By Rafiq Punjani
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The podcast currently has 50 episodes available.
Did you know that in 2018 the number of people older than 64 surpassed the number of children under five years old? It was the first time in history that this was the case. The timing of this change, though, varied significantly between countries.
In higher-income countries with low fertility rates and longer life expectations, it has been shifting for decades. Take the United States, for example, where the under-fives were already outnumbered by those older than 64 in 1966; in Spain, it was 1970; in South Korea, it was 2000. For many countries, this crossover point is yet to come. In India, for example, it is projected to be 2028 and 2036 in South Africa.
In low-income countries with high fertility rates and a lower life expectancy, this point is still many decades away. For example, in Nigeria, under-fives will outnumber those older than 64 by 2087.
As the number of older adults grows around the world, aging people need seniors advocates. Today we have one such advocate with us who has been doing this awe-inspiring work for decades, Barbara Kirby.
After 15 years of caring for her parents with complex health issues, Barb recognized the gaps and barriers in services for seniors and their families. Thus, she chaired and co-chaired the family council in her dad's care home for over ten years; subsequently, she became a board member of advocates for care reform.
Before her parents passed in 2019, she started SeniorsAdvocate.ca in 2009. Its mandate is to treat older people with respect, provide all options to make informed choices to live as they choose, and ensure they and their caregivers have support when they need it most.
Focusing on planning, navigating, and management, she has published numerous articles and authored multiple books. She is a trainer, public speaker, and change agent.
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Barbara's Book: Life Planning, Support & Advocacy for Seniors & their Families: https://store.seniorsadvocate.ca/books/life-planning-support-advocacy-for-seniors-their-families.html
Did you know that nearly 25% of all households are providing care for the elderly? Although you may be willing to help, you may find unexpected challenges in doing it. Matters you never thought about are now your responsibility: healthcare, housing, financial, legal matters, day-to-day issues involving nutrition, and personal safety. With these, you may find yourself worried, overworked, and exhausted. Listeners, being primary caregivers, can relate to this.
Today, we have with us Dr. Marion Somers, a leading Geriatric specialist. Over the past 45 years, she has helped thousands of individuals and their families struggling with these matters.
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Did you know that over 50% of people over 60 years old in Asia and Africa live in extended family setups? This number is approximately 40% in Latin America and the Middle East. Meanwhile, in North America though, that's only 7%. In North America, people over 60 living as a couple is close to 50% while those living solo ager or those living by themselves are over 25%.
Living alone brings its own unique sets of challenges and needs. What are these challenges and needs? To talk about these and more about living solo among the elderly, we are happy to have Dr. Sara Zeff Geber with us. She is an expert on this subject and a world-renowned speaker.
Dr. Sara is an author, speaker, and retirement coach. She has a soft spot for solo agers that inspired her to write her book Essential Retirement Planning for Solo Agers, published in 2018 and was selected as a Best Book on Aging Well by Wall Street Journal. Dr. Sara was named an Influencer in Aging and is also a regular contributor to Forbes.com.
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Did You Know Segment: https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2020/03/10/older-people-are-more-likely-to-live-alone-in-the-u-s-than-elsewhere-in-the-world/#:~:text=In%20the%20U.S.%2C%2027%25%20of,5%25%20of%20seniors%20live%20alone
Did you know that the population of seniors, ages 65 and older, in Canada will grow approximately 70% over the next 20 years? While the older seniors, ages 75 and older, will grow at an even faster rate of 100% over the next 20 years, which is a steep increase in the number of seniors. With this information at hand, there is a need to improve care and advocacy for seniors in Canada and internationally to get more attention towards the subject.
Fortunately, today we have Erin Galyean, author of the book Badass Advocate to give more inputs on stepping up care and advocacy for seniors. Erin is a pharmaceutical trainer, professional speaker, a published author, and above all, she is an experienced family caregiver.
Erin has cared for and lost two of her loved ones. In 1997, Erin lost her father Mike to Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma, and in 2018, she lost her sister Meghan to rare lung disease. These heart-breaking life events, combined with her professional caregiving experience, taught her how to advocate for a patient effectively.
Due to her life experiences, Erin's vision in life is to share her knowledge with others — people like us — so that we can learn from her experience and become badass advocates for our loved ones.
In her book, she shares eight strategies for advocating for a patient who is either homebound or hospitalized. This interview will touch-base on some of those.
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Did You Know Segment: https://www.cihi.ca/en/infographic-canadas-seniors-population-outlook-uncharted-territory
In this episode, Rafiq will share five essential tips he learned from all the episodes in the first season that helped shape caregivers into becoming better caregivers to their loved ones. He will give a bonus tip for caregivers to enhance their knowledge on providing care to the elderly. He will share snippets of the particular episodes where those tips or recommendations came.
