Virtual MAIA Every Thur in August 2020

Every Thursday in August 2020 at 12 noon Central

For a dozen years, the Mid-American Institute on Aging & Wellness has hosted keynote and concurrent sessions on an array of topics to promote health and wellness across the lifespan.

MAIA secured a fantastic line up of speakers this year who agreed to present online due to the constraints presented by the COVID-19 pandemic.

This is a great introduction to MAIA
because registration is FREE
for many attendees this year. 

VIDEO Introduction (from 7/14/2020 runtime 4:30 min) 

Click the blue word "VIDEO" above
to play the video

Coronavirus, Ageism, Ableism and More

I am a digital native within Twitter. I generally follow accounts related to gerontology.

Over the last month, I have been alarmed by how many people downplay the potential impact of COVID-19 aka coronavirus because it "ONLY" affects older adults and those with underlying medical conditions.

Only.

The dismissive language comes not only in the comments to the news outlets but within the language of the media as well.

It's disheartening to read hundreds of responses that convey an underlying ageism and ableism.


(I have also read a lot of responses from the rank-and-file that express xenophobia and/or racism. However, others are better equipped at parsing the origins and implications of those forms of prejudice, which are equally abhorrent.)

I'm alarmed that  many feel emboldened to devalue populations of older adults and people with illnesses.

This Chair Rocks: Book Review

Published 15 March 2016.

Ashton Applewhite is a force to be reckoned with.

Author, speaker, and advocate, Applewhite has become renown over the last few years as a significant critic of ageism.

However, she does not merely tear down ageist policies, programs, policies, and attitudes.

Applewhite also describes in rich detail the ways age contains strength, wisdom, sexuality, fun, and creativity.

I have observed Applewhite's work over the last several years by watching her TedTalk, reading her blog, reading several interviews in major magazines and news outlets, following her on Twitter, and even meeting her after hearing her give a keynote address.

I finally sat down to read her book, This Chair Rocks: A Manifesto Against Ageism. 

Coming of Age in Films: Book Review

Published April 1, 2019.

I love a book that gazes at objects from popular culture through the viewpoint of higher education. 

Garrett delivers a powerful mix of "high" and "low" culture. 

He not only gathers an impressive array of films about aging; he discusses with insight these films--individually and in various groups. 

(See the TOC below.) 

If you watch films and if you are aging (hint: we are all aging), this book will give you a broader perspective and a deeper understanding on how narratives and images on film create scripts that people often follow without question. 

Garrett convinced me to overtly ask this question about my film viewing: 

Are the depictions of aging in the film I'm watching helpful or harmful? 

2018 MAIA Keynote and Plenary Speakers

MAIA 11th anniversary swag bag, program, and tee.

What Is MAIA?

For the last eleven years, the University of Southern Indiana in partnership with Southwestern Indiana Council on Aging & MORE! (the local Area Agency on Aging) has organized an inter-professional gerontology conference. This year, the conference ran August 9th and 10th with a pre-conference workshop on the 8th.

2019 MAIA Preview

Located in Evansville, Indiana, this two-day event offers keynote and plenary speakers with national--if not international recognition. In addition, dozens of other presenters also offer great information about promoting wellness across the entire life span. 

The participants are local health care workers, university students, and members of the broader Tristate (IN, IL, KY) community.

Many healthcare professionals attending earn CME credits (continuing medical education), but a good portion of those present are not healthcare professionals; they are community members who are pro-active about their physical, financial, social, and emotional health.

Last week was the third time that I attended the Mid-America Institute on Aging and Wellness (MAIA). However, it was my first time serving as one of the organizers as a member of the Blue Shirts team. 

This gave me the opportunity to see the amount of work that goes on behind the scenes. I'm grateful for all that USI, SWIRCA, the sponsors, vendors, and all the presenters do in order to make this event informative and exhilarating. 

By looking at the program ahead of time, I had a chance to read more about all the presenters before they arrived. However, with six concurrent sessions happening three times a day for two days, it was impossible for me to attend all 36 sessions!

Let me first report some key details about the keynote and plenary speakers. (Details about the 2018 concurrent sessions are now available here.)

Evansville Hosts the Aging Avengers

Photo of Aging Avengers L-R Nate, Jennifer, Kyrié, & Samite courtesy of
 University of Southern Indiana Photography & Multimedia. 

Evansville, Indiana enjoyed the opportunity of hosting Dr. Bill Thomas and other Aging Avengers on Monday, November 6, 2017.

The visit was organized by University of Southern Indiana's Center of Healthy Aging and Wellness, but adults of all ages from the broader tristate (IN, IL, KY) community attended. The venue was USI's beautiful, nearly 300 seat Performance Center.

This was a return trip for Dr. Bill Thomas, given that he was a keynote speaker at the 10th Annual Mid-America Institute on Aging and Wellness. Evansville and the tristate were thrilled to have him return with an intergenerational team of people who hold positive views about aging.

Dr. Ann White, dean of USI's
College of Nursing and Health Professions,
welcomes attendees.

The day consisted of three events:

* Disrupt Dementia in the afternoon
* Life's Most Dangerous Game in the evening
* Lobby Experience in between

All events encourage people to radically redefining aging. The benefits are not just for older adults.

