Seniors serious about their sports

From August 1-15, the United States National Senior Games (formerly the National Senior Olympics) will be held at Stanford University and other Bay Area venues in Northern California. Nearly 13,000 athletes aged 50 to 100+ years will compete in 18 medal sports and 7 exhibition sports.

Medal sports include archery, badminton, basketball, bowling, cycling, golf, horseshoes, race walk, racquetball, road race, shuffleboard, softball, swimming, table tennis, track & field, triathalon, and volleyball. Exhibition sports include equestrian, fencing, lawn bowling, rowing, sailing, soccer and water polo.

70 year old discus thrower

Athletes compete within their age groups, which are arranged in 5 year increments. Individuals participating in the National Senior Games in August first qualified for this honor by earning 1st or 2nd place medals in their events at their individual state senior games this past year.

Since the first National Senior Games, which took place in St. Louis in 1987 with 2500 athletes competing, interest and participation in sports in the later years has grown. Researchers estimate that more 500,000 seniors now compete at local, state and national levels.

Some have called this growing interest the “Senior Sports Movement.” Initially, only men and women who had participated in sports and physical activity their entire lives were involved in this movement. Now, people who may have participated in sports off and on -- and even those who had never tried sports (especially older women) -- are getting interested and trying them out.

90 year old diver

In my senior sports movement research in the 1990’s, I received a letter from a 67 year old woman. She said a friend of hers told her how much fun she was having competing in track and field events. My letter writer tried the long jump and enjoyed it so much that she had a long jump run and sand landing pit installed in her back yard. She competed at her state senior games, came in second, and qualified to compete at the national games. Her only complaint was that she wished she had a good coach. She also said that since she was a tax payer she should be allowed to use the local high school track facilities to train in. I thought she had a good point!

When you attend the National Senior Games, whether as a participant, volunteer or spectator, the first thing that strikes you is that everyone is smiling. Everyone is extremely happy to be there. Don’t let the smiles fool you though; every athlete is extremely serious about their competition and their performance. Competition is intense at every venue. I’ve witnessed 80 year old women basketball players throwing elbows and knocking their opponents to the ground in an effort to get rebounds.

Another aspect of the senior games that is striking is that many of the participants have had to navigate serious health issues on their way to qualifying for their events. For example, one swimmer I talked with had battled cancer, a heart disorder, and also the death of his spouse. Fortunately, sports added important elements to his life, including social support, confidence-building “victories,” physical activity and health. I watched him set a record in the 1,000 meter freestyle swim event for his age group (75-80 yrs).

The National Senior Games Association (NSGA), a nonprofit agency established in 1997, is behind the events. NSGA’s mission is to promote healthy lifestyles for seniors through fitness and sports. The NSGA website includes information about the senior games, including how to compete in your own state event and qualify for the nationals. The site also shows a short video about senior athletes. My personal opinion of this video is that they spent too long depicting younger seniors (i.e., ages 50-55) and not enough time on older seniors. However, the video may be inspirational for some. Click here to watch the video.

Watching older adults participate and compete in sports is truly inspirational. These individuals accurately reflect what’s possible physically, functionally, and gracefully as we age. Their performances make it impossible for us to accept the old stereotypes about aging. Observe, volunteer, or participate—senior sports will bring you joy.


Constance McCloy, PT, EdD
Associate Professor

Aging in Indiana e-news explores healthy homes for seniors

According to the Home Safety Council, more than 7,000 adults age 65 and older die as a result of an injury that occurs at home.

The HSC lists the five leading causes of home injury death for Americans age 65+ as:

1. Falls
2. Fire/Burn
3. Poisoning
4. Natural/Environmental
5. Choking/Suffocation

The latest edition of CAC's Aging in Indiana e-newsletter looks at the U.S. Surgeon General's Call to Action to Promote Healthy Homes.

To read the e-newsletter, which offers useful links for seniors, caregivers and aging industry professionals, click here.

Time banking can give seniors both purpose and help

A recent entry to the Future of Aging blog by consumer focus columnist Katie Sloan focused on the dilemma many seniors face after moving into a continuing care retirement community -- finding opportunities to use and share their gifts and talents.

About six weeks ago, I had the good fortune of meeting a resident of a local senior living community who expressed the same concern.

“In my previous life, I was a chef and I loved it,” Nancy told me. “I still love to cook, but the only time I can get into the kitchen and really make magic is when I go to visit my friend and she gives me free reign of her kitchen. She will usually invite family and friends over, because she knows I will cook enough to feed an army.”

Her face lit up as she shared story after story about some of the wonderful experiences she had in professional kitchens across the country. I also watched as the gleam in her eye became dull with reality. Although the facility where she now lives is beautifully decorated and residents are offered a host of programs and services, I had to wonder how many other residents are feeling the void that comes from lost opportunities to do the things they enjoy and are still good at.

