Among the featured topics included in this series is “Caring For Aging Parents Who Cared For You”. This conversation focuses on the challenge of caring for a loved one as they age, a role many will unexpectedly be forced to play. The guests on this topic are author Jane Gross who wrote “A Bittersweet Season- Caring for our Aging Parents and Ourselves” (a novel about caring for her ailing mother), Beatriz Terrazas (author of “My Mother’s Brain”- a blog on a Latino Family’s story about Alzheimer’s), and John Farley who edits and co-writes the Speakeasy column in The Wall Street Journal.

Another great topic covered by the series is on the realities of retirement, titled “Advice For the Golden Years: ‘Don’t Ever Retire Mentally’. A memorable quote that stood out to us was from 83 year old, Krishna Roy, who said “Don’t ever retire mentally. Keep your mind alive.” This is sound advice since a recent poll by NPR, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Yale School of Public health shows that 39% of retirees say their health is worse after retirement compared with 13% of non-retirees expectations for life after work. It is clear that this series is not only going to talk about death but also an active and engaged retirement among several related topics.

Here is an interesting website also put together through NPR; End of Life explores death in America and provides several useful links. The site provides transcripts on various topics surrounding death, resources for people with life-threatening diseases and their families and caregivers, as well as links to selected mediums on death and dying, hospice, death and caregiving, retirement, and much more. Enjoy!

According to the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project, social networking among people 65 and older increased by 100 percent between April 2009 and May 2010. The center found that the internet is a way in which physically isolated seniors can connect with friends and family even if they are aging in place and physically isolated.

Stanford Professor Laura Carstensen, the director of Stanford University’s Center on Longevity, says that “social networking is providing more and more to be an entrance into technology for older adults.” As independence among seniors starts to decline, more are experiencing social isolation, loneliness and depression especially those living away from family and in assisted living homes. Several studies have found that internet use among older adults was associated with a 30% decrease in depressive symptoms among those who use the internet regularly.

While Facebook can help a senior stay socially connected it does not facilitate meaningful face-to-face interactions. It is not a substitute for face-to-face companionship for seniors. That’s why Engage As You Age is here to facilitate meaningful activity-focused companionship for seniors. We’ve found that companions for seniors make a difference that Facebook can’t compete with.

A few other things to consider about Facebook and seniors. Do the grandchildren of seniors want their grandparents to see their pictures and comments online? Perhaps Facebook would connect seniors to aspects of their grandchildren and children’s lives that they wouldn’t want to see. What do you think about Facebook and seniors? Is it the cure for loneliness and seniors?

The device is not yet ready for commercial use, but already senior caregivers in Japan are talking about the broad implications of the invention, which will be able to track a seniors’ movements with a built-in microphone, camera and motion sensor. It will wirelessly send the information to a database map how a senior is spending his or her days. The information can then be analyzed to offer better health and homecare to seniors.

However, George Demiris, associate professor at the School of Medicine at the University of Washington,  says technology for the elderly is complex, requiring more than just coming up with sophisticated technology for seniors.

Overly relying on technology could even make the elderly miserable, reducing opportunities for them to interact with real people, he told the Associated Press.

“Having more data alone does not mean we will have better care for older adults,” Demiris said in an e-mail.

“We can have the most sophisticated technology in place, but if the response at the other end is not designed to address what the data shows in a timely and efficient way, the technology itself is not useful,” he said.

Engage As You Age is the ideal complement to this cutting edge technology–we offer seniors companionship and compelling conversation, something that no device or machine can ever provide. Yet we value technology, teach it to seniors to improve the way they connect with their loved ones, and believe that it, in tandem with individualized social visits, can be a tremendous boon to aging individuals who want to age in place. If you are considering senior home care or homecare for a senior you should consider the social needs of the senior as much as the physical.

It will be exciting to see how this Japanese advance in senior care impacts American seniors.

Learn about skype and seniors, the pros and cons of seniors using Ipads and also about many other devices such as Presto that allow families to keep in touch and stay within everyone’s comfort zone.

If you know a senior that has had computer lessons or someone who is asking about computer lessons for seniors you’ll find out about great resources (in addition to Engage As You Age) that can help a senior surf the internet in no time.

The press releases for this venture came out in August of 2010 but it wasn’t until recently that the January 18, 2011 launch for the GE and Intel senior technology venture seemed like a reality.

Their 3 main offerings so far are the

1. Intel Health Guide
2. GE Quiet Care
3. Intel Reader

The Intel Reader is what caught are attention. We haven’t had a chance to get our hands on one and are wondering if anyone out there has. If so, please tell us what you think of it and what you (or a friend/family member) used it for. We have come across reviews of it on a few websites but we’d prefer to hear from seniors that have used this technology.

Care Innovations is in line with the movement (it is that now isn’t it?) to age in place. GE and Intel’s goal to develop technologies for seniors to age in place or wherever they choose (which could mean assisted living facilities, nursing homes, continuing care communities, etc…). We’re curious how villages for seniors will embrace these technologies and specifically wondering if Marin Village, San Francisco Village or Avenidas Village have thought about these technologies for their members.

