watch those educational videos while riding his stationary bike, chomping away on those twelve fruits and vegetables every day as he prepares to play his viola with the youthful students at his former prep school.

Who knows, he might even live to be 120 if he continues to develop his meditation practice and avoids anesthesia in future surgeries like he did during his past cornea surgery. And what about that three-week unpaid leave of absence each year for a really big trip?

It all adds up, as Dr. Singer told us at a recent Life Planning Network meeting, where he discussed the impact of lifestyle on aging, using his own experience as a case-in-point.

But, seriously, the tenor of Dr. Singer’s life is one of extraordinary ambition and privilege placing him in the highest socio-economic status (SES). He mentioned that lifestyle choices are the main determinants in longevity from the age of 65 to 80 – “the bonus years.” Great! If time and means are available.

As a group of professionals, my guess is that we see the more privileged people as our client base. They have the money to hire us. But go down the SES gradient and the picture is different. The time, the money and the tools for success are not so available to some groups, nor are basic knowledge, practical understanding and personal awareness.

The challenges and issues presented to this sector of the population are very complex and offer lots of room for discussion and response. What are we doing as professionals (or what should we do) to meet the needs of those who are less privileged?

So hang on to that thought – I need to go eat another apple or two.

Mo Lanier is a member of LPN New England. She is a personal health and fitness trainer who specializes in working with third age and fourth age clients at the West Suburban YMCA in Newton, MA.

Doug Dickson

Focus, creativity and subsidy...

March 1, 2009 - 1:55pm

Mo raises an issue of huge consequence to our profession as well as the people we serve. And it’s multi-dimensional in scope. There are questions of affordability, awareness and access, as she notes. And these are complicated by motivation, cultural patterns, family and community dynamics, and other factors that we may see but can’t engage or that lie buried beyond our reach.

So what can we do, she asks? I’ll start the discussion with three ideas:

  • First, let’s recognize that we’re not a one-size-fits-all model for providing services to everyone who needs assistance at this lifestage. We can help many, but others will always reside beyond our reach. And as professionals, we need to bring focus to our practices, which means identifying our market niches and sticking to them.

  • Second, while the one-on-one coaching convention has its advantages, we may need to develop and perfect other approaches to reach the audiences we seek. Intact community- or employer-based groups, workshops of various types, online communities and other variations on the theme are already in play. The more creative we can be, the more people we can reach.

  • Third, the concept of “subsidy” is well established in the business world. Paying for the cost of a new product with the proceeds of another is one example; getting someone else to cover the costs is another. In our practices, we employ subsidies in the form of sliding-scale or discounted fees, scholarships and experimental programs. There’s no problem with these approaches as long as they’re done intentionally and rationally.

We’re a long way from bridging the divide that Mo calls to our attention, but we’ll get there if she and others keep us honest by reminding us of the importance of this issue to our long-term success as a profession.