NewScan is a biweekly briefing on news relevant to readers of The EndGame. NewScan is a premium feature exclusively for paid subscribers.
Baby Boomers have different expectations of older adult communities, and successful communities will have to adapt, says healthcare CEO Terry Rogers. Among their expectations: Personalized offerings, seamless integration of services, transparency and trust, authenticity, and activities that reflect purpose. Rogers notes that the boomers have a track record of forcing changes in housing, Education, Health, Technology, and popular culture.
A Pew Research Center survey has found, not surprisingly, that upper-income adults have a better quality of life, better health, better social skills, better cognition, and higher satisfaction than their middle-income and low-income peers. More than 60% of upper-income adults aged 65 and older said they were Aging well, a number that drops to 39% for low-income adults. Reality closely follows perception: Low-income seniors are more likely to experience mental confusion and difficulties with daily tasks like climbing stairs and shopping for groceries.
New medical advances and treatments may extend both our lifespans and our healthspans. But for now, these breakthroughs are a luxury available only to those who can afford them. Mark Swartz at Aging in America News asks whether universal Longevity would be better than a two-tiered approach.
Extreme heat has killed more than 90,000 older Europeans in the past five years. More than 89% of heat-related deaths in Japan are people aged 65 and older. Jane Barratt, an internationally recognized expert on global aging, health, and social policy, says both aging and climate change test the depth of our humanity, asking “whether we will make space for the vulnerable as the world grows harsher.”
“Somewhere along the way,” writes a Substack essayist who calls himself The Old Grey Thinker, “the culture decided that if you’re past 50, you should lower your volume. Speak softly…Vanish elegantly.” Why? “What they meant was ‘stop making the young uncomfortable.’” The writer begs to differ, with prejudice.