By recognizing the life stage of elderhood, every generation benefits by working together to improve the greater society. 

Shoulder Pain and Ageism

Photo by Dan Iggers.

Ten months ago, I started noticing pain in my right shoulder.  It has taken me that long to find a medical professional to take my complaints seriously.  Part of the delay is due to my move from Kansas to Indiana. However, part of the delay appears to be ageism.

Let me explain.

When I first reported shoulder pain in October of 2015, I was hoping to get some imaging on my shoulder and a referral to a physical therapist. That didn't happen.

Instead, my general practitioner told me: "At your age, you should accept that you are going to experience aches and pains. Just deal with it." 

Um, that seems ageist to me.  And unprofessional. "Aches and pains" isn't very specific or technical.

Levy's Research on Positive Stereotypes

Photo by Marg.

"To keep the heart  unwrinkled, to be hopeful, kindly, cheerful, reverent--that is to triumph over old age." ~ Thomas Baily Aldrich

I confess to reversing my usual process for writing a post. This time, I first found the wonderful photograph above, and then I went looking for a matching idea. The photograph conveys the power of a positive attitude, so I started looking for research correlating positive thinking with longevity. 

Maslow Is a Liar

I see beauty in chaos in this photo by J.E.F.

Introduction to psychology courses nearly always include some attention to Maslow's hierarchy of needs.

From the start of the life span, people usually master each of these needs in ascending order.

People establish physical needs, then social needs and finally more abstract needs, such as self-actualization.

As we age, however, we do not reduce our lives in order from the highest needs down to the most basic needs.  Before I studied gerontology, I expected to see an orderly movement in reverse order as people age.

The aging process is more chaotic than I imagined.

Each person's aging process is unique to them.   And even though some patterns in how people age might emerge in large studies, the aging process of just one person is largely unpredictable.

However, the more I interact with older adults, the more I observe how people can hold onto higher order tasks--spirit, beauty, knowledge and relationships--even as their bodies start to betray them.

Maslow's Hierarchy fails to serve as a model for the aging process.

Elderspeak: Babytalk Directed at Older Adults

Photo by Neighborhood Centers

About a year after I started volunteering at a skilled nursing home, I observed a set of new teenaged volunteers who came to help with a craft at the monthly meeting of the Red Hat Society.  

I heard several of the volunteers speak slowly and loudly, using a sing-song voice.  In response, I saw many of the residents roll their eyes.   

Unfortunately, I had flashbacks to when I first started as a volunteer.   I had altered my speech inappropriately as well, hoping to be supportive but coming off as patronizing instead.

I have since learned to identify the features of elderspeak.  More importantly, I’ve learned to change my attitude.   

[Note: The links to this post were refreshed in January of 2018 to reflect current research.]

At its core, elderspeak communicates a condescending attitude.   And from that attitude the person’s language might demonstrate the following features of elderspeak:

•  Speaking slowly
•  Speaking loudly
• Using a sing-song voice
• Inflecting statements to sound like a question
• Using the pronouns “we,” “us,” and “our” in place of “you.”: “How are we doing today?"
• Using pet names such as “sweetheart,” “dearie,” or “honey"
• Shortening sentences
• Simplifying syntax (sentence structure)
• Simplifying vocabulary
• Repeating statements or questions
• Answering questions for the older adult: “You would like your lunch now, wouldn’t you?”
• In other ways talking for the older adult: “You are having a good time on the patio today, I see. And you have your pink sweater on, which you love. Right?”
• Asking people questions that assume role loss, idleness and powerlessness such as “Who did you used to be?” “What did you used to do?” 

This post also appears at the fabulous blog Changing Aging.  

PC Terms for Aging

Photo by gb_packards

Because I spent 30 years in the field of composition and rhetoric before starting a graduate degree in gerontology, I am hyper-aware of the terms people use to describe older adults. 

For several weeks during the fall of 2010, I recorded all the terms that crossed my path in conversation, paper, and hypertext. The good, the bad and the ugly are listed below. 

Generally, the preferred term is older adult. 

Terms that connote station and vitality such as "elder statesman" and "mature" are strongly preferred over terms that connote weakness and emotional instability such as "elderly" or "dotage."

Again: In order to analyze how people are using language, my list is DESCRIPTIVE rather than PRESCRIPTIVE. Many of these terms are either dated or offensive.

Advanced	Advanced  years	Aged
Aging	Biddy	Codger
Crone	Curmudgeon	Declining
Dotage	Doyenne	Duffer
Elder	Elderly	Elder statesman
Frail	Geezer	Geriatric
Golden ager	Golden years	Grandmother/-ma
Grandfather/-pa	Graying	Gray-haired
Hoary	In a decline	Mature
Maturing	Octogenarian	Old / Old people
Old Fart	Older / Older adult	Old fogey
Old lady / man	Older generation	Patriarch/matriarch
Retired/retiree	Retirement age(d)	Sage
Senescence / senescent	Senior	Senior citizen
Top generation	Vulnerable population	Venerable
Veteran	Winter of life	Wise / wizened

I invite you to ask yourself some of the same questions I asked about these terms: