How are we Preparing for the Future?

by Ben Ridgely | Jul 12, 2024 | Our Community

On May 25^th of 2023, Governor Josh Shapiro signed an executive order requiring the Department of Aging to facilitate the creation of a Master Plan for Older Adults (MPOA). The motivation to initiate this Master Plan comes from the trends of increasing older populations across the entire United States. According to the US Census Bureau, “the older population increased by 50.9 million, from 4.9 million in 1920 to 55.8 million in 2020”, which “represents a growth rate of 1000% ¹. Along with the nation, Pennsylvania, and York County specifically, is experiencing similar trends of an increasing older population. According to the 4-year plan created in 2020 by the York County Area Agency on Aging, the percentage of the older population is estimated to increase from 25% to 29% by the year 2030 ². The 4-year plan also mentions that York County offers an “attractive relocation option for Maryland residents, with lower cost of living, retirement friendly State taxes, and dedicated lottery funding for senior services” ³. This provides us with some reasoning for the trends we have documented but whatever the cause is the facts tell us that more resources will be needed in the future. Therefore, the important question is,

How are we preparing to provide resources to this increasing population of people in our area?

Pennsylvania’s Master Plan will be categorized by AARP’s 8 domains of livability, which include Social Participation, Civic Participation and Employment, Communication and Information, Outdoor Spaces and Buildings, Housing, Transportation, Health Services and Community Supports, and Respect and Social Inclusion. These categories cover a wide range of life experiences that are directly related to an individual’s health and wellbeing. We can use this to ensure that people who are aging are not losing access to the things that bring meaning to their lives, even if their physical or mental disabilities affect their ability to participate. This may seem simple, but these problems often take careful consideration and resources to accommodate appropriately. For instance, what would it take to encourage an individual to participate in an outdoor community activity, who has trouble walking without assistance? And let’s say that this community event is meaningful to this individual and they have been going every year for the last 20 years.

So, let’s explore what it would take to accommodate this individual.

Is there handicap parking close to where this event is? If parking is limited or hard to come by during big events, this alone could deter someone with mobility issues from participating.
Are there public bathrooms that are handicap accessible?
Are there paved sidewalks or paths for the use of a wheelchair or walker?
How will they know when and where? (if things have changed over the years) What if I don’t have access to the internet? How will they stay informed about the event?
How will they get there if their limitations restrict their ability to drive themselves? Public Services? What is available?
What if this individual would like to help put on this event? Someone with 20 years of experience offers invaluable wisdom to provide. Therefore, it would be in the communities’ interest to accommodate this individual to help them participate in planning/preparation of the event. How do we offer support to accommodate this person in that process?

We believe the key lies within the answer to these questions as it sets standards and goals to work towards. Though we may not be able to create a utopia for our older population, we can begin to put together resources and projects geared to meet these goals and help this population maintain a meaningful lifestyle with their peers and families. Each community and location are different and will provide their own unique difficulties as it pertains to accommodating the older population. Along with the difficulties, each community and location will also provide aspects that are beneficial towards these efforts. So, it is always important to begin with some kind of strengths/barriers discussion when considering the environment in question. For instance, the Island of Sardinia in Italy is described as “culturally isolated” and live a “very traditional, healthy lifestyle” ⁴. Some of their traditions include hunting, fishing, and harvesting their own food which has aided them in their efforts to live longer and happier lives. Regardless of specific strengths and weaknesses there are likely many areas that need additional accommodation to meet the needs of the community.

Sardinia, Italy is considered a “Blue Zone” which was coined by Dan Buettner while he traveled the world researching human longevity. These are places where people live longer and enjoy a relatively high quality of life in their old age. From this example and others, the two main factors of Blue Zones are an overall higher life expectancy and a better quality of life while aging. Therefore, the areas now considered Blue Zones offer insight on how to build systems that support the same by product. Dan Buettner identified 9 commonalities that exist as apart of all Blue Zones, even though each of the communities formulated separately from one another. These 9 points are documented as Belong, Move Naturally, Purpose, Down Shift, 80% rule, Plant Slant, Wine at 5, Right Tribe, and Loved Ones First, and are described in more detail in his article titled “Power 9: Reverse Engineering Longevity⁵. The only example of a certified Blue Zone in the United States is a community of 9000 people in Loma Linda, California⁶. This is a community of Seventh-day Adventist’s who view “health as central to their faith” and practice a very traditional Christian lifestyle.

To summarize, we have explored the concepts that make up an AARP age friendly state and the Blue Zones which consist of people who are living longer and happier lives. These two ideas have been created separately from one another but support the overall effort to pay more attention to HOW we age. Obviously, there is no way to reverse the aging process, however we can pay more attention to the things that keep us healthy and active as we age. These ideas can help any community begin to make changes that support these ideals, and it will help to begin with some form of cost/benefit analysis to understand the barriers and supports in your community. Using the 8 domains of livability as a template, you can understand strengths and weaknesses related to each category. So, whether you’re working with a broader community or just a household/smaller community, these principles will assist in creating an environment that supports individuals who are aging rather than hindering them.

Prayer

Father God, we come to you in high praise as we acknowledge your grace and love for us. We ask you to provide the wisdom that will allow us to make positive decisions for ourselves and for our community. We thank you for the many blessings you have already provided for our community. We acknowledge the work you are doing in our leaders as they put their minds together towards positive change. And we put our trust in you to keep that fire lit through any obstacle that we may face in the process of change. Amen

Bible Verses for Reflection

“Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you.”
– Exodus 20:12

“Therefore, I exhort the elders among you, as your fellow elder and witness of the sufferings of Christ, and a partaker also of the glory that is to be revealed, shepherd the flock of God among you, exercising oversight not under compulsion, but voluntarily, according to the will of God; and not for sordid gain, but with eagerness; nor yet as Lording it over those allotted to your charge, but proving to be examples to the flock. And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory. You younger men, likewise, be subject to your elders; and all of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, for God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble. “
– 1 Peter 5:5