As Our Parents Age So Do We

Check out this magazine issue.

The other day when I picked up a copy of Findings, the alumni magazine of the University of Michigan School of Public Health, I discovered that the entire fall 2013  issue focuses on how to age well and improve old age. My husband is a Michigan alumnus, but the magazine is freely available as an easily downloadable and easy-to-read PDF file. The magazine is filled with information about retirement, aging, changes to expect, and ideas to make retirement fulfilling — useful for adult children and their aging parents.

This issue’s theme, A Better Old Age, addresses a range of topics including 15 Ideas for a Better Old Age, an article that examines future changes in the world of aging, and a special Guide to Thriving filled with interesting tips. In another article author Nicholas Delbanco shares thoughts on Lastingness: The Art of Old Age —  his 2011 book that examines artists who live long and productive lives into advanced elderhood. And 95-year-old retired but still active Michigan professor Robert Kahn discusses his principles of aging well, taken from his 1998 book Successful Aging. In another feature, To Retire or Not, Michigan School of Public Health professors who have retired share some of their thoughts about their new lives.           

Best Quote in 15 Ideas for A Better Old Age (quoting Green House Project founder, Dr. Bill Thomas about long term care)

Thomas is convinced the baby boom generation will force a change. When baby boomers were kids, he says, there were just three flavors of ice cream. Now there are thousands. Today there are “just a few flavors of long-term care for the elderly.” But when the boomers work their way through the system, “there will be a thousand flavors. And that’s the way it should be.”

Best Quote in To Retire or Not (quoting retired Professor George Kaplan)

I’ve become convinced that retirement works best when you’re moving toward something, not just letting go of things.