Aging: Process vs Product

Alene Fink

Director Northfield Senior Center

Eleven Annual Fall Meeting

Cannon Valley Elder Collegium

October 21, 2007

When Bill asked me to fill in for Richard Cantwell at CVEC’s fall meeting, I immediately said yes because I have such respect and appreciation for the people who created and continue to lead this wonderful organization. But by the next day I thought, Alene, what have you done! What can you possibly have to say to such an articulate, intellectually active group of people? While I was waiting for lightning to strike with a brilliant idea or two, Joan Kark called to ask for the title of my talk so she could put out announcements for today’s meeting. After I mumbled and fumbled a few minutes, Joan took pity on me and suggested I talk about the reality of aging during the 24 years I’ve been Director of the Northfield Senior Center. She said she’d call back the next day for the title of the talk. When I gave Joan the title:: Aging—Process vs Product, there was a distinct pause before she gamely plunged ahead with encouraging words for what must have seemed a weird title, or a terribly boring one, at best.

So why Aging: Process vs Product? When I think about the concept of aging as it has evolved over nearly a quarter of a century—it seems that we no longer think of aging as an end product of life, stamped with the label: OLD. If you look up the word “old” in the Random House Dictionary of the English Language, you will find the first definition reads: far advanced in the years of one’s life or its life, as in an old man---an old horse. Based on that definition, I should have titled this talk Aging: Verbs vs. Adjectives. But I think you and I, and the Northfield community, and society as a whole have come to think of aging as a process, a process that is unique to each person who passes through it.

When I arrived in Northfield in 1982 from Lexington, KY, with a brand new MSW degree, concentration in gerontology, in my hot little hand, I had just stepped from an academic world that was only beginning to replace developmental theories such as disengagement and measurements of terminal drop with theories of generativity and self-actualization, to describe life beyond age 65.

· Disengagement theory said as people age, they turn inward, away from society & in turn, society turns away from them by devaluing their role as productive, contributing entities

• Terminal drop argued that imminent death could be predicted by a sudden decline in intellectual functioning (don’t you wonder how they measured THAT!)
• Generativity, on the other hand, acknowledged the need for mature adults to pass on what they have learned to the next generations
• The theory of self-actualization looked at how adults come to understand and accept who and what they are becoming

When I began my 24-year career at the Northfield Senior Center in 1983, the concept of aging was fairly static in the minds of individuals, in this community, and in society as a whole. That concept was defined by products that were designed to HELP THOSE WHO COULD NOT HELP THEMSELVES. In 1965 Society had provided products such as Medicare, Medical Assistance (MA), and a less well known piece of legislation called the Older American Act to serve the needs of a growing senior population. In the 1970s, this community used resources provided by the Older American Act to develop congregate dining, chore services, transportation, and a Senior Center for activities to pass the time through Bingo, cards, an occasional trip, and monthly entertainment. Seniors themselves perceived aging in those years as something to be denied. Those who came to the senior center were labeled OLD, by which people meant (and said) “I’m not ready for that yet, I don’t NEED it.” The senior center was seen by many older adults as the realm of the low income, the physically frail, the lonely, those unable to engage life fully

While federal programs and local senior centers were a step above the old age homes and county poor farms that were the options of choice for MY grandparents, the 1980s pretty much defined OLD as an end product. The older you became, society, the community, and older adults themselves saw aging as a FINISHED product.

Just look at what’s happened in 24 years! For society, aging is a big business, poised to become a HUGE business. The ads such as I’ve fallen and I can’t get up have been replaced by enticements to buy pharmaceuticals, retirement homes, investments, insurance, and cruises. In the eyes of society, we are financial gold mines! Just wait until technology, transportation, and fashion catch up to us! You can see it beginning to creep into society with

· W I D E screen TVs—the better for us to see

· Cars that practically drive themselves—brighter lights, better street markings, (TOMORROW: perhaps the slower speeds that we prefer, at least that I prefer)

· Phones we can tuck under our pillows so we no longer need to leap from bed to answer them in the middle of the night

· Apparel made more comfortable through Velcro and wrinkle free fabrics--now if they would just lower the hemlines and raise the necklines, we’d be set

In the Northfield community, I believe there were two entities that had a large part in initiating change in the perception of aging: the new Senior Center and the Cannon Valley Elder Collegium. According to a survey conducted by members of the Senior Board last year, aging adults are now seen as Active, Wealthy, Engaged. As Community Assets and as Political Entities. Just contrast that with financially needy, physically frail, lonely, unable to engage life fully.

As aging individuals, we no longer see ourselves as VICTIMS of old age, as no longer just a product labeled OLD. Our grandparents’ Bingo has evolved into palaces. In fact, the Rochester Senior Center just recently purchased a Bingo palace as a long-term fundraising resource. (And before you gloss over the value of Bingo for mental stimulation—just try an evening of it, as I did this summer, with senior center directors from seven counties in SE MN. After spending three hours monitoring eight cards through multiple variations on the Bingo theme, at breakneck speed with competitors breathing down my neck, I was so mentally stimulated that there was no way I could sleep at 2:00 a.m. the next morning.

