Join in on a different conversation about boomers aging!
By now, many of us who are in the baby boomer generation have helped our parents through the transitions of aging, and are now at a place where we realize that we would like a different experience. But, the question is “how”? What steps can we take now, and in the next few years, to create a better experience for ourselves, and the people that will be our caregivers?
Collaborative Aging is designed to help generate new ideas and options for organizing the “how”, and to start moving our plans forward in ways that give us more control of our aging experience.
There are many benefits to this proactive and co-creative planning approach: Here are just a few:
- It can save us time and money – by arranging simple and practical ways of situating ourselves to efficiently meet our future needs. People are sharing the cost of home care services and cars in order to stay in their homes; others are planning co-housing with like-minded people.
- We can generate new options and customize solutions to influence suppliers (e.g. apartment building owners or condos offering to arrange some meals, or home care services on a clustered basis), or creating architectural designs of new homes or home renovations that offer attractive accessible designs to age in place.
- We can plan ahead and “start the conversation” to avoid crisis management decisions for us and our caregivers. Knowing what is important to us, personally, and having some arrangements in place, we take proactive steps to ease the transition in the event of a health crisis.
- Our caregivers will have an easier experience – with more certainty about our values and preferences, with the key aspects of our plans in place. But we need to “start the conversation”. We can’t assume that what we want or value, is what our caregivers can actually provide.
- We can take advantage of the latest technologies that enable us to maintain our health, and communicate effectively with our doctors, caregivers and other professional experts. On-line portals are being used so to enable safe and coordinated communication about financial matters, health information or sharing medical/diagnostic data across the health care system.
You can use this website as a resource for “jump starting” your own thinking and conversations with friends and family…
And to join the broader conversation, please Share a Story and/or Take the Survey.
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Let’s have some fun while we co-design our older years!
Sue Lantz, Founder, B.A. M.P.A