The event is sponsored by the San Rafael Public Library and is a great opportunity for elders, seniors, baby boomers, caregivers, and anyone else interested in learning about what resources are available for seniors in Marin County. This event is all about the audience so don’t be shy if you have questions about Alzheimer’s, dementia, homecare, assisted living or any other resources for seniors in Marin County.

The talk will be lead by Engage As You Age’s founder Ben Lewis and will feature Tessa ten Tusscher, Kim Schwarcz, Mimi Schrieber, David Kitaen, and Marc Kreissman. This great panel has expertise in geriatric psychiatry, homecare, dementia, Alzheimer’s, long-term care insurance, financial planning, caregiving, fiduciary issues and we’ll also have a few surprise guests that can help fill in the gaps.

Please come if you or a loved one would benefit from learning about resources for seniors in Marin County.

The address is for the event is : 1400 5th Avenue, San Rafael, CA

What also wasn’t clear to us at Engage As You Age is how on earth could one telephone number provide assistance for virtually any kind of technical issue. If it sounds too good to be true than it probably is! We’ve yet to find one phone number that fixes everything. Much in the same way we’ve yet to find a caregiver or homecare agency that does everything WELL.

We recently lead a panel at the Larkspur Library about how to screen and vet resources and one of the things that we encouraged the audience to ask senior care companies was “what services do you not do well and recommend someone else for?” The senior care industry is highly unregulated and because of the growth in the number of seniors that is taking place (think baby boomer generation) many services are coming and going and often advertising that they do pretty much anything that you can imagine. While sometimes a bookkeeper can be a skilled conversationalist, that doesn’t mean that that one particular bookkeeper should be balancing your books (often without any real qualifications or insurance or bonding) and talking about your passions. Because of the down economy many people are becoming senior concierges and wearing other hats to make a buck. Don’t be shy about asking them lots of questions. If you’re not sure what questions to ask please contact us and we’ll give you some good questions to get the conversation started.

So, if you need computer lessons for a senior, technical assistance or think an Ipad for your parents might be a good fit, get in touch with us. We can help!

Here’s a video of Floh announcing the club’s launch:

Still, we’d caution readers to not think of Taizo as being  just an Isaac Asimov-like fantasy. This is a great example of the big money being invested in finding ways to monetize the growing number of seniors worldwide. Fortune 500 companies are spending serious money on research and development and “senior technology experts,” “nana-technologists,” and other experts on technologies made for seniors are reporting on the pros and cons of many gizmos and gadgets such as the (Ipad by Apple or Skype) for seniors. Is the Ipad for seniors a good idea? Is Skype for seniors? We’ll save our thoughts on that for later blog posts but rest assured that Taizo is one of many technological solutions that is out there for seniors. At Engage As You Age we believe that technology isn’t the panacea. We’re partial to combining it with face-to-face social interaction too!

Below is a video of Taizo doing his/her thing. Please tell us if you know of any other interesting technologies made specifically for seniors. We’d love to hear about them.

On August, 15, 2008 an article described Ivy as being “the world’s oldest facebook user.” At that time she had 9 friends. In less than two years she found a way to touch an additional 4,940 people’s lives on a daily basis.

Born in Bradford, England in 1905, Ivy worked as a mill worker from the age of 14 until she was 73.

Ivy heard about Facebook.com from some caregivers at the assisted living facility that she moved into when she was 101. Within a year she was online and updated her account on a regular basis.

Ivy embraced the social networking website and was quickly embraced by a growing number of online friends and followers.

Below is an interview of Ivy in 2008. It isn’t what you think. She’s using a web camera, has a headset and is using Skype (or an online video program) to talk to Olly Mann on tv!

Ivy is a great example of how a senior can benefit from computer lessons and connect with friends and family online. What is clear from Ivy’s facebook posts is that she had local family that would regularly come and see her and engage her in activities and conversation.

Many of the 1.1 million seniors in the San Francisco Bay Area do not have family nearby that can regularly visit them. In fact, 9 out of 10 of these seniors want to remain in their homes making it less likely that they’ll receive computer lessons to get them online to connect with other people online like Ivy did.

Engage As You Age’s Ben Lewis will appear on several panels during the Marin County library’s senior week event. He’ll lead the keynote panel called “Senior Care 101″ which will address everything from how to screen and vet a homecare agency in Tiburon (and any other San Francisco Bay Area communities) to what local resources can help point you in the right direction (no matter your financial situation). This is a great panel if you’ve got an aging parent and are wondering about what is out there to help you. Learn how to save money and stress by asking the right questions in a largely unregulated industry.

Lewis will also lead a workshop on “Aging In Place Technologies” on Wednesday, July 14th. Contact Engage As You Age to learn more about Lewis’ panels or go to the Tiburon-Belvedere Library website to learn more about the event.

Also go to the Marin IJ for more details as well.