Just in time for her 90th birthday, White debuted a new TV series, “Off Their Rockers,” a hidden camera show where elderly individuals prank the younger generation. The pranks capitalize on the endearing qualities of the elderly. Example: A woman who looks to be 80 years old approaches a 20-something man in the airport… and sweetly propositions him to join the mile high club. In another sketch, two elderly men sit down on a bench next to a young woman and start doing the wave. She gives them a confused look and then joins them.

The senior pranksters in “Off Their Rockers” aren’t just getting viewers to laugh; they seem to be having a blast and even laughing themselves. Which is refreshing to see on network television: active, good-natured seniors enjoying their lives, engaging with the world around them.

American viewers, especially those already 55 and older, can borrow a page from White and friends. Laughter is actually terrific medicine for the elderly, and studies have proven it. An Australian humor therapist conducted a three-year study examining the impact of laughter and play on 400 seniors in 36 nursing homes. The dementia patients involved in the study seemed less agitated by 20 percent, said lead researcher Lee-Fay Low at the University of New South Wale’s School of Psychiatry.

“Twenty percent sounds like a small effect but it’s about the same amount, the same effect as you would get if you gave them an antipsychotic medication — medication you would use to treat schizophrenia, bipolar disorder,” Low told Reuters.

So next time your aging mother or father or friend seems down, take a cue from nonagenarian Betty White, and make them laugh. Or encourage them to make everyone else laugh. They’ll be smiling before they know it.

Calling themselves “wild old women,” the group of 12 protesters ranged in age from 69 to 82. On Jan. 5, they traveled to the bank with their walkers and wheelchairs from their San Francisco assisted living facility up the street, KCBS reported.

”We’re upset about what the banks are doing, particularly in our neighborhood and neighboring areas, in evicting people and foreclosing on their homes,” Tita Caldwell, 80, told the CBS affiliate.

On the heels of the Occupy Wall Street movement, the San Francisco seniors citizens were taking a stand against the bank, whose high fees and foreclosures deeply impact seniors on a fixed income, including those in assisted living facilities.

Bravo, wild old women, for not letting your age get in the way of exercising your right to free speech. And thank you, Bernalwood, for bringing this story to our attention!

Sheryl, grandmother on the Bachelor

When the 16th season of ABC’s The Bachelor debuted tonight, we met the show’s oldest contestant! Or was she?

Sheryl hobbled out of the limo on crutches and a knee brace, and professed her love to Bachelor Ben. During the previews leading up to the show, ABC let fans believe they had cast the oldest contestant in the show’s history, by showing only this sound bite: “I watched your show all last season,” Sheryl said, “and I fell madly in love with you!”

But when fans tuned in, they learned Sheryl came on the show to play matchmaker and introduce Ben to her granddaugher, Brittney, a sweet blonde who “loves her family,” Sheryl told Ben. The threesome spent time together during the cocktail party, when Sheryl sang her granddaughter’s praises.

Ben politely walked Sheryl out when it was time for her to go, and gave her a hug before she left in a limo. Grandma Sheryl told the camera that she hoped Brittney would “open her heart” to Ben. And since Ben gave Brittney a rose, we hope she’ll get a chance to do so. Unfortunately, we won’t be seeing more of Sheryl–until the hometown dates, that is!

Luckily ABC predicted fans might be curious about its septuagenarian “contestant,” and shared some information about Grandma Sheryl on its website.

Sheryl

Age: Age is just a number

Occupation: Grabbing life when and wherever I can

Do you like being the center of attention or do you prefer being more mysterious and why?
Definitely the center of attention

What is your biggest date fear?
Rejection

What does your ideal mate look like?
Tall, Dark, and Handsome like Ben

Tattoo Count:
0

If you really wanted to impress a man what would you do and why?
I’d do almost anything. I believe in taking risks in order to get the man I love.

Warren Hellman performed with his band, "The Wronglers," even in the last few months of his life.

Three months ago, you could find this septuagenarian on stage with his bluegrass band, or in the Presidio, running his daily dose of 16 miles.

Sadly, Warren Hellman, founder of Hardly Strictly Bluegrass festival and the Bay Citizen, died Sunday evening from complications of leukemia, his family said. He was 77.

Hellman was certainly on to something. Research has shown that making music can lower blood pressure, decrease heart rate, reduce stress, and lessen anxiety and depression, said researchers at the Berklee College of Music in Boston. And nearby, at the Stanford Center on Longevity, scientists are examining the possibility of using music to improve memory in older adults.

Exercise has also been shown to ward off the symptoms of aging. In an article published in 2010 in the Archives of Internal Medicine, researchers confirmed that exercise not only helps maintain good health but may even prevent the onset of chronic diseases, such as heart disease, osteoarthritis and dementia. For instance, one Harvard study of 13,000 women found that when it came to exercise, more was better. Compared with women who jogged for 20 minutes a week, those who jogged three hours a week or walked briskly for five hours a week were 76% more likely to age successfully without anxiety, dementia, heart disease or high blood pressure.