Our grandparents’ Whist and Pinochle have evolved into televised poker tournaments & Texas Hold ‘Em—a multi-generational favorite. And our grandparents’ rocking chair is now the Senior Center’s logo, although ours depicts a figure poised on the toes of one foot on the very edge of that rocking chair, the other foot leaping into mid-air, a hand stretching to touch the stars. By the way, have you seen some of the newest features in some of this nation’s airports? That’s right--rocking chairs are the most sought-after seats in today’s boarding areas—and it’s not senior citizens sitting in them!

What caused this shift in the perception of aging, from a product labeled OLD to a VITAL, INFLUENTIAL process that is unique to each individual’s life? In my experience over the past 24 years, there are 4 factors that have caused this shift.

1. We have to give some credit to the national attention garnered by that huge population that has dogged our footsteps for the past 60 years—our boomer children and grandchildren. There’s no doubt about it—THEIR aging has caused the perception of age in general to change, just as the concept of infancy, youth, parenthood and employment changed when they have encountered those life stages.

2. But I think there is a bigger reason for this shift. Within ourselves, we have come to understand that aging is a process rather than an end product. We are becoming older, we are not obsolescent; we are not solidified by old age. We now believe we have more control over our own aging process than have any generations before us. We are no longer defined strictly by our losses, although we, as well as our community and society as a whole, are acutely aware of the role of loss in the aging process. We know

• we may face the loss of physical and mental functions if we do not work to maintain them
• we may face the loss of familiar environments—due to changing health care needs and changing neighborhoods
• if we live long enough, we will lose relationships that have given us comfort and satisfaction

One of the biggest changes in our perception of aging is the belief that physical function can be maintained throughout the aging process by exercise, good nutrition, and preventive health care. In society, physicians have been emphasizing the need for all three of these for years. Some businesses have begun offering their employees opportunities for exercise, nutrition, and preventive health care through on-site walking trails, workout facilities, in-house lockers & showers, healthy menus in cafeterias, annual physicals in insurance packages. Local companies here in Northfield provide opportunities for their employees to exercise regularly by paying half their membership

costs at the Senior Center and other fitness clubs. Insurers encourage their enrollees to maintain physical health thru fitness reimbursements for regular exercise.

This community has been unique in its support of the first senior center in Minnesota built on the concept that exercise is the staple of a healthy aging process. Twenty-four years ago, physical activity at the senior center consisted of pushing ones’ chair up to the dining site table, boarding a bus once a month for a trip planned and escorted by a younger person, or an occasional “chair” exercise session. Swimming opportunities were limited to early in the morning at Carleton or the High School, before the REAL users, the students, were ready to take over

TODAY, exercise opportunities abound, in water & on land, limited only by one’s self-perception. You can see that perception shift within each decade of the population over 50. The belief that physical function can be maintained is firmly entrenched in the 50-60 year olds who come to the senior center. They’ve been conditioned by society to seek out opportunities for healthier lifestyles. Adults in their 70s frequently must encounter some loss of function and need directions from their doctors before they embrace the concept of better health through regular exercise. Many people in their 80s usually have a harder time believing that it is possible to reduce the loss of physical function through regular exercise. For many in this age cohort, exercise was part of their work lives and they gave that up when they retired. (It is the ongoing task of the Senior Center to eliminate COST as a barrier to exercise opportunities, particularly for those further along in the aging process—the center has experienced more scholarship requests this year than any year since we opened.)

3. The third influence on the changing concept of aging has been the huge leap in our perceptions of new tricks for old dogs. We know that mental exercise is equal in importance to the value of physical exercise. Early models of adult learning, such as Elderhostel, now face stiff competition from travel companies and from housing developments that encompass options for lifelong learning. In the Northfield community, this shift in the perception of learning as a process throughout one’s lifetime is evident when you compare an experience I had during my early years at the Senior Center with the reality of CVEC today.

In the mid-80s, Bill Cupp, a retired ST OLAF professor, was one of few who crossed the line from higher education into the world of the senior center. He and I talked about the value of continuing education for the senior center membership, who probably averaged age 75-80. Bill invited me to join him and present those thoughts to a weekly coffee group of retired educators from one of our local colleges We entered the restaurant to find a long row of tables—all men—where I was invited to sit at very end of one of the rows. The group spent the next hour reminiscing and sharing updates on their lives and of colleagues still teaching. As everyone prepared to leave, I was given a couple of minutes to ask if anyone would be interested in offering classes for senior center members. I had to lean way over from my seat to talk down the length of table—I doubt if half of the group heard me. Not one person expressed interest. It was the perception that education was of value only for young adults, as well as the misperception that they themselves had no further value as educators.