Tip 1:
Teepa Snow's Episode 6
Title: Using A Positive Approach To Dementia Care
Link: https://www.seniorspodcast.com/2020/01/episode-6-using-a-positive-approach-to-dementia-care/
Tip 2:
Mary Sue Wilkinson's Episode 9
Title: The Power Of Music In Dementia Care
Link: https://www.seniorspodcast.com/2020/02/episode-9-the-power-of-music-in-dementia-care/
Tip 3:
Judy Cornish's Episode 10
Title: Preserving Dignity In Dementia – the DAWN Method
Link: https://www.seniorspodcast.com/2020/02/episode-10-preserving-dignity-in-dementia-the-dawn-method/
Tip 4:
Debra Hallisey Episode 16
Title: “Caregiving Changes Relationships”
Link: https://www.seniorspodcast.com/2020/07/episode-16/
Tip 5:
Samantha Rodeck Episode 19
Title: Transportation For Seniors & Its Role In Purposeful Aging
Link: https://www.seniorspodcast.com/2020/07/episode-19/
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I have four facts to share with you today: First, did you know that every day in North America, over 10,000 people turn 65? Second, seniors tend to rent as they age. 83% of seniors up to the age of 79 own a home, but when they enter the age category of 80+, the ownership statistics go down to 63%, a 20% drop, people tend to like to rent more when they age over 80. Third, 60% of seniors say that they have more things than they need and a whopping 75% say that the amount of these things that they own makes them reluctant to move. Lastly, a study found that seniors who moved as part of their retirement plan were happier than those who stayed put. And, seniors are most happy when they move to short-distance near their family and friends.
Moving later in life has its unique self-challenges. We are fortunate to have a guest with us today who is an absolute expert on this subject, Lisa Sinnicks. She is the owner and managing director of The Seniors Moving Company.
Lisa has over 25 years of experience in seniors housing. Her profession revolves around the following topics: physical and emotional health, conflict resolution, loneliness, isolation, effects of grief and loss, and many such things.
It is a hefty chat about moving later in life in this episode and its challenges and the things to consider. Join us!
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Did You Know Segment: https://www.seniorlifestyle.com/resources/blog/infographic-upside-downsizing/
Did you know that over 25% or 1 out of 4 Canadians will be over the age of 60 by 2036? Did you know that 80% of retired Canadians have a fixed income with approximately 27,000 dollars for the median income?
With these facts in mind bundled with the sub-standard system for long-term care for seniors and shortage of retirement homes, there is a need for a lot more work for seniors. Caregivers also play an essential role in this as companions of their loved ones in their old-age journey.
Today, we have with us Sue Lantz to discuss this and more. Sue is the founder and managing director of Collaborative Aging, a creative consulting firm supporting individuals, organizations, businesses, and communities to improve and expand the "options" for aging in place.
Sue is a passionate advocate for resourceful and grassroots housing, healthcare, and neighborhood solutions connected to inclusive communities. She is a trusted policy expert and voice for seniors and people with disabilities.
Sue has worked over many years in Canada to generate innovative designs for home care and housing alternatives to institutional living.
She regularly speaks about empowered aging, including housing options, building stronger social connections, and supporting healthy and balanced caregiving.
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Did You Know Segment: https://www.tvo.org/video/the-future-of-senior-care
Death is inevitable. However, talking about death and dying are uncomfortable or upsetting, much more challenging to talk about someone we dearly love, and all the more if we talk about death while that loved one is still living. Study shows that having conversations about these subjects within families and communities can help the caregivers prepare emotionally and financially. There is so much to prepare for the death of a loved one. Among these are preparing for the funeral, expenses, wills, and others. These preparations sometimes get too much emotionally and mentally for the caregiver to bear. Getting an expert to help out during this grieving time is necessary.
Today, we have invited someone who can guide us to make this whole process less painful, Richard Rosin. Richard has been in the funeral industry for over 36 years, three decades, and more. He shares his knowledge and expertise to plan green burials, cremations, and funeral events. He also shares the importance of discussing pre-planning and presenting educational seminars.
Richard is a wonderful man who gives back to the community through the Winnipeg Jazz Orchestra and Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce. He also helps fundraise for various not-for-profit organizations.
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Fact check! Did you know that the elderly are the fastest-growing age group? And did you know that only less than 4% of people over Sixty-Five years old are in nursing homes? In today's world, we get these stats all the time, right! We have the information and the data. However, elderly care and caregiver challenges were little known facts in the 90s, and having the foresight in the 90s of this upcoming silver tsunami is something.
Our guest today, Denise Brown, launched caregiving.com. It is an online community that started way back in 1996, having one of the largest libraries of caregiving stories where caregivers find consolation in their reflections and confidence in the contributors' advice. She also started her education and support programs on The Caregiving Years Training Academy, Caregiving Consultant Training Program, and Healing Our Way.
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Denise's Latest Project: The Caring Question Project
https://caring.substack.com/
Did You Know Segment: https://agingresources.org/interesting-facts-about-older-adults/
Did you know that 40% of caregivers are in high-burden situations? Older caregivers who are above seventy-five years old provide over thirty hours of caregiving work a week. Primary caregivers of people with dementia spend an average of nine hours per day, providing care. It truly is a lot of hours! A lot of tired burned out caregivers indeed. Thus, caregivers need help! They need guidance and a support system around them all the more.
Today, we have with us someone who has been helping families since 2004 and has a tremendous experience in the field of caregiving, Stephanie Erickson. Stephanie, author of Plan for Aging Well, was born and raised in California. She has a Masters Degree in Social Work and a certified Alzheimer's Disease Treatment Specialist with a license in Quebec and California.
Stephanie is passionate about sharing her experience and knowledge. She also encourages others to take control of their health. Add to that she is an advocate on behalf of vulnerable populations.
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Did You Know Segment: https://www.caregiver.org/caregiver-statistics-demographics
The podcast currently has 50 episodes available.