Wait! Don’t Shoot After All!

"Just shoot me!" In recent weeks, I've heard more than one person say this when, following a discussion of our parents coping with physical ailments like my 89-year-old dad with Parkinson's, we begin to contemplate our own aging. While Baby Boomers have grown up thinking they will be forever young, the fact is that some day, like it or not, most of us are going to find ourselves in our parents’ shoes.

This first hit me a couple of years ago. In the course of searching for the most appropriate living arrangements for our Dad after our Mom passed, my sister and I visited several facilities before narrowing down the choices for him to make. We couldn't help picturing ourselves in each facility, imagining if we would like it there. While all were wonderful places, with beautiful interior design and a staff committed to doing what they could to make it "feel like home", I couldn’t help but think that there had to be a better way.

Boomers have had an impact on the world at every stage of our lives, so it seems natural to assume that our later retirement years will be no different. I feel confident that there will be new types of living alternatives for us as we age. In fact, some interesting options are already starting to emerge. I've chatted with more than a few women who think the ideal arrangement would be to get a house with a number of friends and bring services in. Others are talking about the possibility of opening up their existing home to roommates.

In a recent blog entry on Disruptive Demographics, MIT Age Lab’s Director Joseph Coughlin writes that this aging-in-place mentality opens the door to opportunity for a wide range of businesses, including remodeling, modification, and maintenance companies, as well as home convenience and in-home care providers. There is even the potential for new and innovative financial services products. In addition, some of the concierge services popping up could turn into community cooperatives, which is already happening in some areas.

At the very least, existing facilities should consider updating their current offerings by adding a wider range of services. These could include everything from health and wellness programs like yoga, to alternative healing modalities, to accommodating the technologies that Boomers have grown accustomed to. I know of a few facilities that are starting to do this and I give them credit for their forward thinking, though I believe it will shift a lot more.

I can't help but laugh to myself a little when I'm sitting with my dad, listening to a performer at his facility singing the songs of his youth, and thinking that if I end up in a place like that, they're going to have to be playing rock music like Aerosmith! God willing, when I make it to Dad's age (he'll be 90 this month), there will be many options to choose from to suit my lifestyle and bring enough pleasure to my life, so you won't have to "just shoot me".

– Posted by Laura Willis