Certainly, with Hellman’s commitment to fitness and his love of music, he was able to live a full life up until his last few months. He traveled around the country with his bluegrass band, the Wronglers, performing with them as recently as October 12 in Nashville and recording an album with them earlier in the year. An accomplished endurance athlete, he twice completed a 100-mile running race through the Sierra Nevada mountains and, up until recently, he still ran 16 miles each day before going to work.

Hellman was fortunate that his physical well-being allowed him to access that which he loved; for others who are less mobile, there is Engage As You Age, which can bring activities and meaningful companionship to any seniors’ doorstep.

And his grandfather is the biggest reason and inspiration for his success.

As he shares on tonight’s 60 Minutes, Michael Buble got his starts thanks to his grandfather’s constant love and unwavering effort to get his grandson in the spotlight.

Buble’s grandfather would promise to fix people’s plumbing or water heaters if they agreed to give Michael a few minutes on stage. A music aficionado, he exposed Michael to big band singers and would spend hours sipping coffee in a shopping mall food court while Michael sang to shoppers and passers-by. When Michael finally got a record deal, it was his grandfather who broke the news to him that Warner Brothers would sign him to their label.

The men are lucky to have a genetic mutually-beneficial, inter-generational relationship. Not all seniors (or grandchildren) are as lucky as Buble and his grandpa. But Engage As You Age carefully pairs older adults and seniors with someone of a different generation, and the result over time is often a bond as tight as any family.

Engage As You Age can also bring introduce to seniors a person with a passion for big band Buble-like music should they not be mobile enough to drive to a music store or check out a concert. Though Buble’s grandfather may have access to live big band music via his grandson, many seniors do not. Thanks to Engage As You Age, those people won’t have to be musically lonley.

Advocates, including seniors themselves, are unhappy but resourceful, and are beginning to strategize about reversing the trend (or determining alternative solutions should that prove impossible).

Enter the second Senior Health Policy Forum, scheduled for Wednesday, Nov. 30 in San Francisco. The first Bay Area Senior Health Policy Forum was held in Oakland in 2009. More than 200 participants came together for panel discussions and workshops to facilitate collaboration among senior advocates and professionals and identify a common focus to help strengthen the safety net for California’s seniors.  On the agenda: how to age in place, caregiving, homecare and medical care/treatment, among other topics.

Among the speakers at Wednesday’s Bay Area Senior Health Policy Forum will be:

• State Assemblywoman Nancy Skinner, D-Berkeley
• Diana Dooley, secretary for the California Health and Human Services Agency
• Melanie Bella, a director at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
• David Ishida, regional administrator at the U.S. Administration on Aging.

California’s over-65 population is going to double in the next 25 years, while studies show the number of elderly struggling to pay for medical bills and other basic needs has reached record levels. According to the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research, 47 percent of state residents 65 and older are unable to cover grocery, health and housing costs. Even in the affluent Silicon Valley, 48 percent of seniors fell below the researchers’ survival standard, according to the San Jose Mercury News.

Want to go? It’s not too late! The event begins at 8 a.m. and ends at 5:30 p.m. Registration is $45. More information: http://www.shpfregistration.org/

How to get to the event venue, St. Mary’s Cathedral.

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!

Photos: Brandon Colbert Photography

Ninety-five years is 34,698 days. Which is another way of saying that 95 years is an achievement. An achievement worthy of a billboard.

On Highway 101 South, a billboard celebrates this very milestone, announcing Lou Poletti’s 95th birthday. Poletti started Poletti Realty, a South San Francisco family business founded in 1956. The full-sized billboard at the Airport Boulevard exit features a photograph of Poletti in a fedora and sunglasses and says in large white letters: “Happy Birthday Lou Poletti: We love you with all our hearts.”

Patch.com reported that Poletti’s kids arranged for the billboard birthday card, which ironically Poletti already owns (he purchased it 45 years ago). When his children recognized there would be a gap in advertising, they figured it would be the perfect attempt to celebrate their father.

Poletti's 95th birthday

But the billboard wasn’t the only birthday gesture; Poletti also celebrated his 95th birthday with a big party surrounded by friends and family. Quite the king!

Engage As You Age commends Poletti for maintaining an involved, engaged life even as a nonagenarian. Unfortunately, few seniors in the Bay Area get up into their 90s surrounded by friends and relatives. That’s why Engage As You Age exists: To bring the world to those who can no longer get out and explore it on their own. Our social visits infuse energy and vitality into the lives of seniors.

Maybe we should get a billboard, too.

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?

Along the same lines as the two aforementioned studies, a 2011 study published in the Journal of Psychology and Aging found that being a musician may contribute to better hearing in old age by delaying some of the age-related changes in central auditory processing especially if elderly musicians are using their auditory systems on a regular basis. In other words “use it or lose it.”

Engage As You Age often works with older adults and socially isolated seniors by bringing music and music lessons to their homes;  allowing them to age in place. While we’re certainly not as helpful as a hearing aid, we’ve found that when paired with one we bring a lot of joy to isolated seniors.  So even if you haven’t been a musician your whole life, there are several benefits for older adults who engage in activities that stimulate the senses at any age. According to a study by a USC professor some benefits of seniors engaging include the prevention of health decline that comes with old age such as memory loss, hearing loss, and physical inability.