Not until 15 years later, when Ron and Bettye Ronning brought their passions for teaching and learning to Northfield, did the retired and semi-retired educators in this community embrace the concept of lifelong learning. Now in addition to teaching courses, educators have themselves become students again, enrolling in one another’s classes to learn from each another. Thank heavens Ron and Bettye Ronning moved to Northfield, bringing the concept of the Collegium with them. Now, entire housing developments have been created with lifelong learning as a primary marketing tool. I commend CVEC for spreading classes throughout the community, for by offering opportunities in congregate housing, mental growth can be accessible for the more frail, throughout the aging process. (It will be CVEC’s continuing challenge to eliminate COST as a barrier to learning opportunities—as you’ve already begun to do with scholarships & low-cost, large lecture series). The community also needs opportunities for older adults with less formal education, for older adults with language barriers, and for older adults with less confidence in their abilities to participate. Perhaps the CVEC model, combined with the adult-learning models of public education, will provide future options for those learners as well.

4. Finally, the need to stay connected after the losses that inevitably come, if we live long enough, has evolved in many ways during the 24 years I have worked with the older residents of Northfield. Widowhood is no longer the world of women—increasing numbers of men appear to be outliving their spouses, and more are involved in providing care for frail and ailing spouses. Or maybe I have seen more of them because the new Senior Center provides opportunities that men perceive to be useful. Although women still outnumber men in the population of 75+, men and women alike are finding new ways to maintain and create connections with others:

I like to think the Senior Center serves as a melting pot for those connections, by bringing together men and women; low income and affluent; those with advanced degrees as well as those with limited educations; long time residents and newcomers; urban and rural residents; those whose work experience has been professional as well as those involved in manual labor, and the creative and talented as well as those of us who make up their appreciative audiences.

Through opportunities at the Senior Center and in CVEC classes, older adults in this community have a variety of ways to make connections. At the Senior Center, I have seen it evolve through technology and the Internet. There has been a recent marriage, and a trip out of state, with adult son in tow, to meet someone from an internet exchange. Communication with children & grandchildren, friends, siblings, and even political leaders has expanded through computers and cell phones. One of my abiding pleasures is seeing the pure joy expressed by computer class participants as they join the world of technology.

The shared activities available at the Senior Center also provide opportunities to stay connected. I wish you could enjoy, as I do, the conversations in the lounge after exercise classes, or watch people head off to coffee together after an activity, or see individuals cross gender barriers, like the gentleman who joins the handwork group or the women who participate in woodcarving.

Intergenerational activities have only begun to tap the potential impact older adults can make in the lives of younger populations, from schools and churches, to helping raise grandchildren, to serving as mentors for children from other cultures, children of prison inmates, children needing a friend in court. Volunteer programs worry about the willingness of future generations to volunteer—I believe we still have time to teach our boomer children and grandchildren the value of building connections through volunteerism.

And finally, older adults are experiencing new connections by assuming new leadership roles in their lives. You know what that leadership has meant for CVEC. Twenty-two years ago, members of Northfield’s senior community began the slow, halting process of creating the center that opened its doors in September, 2000. There were more fits than starts in that process, which went beyond the lives of many who believed in it most strongly. Over the course of those years time was spent trying to figure out if city hall could be remodeled to include a senior center, if there was enough community support to build a multi-million dollar civic center, if the senior organization could build a stand-alone senior center, on a site tucked away on a quiet residential street, and finally, if it was in the organization’s best interest to join in a multi-use facility, which became the current Northfield Community Resource Center (and even then, we had to wait to be the last wing completed).

Older adults are poised to begin a new era of leadership in the broader community. Their impact will be felt in collaborations between organizations working . with and for older adults, as advocates for the strengths as well as the continuing needs that are part of aging, and as they reach out to the underserved, both the frail & isolated as well as the diverse members of our community.

So what is the reality of aging today, compared to the nearly quarter century ago when I knocked on the door to apply for the job of Senior Center Director? My 88-year old mother does not sit at home in a darkened house, with nothing but the hum of a propane stove to break the silence as my grandparents did, waiting for children or grandchildren to stop by for an hour or two on a Sunday evening. She lives by herself in a multi-family neighborhood which she enjoys watching through her living room window, boards the bus 2-3 times a week for lunch, cards, chime choir, and balance classes at the senior center, enjoys a red hat group of fellow senior center members, and counts her life blessed because she had the opportunity to move to Northfield before my father died, two months after their arrival.

In two short months, I will step out of my office for the last time, and move into a new dimension which I’ve been privileged to see evolve. For society, for this community, and for me as an individual, aging has become a process rather than a product label. I look forward to embracing that process and I look forward to never being that finished product, labeled OLD.