The Healthcare Work Group published an exceptional brochure that lists 21 top aging service providers in Sarasota County. The Group’s work and links to their brochure are found on their Engaged in Aging Page. Other products of their leading group are also described there. The brochure is an excellent first step to finding the services you need.
http://engagedinaging.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/IR-Brochure-2-21-12.pdf
The Sarasota Community Alliance has several sub-groups known as Consortiums. We are attending and exploring possible ways we can work in and with this consortium. They meet monthly on the second Friday. We will also assist at the i4A’s Winter Forum on March 1 at the Hyatt. Our violunteers plan to wear new buttons publicizing our new name.
On January 17, 2013, Continuing the Conversation became “Engaged in Aging”. We felt that we needed a name that was more clear about what we do and that implied action. As soon as we can manage it, this web site will become www.engagedinaging.com.
Doug Ross
With the number of Americans over 65 set to double in the next 20 years, the SCAN Foundation of California has put out a guide to help baby boomers prepare to age with dignity and independence. If you’ve been paying attention, you are probably aware that achieving this will mean doing more with less, but this list is the most frank and concise — and not overhyped — discussion of the challenge ahead that I have come across.
Here are the foundation’s “10 things you should know”:
1. Most of us will need a little help to get by as we get older. We all see ourselves staying as healthy as possible through our golden years. The truth is that 70 percent of us who reach the age of 65 will need some form of care or services in our lives, for an average of three years.
2. Most of us are not prepared to pay for this care. Research shows that 43 percent of Americans over the age of 55 have less than $25,000 saved for retirement.
3. Supportive services are really expensive. In 2011, nursing home care cost an average of $78,110 a year for a semi-private room. Assistance at home, such as a visit from a home health aide cost on average $21,840 a year.
4. Medicare does not pay for these supportive services over an extended period of time. Only short-term rehabilitative care at home or in a nursing home are covered by Medicare. Additionally, for Medicare to even pay for these types of care, you must meet certain conditions.
5. Most government assistance for supportive services is linked to poverty. Medicaid is the nation’s primary funder of personal care and supportive services, paying for about half of all services provided. However, should you need care, the only way to qualify is to spend nearly all of your assets. The nest egg you’ve worked hard all your life to build must be spent to qualify for help.
6. Many of us aren’t aware of how to access the care we might need as we get older. In 2009, a national AARP poll of 1,000 Americans found one in five never thought about it or did not know where they would receive long-term care if they needed it today.
7. So far, private insurance has not been the answer. Just seven percent of the spending for personal care and supportive services comes from private long-term care insurance. This is because less than 10 percent of adults actually have purchased a policy. According to experts, few people purchase it because it is expensive, rates have historically increased rapidly, and potential buyers can be denied coverage due to pre-existing conditions.
8. There is a growing demand for supportive services and care as people grow older. Today, over 12 million Americans rely on these services and supports, with 58 percent of those individuals over the age of 65. By 2050, it is predicted that this number will
more than double, with 27 million Americans relying upon long-term services and supports. America needs a comprehensive system in place that will support our needs as we grow older.
9. Soaring costs threaten the health system. In 2010, spending on supportive services for adults age 65 and older was estimated to be $182 billion, and projected to increase to $684 billion by 2050. Such projections threaten both state and federal budgets. Nevertheless, little has been done in the past 40 years to address this problem and create a healthy network of supports and services allowing Americans to age with dignity in the place we call home.
10. Helping people stay in their homes and communities for as long as possible is a goal of the federal health reform law. The federal health reform law created a number of opportunities to help older people and adults with disabilities remain in their homes and communities. It includes programs to help states provide more inhome care to low-income adults in need and ways to help those living in nursing homes to return to their homes and communities.
In addition to helping CtC members become more active on this web site, there are some new potential uses. Social media is an ever changing way to engage with each other, and Andre, Julie and I have met some very good speakers through Andre’s Internet Marketing Master Mind group on Thursdays. Just a coiuple of hints. YouTube videos are more and more popular. Want to know how to do something, check Youtube!
