Dear Members and Friends,
Aging in America is trending! The number of surveys and opinion pieces on the experience of aging is increasing almost daily. Most of the information suggests that people not only aren't concerned about age but eagerly embrace the challenges and benefits of growing older.
If attitude is as important as we all believe it is, aging is getting more interesting and more pleasant. In spite of that or maybe because of people's attitude, a new, interdisciplinary group of service professionals is emerging. They call themselves geriatricians.
What do Geriatricians do?
Briefly, they are health and wellnes professionals who identify and clarify health goals for older adults. They guide strategies for well-being. They assist us in finding ways to promote independence as we age.
Many people aged sixty to eighty want to continue to live independently as long as possible. Some surveys of this age group in the United States find that for the most part both men and women achieve this goal. People appear to adapt to the physical, mental and social changes that accompany aging as long as they are able. Evidence indicates that they continue to adapt again as disability arises. It's only when their abilities to perform activities such as bathing, shopping and cooking and going out to events that adaptation declines. When the need for support accelerates, adaptation becomes more complicated and caregivers are essential.
Adaptation is a spectrum of experiences. Beginning with the installation of safety equipment in the bathroom and other alterations in the home environment to the time when complete independence is no longer possible there are dozens of small alterations of routines. Expecting change and preparing for it is what geriatricians of all sorts help us to achieve.