For those people, the concept of “time banking” offers hope. Time banking matches unmet needs with untapped resources. It is a means of spending time doing something for someone in your community and earning “time dollars” to spend on goods or services that will be of assistance to you or your loved one.

Time banking builds on community assets, recognizing and respecting contributions from those of all ages. Time banks will fill important gaps in non-medical services that traditional providers often cannot address – escort, respite, errand running, light yard work and housekeeping, tutoring, peer education, information sharing, meal preparation, and many others.

If a time bank were available in Nancy’s community, perhaps she could provide meal preparation for a neighbor who needed assistance and bank those hours for use when she needs some housekeeping help. Though not new, the time bank concept is beginning to take the nation by storm.

In 1973, the 5th Dimension sang “this is the dawning of the Age of Aquarius,” which simply means leaving one age (Pisces) and entering into a new one (Aquarius). But in 2009, we are moving into a new age of breaking from the past to invent the future we desire in our society – a future that emphasizes humanity, collaboration, usefulness and creativity.

For more on time banking, visit http://www.timebanks.org/


LaNita Garmany
Project Director

Elder care marketing? Your opinion wanted.

Ryan Malone of Inside Elder Care is collecting opinions from people who market elder care products or services. His goal is to gather information from 750 respondents.

Participation takes five minutes and is completely anonymous. You can request a copy of the survey results if you like.

To participate in this survey, click here.

We should all age so well

Do you have 89 years or 540,000+ miles in you? For an update on whether Rachel or her car are still in "drive," click here.

Yes Virginia, there is a generation gap.

A new Pew Research Center Social & Demographic Trends survey on aging found 79% of respondents said there was a generation gap, with the phrase defined as “a major difference in the point of view of younger people and older people today.”

This compared to a 1969 Gallup Poll that found 74% of respondents stated there was a generation gap and a 1979 poll by CBS and The New York Times when just 60% perceived a generation gap. While there are no longer generational conflicts like in the 1960s, the Pew survey respondents of all ages felt the differences were in morality, values and work ethic.

This survey of 2,969 adults ages 18 and older also found a major gap between the expectations that young and middle aged adults have about old age and the actual experience reported by older Americans themselves.

• 57% of people aged 18 to 64 expect to be afflicted with memory loss in old age, but only 25% of people 65 and older report such difficulty.
• 42% of the younger group say serious illness will be a problem; only 21% of the older group report experiencing serious illness.

The Markers of Old Age chart below shows the percentage of respondents who say a person is old when he or she…

In nine negative markers of aging within the Pew survey, younger people expect growing old to be worse than it is. Some of these markers include forgetfulness, retirement, becoming sexually inactive, experiencing bladder control problems, and having grandchildren. In every instance, older adults report experiencing the negative markers at lower levels than younger adults anticipate them.

There are certain markers – failing health, an inability to live independently, an inability to drive and having difficulty with stairs – that all generations agreed were equal in the degree to which they served as an indicator of old age. These four markers have shown up repeatedly in studies by AARP, MetLife and other institutions that study aging. All markers prevent older adults from aging in place.

The Pew study also discusses the differences between the young and old adult as to when old age begins, under what conditions and at what age are adults the happiest, and what part religion plays in their lives.

If you would like to learn more about this study, click here.


Helen Dillon
Project Director

Seniors have important part to play in community development

Community development is the process by which a community decides collectively on its needs and develops strategies to use its collective power to meet those needs.

The older adult population is rapidly growing in our communities. People ages 65 years or older-numbered 37.9 million in 2007. They represent 12.6% of the U.S. population, over one in every eight Americans.

As our population ages, fewer seniors are content to move into retirement villages to sit and gaze and reflect on the past. Older U.S. residents are living longer, healthier lives with fewer disabilities. Many are willing and active volunteers and community leaders. Some seniors simply can’t or don’t want to “retire” in the traditional sense. Many look for alternatives to sedentary life styles and often find a niche in civic engagement and community development.

Older adults bring a wealth of institutional knowledge, skills, and expertise to community development. A community that embraces its elders is one that capitalizes on the wealth of opportunity for seniors to partner, collaborate and produce positive results for the entire community.
The roles elders play in community development ensure that seniors define their own needs and come up with their own solutions; it ensures that their voices are heard.

Senior involvement in community development allows programming for elders to work with the unique combination of needs and assets of the whole community. It also creates opportunities for seniors to further develop leadership and advocacy skills. Senior involvement in leadership roles such as heading up a volunteer committee, contributing to decision making, setting priorities for funding, etc. is invaluable in successful community programming

Programs are more likely to last when a community development approach is used, when seniors identify their own local community problems, and design and carry out their own projects In addition, solutions worked out by one community may offer valuable lessons learned for others.