YouTube is a subset of Google, and if you are on the Google page, you’ll see YouTube in the top toolbar. Try it out! Videos are more and more common and gain attention!
Here is another one. Have you heard of Pinterest? This site is a huge and growing collection of pictures which are organizable by topic. Once on Pinterset, it’s hard to leave!
My friend and colleague, John Greer, facilitator of Young Entrepreneurs of Sarastoa (YES) added this to the YES Newsletter. I include his introduction and then Cheryl Kimbal’s link to the list. The article was originally published in Entrepreneur Press.
John Greer Asks…Need a Business Idea? Here are 55….. |
All you need is an idea…..You can start any of these home based businesses for less than $5,000. Today, tens of thousands of people are considering starting a home based business, and for good reasons. On average, people can expect to have two and three careers during their work life. Those leaving one career often think about their second or third career move being to their own home. People who have been part of the traditional nine-to-five work force and are on the verge of retiring from that life are thinking of what to do next. The good news: Starting a home based business is within the reach of almost anyone who wants to take a risk and work hard. See you Tuesday and bring a friend that will enjoy & learn from the goup. John Greer, YES facilitator. |
It seems like the news about job growth fluctuates from week to week. I’m not sure that matters for most of those 55 and older who want to work. My sources suggest that “Encore” work opportunities might have a wider range, so part-time work, self employment in more or less entrepreneurial work, and even volunteer work that might lead to a paid position are all in the game. I call these “Work” opportunities. Jobs means 8 – 5 with a boss, and all the deductions etc. that full-time implies.
I also want to suggest a couple of specific ways that one can “position” oneself for work. Volunteering is the first and most obvious. You engage in a serious way with volunteer work and demonstrate that you have skills and interest. You prove your dependability and commitment. You build trust. In the process you can see where you might best fit in. A brief example from my experience is that I volunteered at Mote Marine Labs in Sarasota as a tour guide for the Aquarium. After about 9 months I asked the volunteer coordinator if my teaching or consulting skills would be useful to the organization, and soon was contracted to facilitate a Strategic Plan.
A second positioning can be accomplished by being a “virtual assistant”. Here you offer to take on a specific task, e.g., doing the organizations books using Quickbooks. You might offer artistic skills, writing skills, or any number of tasks related to previous employment, but you do it part-time and without benefits. Again you prove yourself, get known for great work, and are building trust. You are in a position to be hired full-time if they need it, or to propose additional tasks you might be able to take on for them.
I believe that in the work climate of this era, one needs to be known and respected to gain employment, and when you just submit a resume that is one of hundreds, your chances are slim or none. Get involved, prove yourself, and then seek something that will provide steady income.
The Institute for the Ages has landed here in Sarasota. To find out more about what ” The Institute” will study and why it is located in Sarasota, click right here! You’ll also be introduced to new President and CEO, Tom Esselman who comes to us from his very successful time at Hallmark Cards. The site is very user friendly and not cluttered in any sense of that word. Enjoy your visit!
In a super report from the well respected Boston Consulting Group titled Global Aging, the group makes the case for many possible ways corporations can and will benefit from the changing age demographics everywhere. Plain and simple, people are living longer, working longer, and seeking meaningful employment at the same time that birth rates are declining. The workforce is changing and will keep changing.
Through two organizations here in Sarasota, support for entrepreneurial support is taking root. Our citizen based CtC Sarasota is at the forefront as we await the completion of staffing the brand spanking new Institute for the Ages. Go to www.institutefortheages.com to keep up with the latest developments. I expect a very close relationship to continue between Engaged in Aging and the Institute.
Our immediate parent is the Winter Forum (On Aging) which has been generated by SCOPE (Sarasota County Openly Pursuing Excellence). We thank SCOPE for bringing all of us together as we engage in this shift!
Doug Ross
CtC Facilitator
Good leaders have many skills that allow them to have a comprehensive overview of the group’s workings. Keeping members interested and engaged is one of those skills. I have found that there is one very important feature of great leadership. It is a Golden Rule of Leadership: Accept responsibility for your part when things don’t go smoothly, and give credit to those around you for the successes.