The five Indiana neighborhood naturally occurring retirement communities (NNORCs) developed through the Communities for Life (CFL) program have been the beneficiaries of a group of dedicated, motivated, and informed seniors who have been intimately involved in community development in terms of improved home safety, effecting change by ensuring information access, and neighborhood improvement by spear heading clean-up-fix-up campaigns. They have also participated in legislative sessions and voiced their opinions to local and state lawmakers.

Indiana communities are better places to raise families and successfully age in place because of the involvement of seniors in communities in Gary, South Bend, Linton, Indianapolis, and Huntington. To learn more about the changes older adults are helping to bring in these communities, click here.


Catherine Woodard
CFL Project Assistant

AoA looking for feedback on web-based meds program for seniors

The U.S. Administration on Aging and the Health Resources Services Administration have developed a web-based education program to prevent older adults from being poisoned due to accidental misuse and interactions with their medicines. The program, Taking Your Medicines Safely, is designed to be administered by senior center personnel to interested seniors in their Center.

The one hour web-based program covers:

1. Potential problems of taking prescription medicines with over-the-counter products
2. Ways to keep track of medicines
3. Questions seniors should ask about their medicines

You can help!
The program needs to be reviewed and finalized before it can be made available nationally. If you work with older adults, you know what works best with your population. AoA/HRSA want your input. Please visit the website and supply your feedback on the program between July 17 and July 31.

The website is http://66.92.20.174/MedicineSafely/. The password for the website is safely01.

We're all a-Twitter!

Now that we've got this blogging thing down, All Things Aging is ready for our next techie challenge. So we've jumped aboard the Twitter bandwagon. We hope to share -- and pass along from others interested in aging -- news and commentary on issues related to the aging population, baby boomers, gerontology education...you know, all things aging.

Do you tweet? If so, follow us. We're @AllThingsAging. We'll follow you back. Promise.

Over there in the left-hand column of this blog you can click to follow us, as well as see our latest tweets. Hope to see you in the Twitosphere!

Governing magazine highlights NORC concept

The most recent issue of Governing magazine includes an article by John Buntin titled "Seniors and the City," which reviews the concept of the naturally occurring retirement community (NORC).

Buntin's article gives considerable space to the history of NORCs -- from the coining of the term by urban planning professor Michael Hunt to the insight and vision of NORC pioneer Fredda Vladeck in New York City. Buntin also shines a light on Indiana's NORC efforts, including the innovative approach taken by the University of Indianapolis Center for Aging & Community (CAC).

Funded by the Indiana Family and Social Services Administration Division on Aging and working with Indiana's first NORC, Elder-Friendly Communities, CAC worked to establish five NORCs throughout the state in urban, suburban and rural settings.

To read the Governing magazine article, click here.

To learn more about CAC's NORC program, Communities for Life, click here or contact CFL Project Director LaNita Garmany at (317) 791-5941 or garmanyl at uindy dot edu.

AARP reviews video games for grownups

A while back, I wrote a post called "This is not your grandson's video game." It turns out CAC is not the only ones talking about video games and older adults.

Thanks to an entry posted on ShAARP Session, I learned that AARP offers quarterly reviews of newly released video games.

The AARP video game reviews include ratings of the following:

• Ease of play
• Visuals
• Controls
• Fun
• Challenge

Each review also gives a reason "why you should get it."

Check out the list and surprise your grandkids with how hip you are -- or consult it to pick a new game for your favorite older adult.


Amy Magan
Communications Manager

We have a winner!

Congratulations to Alicia Elpers who won a copy of Caring for Our Parents: Inspiring Stories of Families Seeking New Solutions to America's Most Urgent Health Crisis by Howard Gleckman. Thanks to everyone who commented on Gleckman's guest post.

Alicia, please send an e-mail to amagan at uindy dot edu with your mailing address so we can get your book to you.

Interested in advancements in Alzheimer's research?

The Indiana Alzheimer Disease Center (IADC) will host a private screening of HBO's Alzheimer's Project: Momentum in Science, Part II on Tuesday, July 7 from 6:30-8:30pm at the Riley Outpatient Center Auditorium in Indianapolis.

After the screening, IADC faculty members will be available to answer questions about Alzheimer's disease, current diagnosis methods, treatments and promising areas of research.

The program is free of charge and open to the public, however registration is required. To register, call (317) 274-4939.

If you are not in the Indianapolis area or are unavailable on Tuesday evening, you can watch each of the five parts of the Alzheimer's Project through streaming video by visiting the project's website.