Inspiring Conversations about Aging — a Florida Example

Karen Miller, a lawyer and former administrative law judge from New York who has become a very good friend, recently shared with me reports about a long-time project of hers, to inspire direct dialogue between generations about aging.  As an engaged resident of a CCRC in Gainesville, Florida (Oak Hammock which is affiliated with the University of Florida), Karen and others in her community embody the notion of active, healthy, and realistic aging.  Karen knows that “aging in the right place” is a better goal than simply “aging in place.”  The right place may or may not be the long-time family home.   

Over the course of three days in mid-September, Temple Shir Shalom and Oak Hammock hosted conversations on “Giving and Receiving Care” that were open to the public.  From the Gainesville-Sun coverage of the events:

[Rabbi Michael] Joseph said joking around with his wife about his forgetfulness becomes less funny, as he grows older. “It becomes a real anxiety, it becomes harder to talk about,” Joseph said. “Because I don’t really want to know the answer, part of me.”

 

Saturday’s festivities will address Joseph’s anxiety head-on. The Oak Hammock retirement community will serve as the backdrop to a lecture about age-related cognitive changes. The 3 p.m. non-clinical presentation by guest speaker Dr. Steven DeKoskey of the University of Florida’s McKnight Brain Institute will take a look at what is and isn’t normal when aging.

 

[Karen] Miller said that as people age they may need help with numerous things, ranging from simple things like writing a check, to more complicated things, like making medical decisions. “There will come a time, unless you get hit by a car, where your faculties are not as sharp as they were at one time,” she said.

 

Concluding Sunday at the temple, the program will open its doors at 10:30 a.m. to a wider audience spanning at least three generations, Joseph said.

The combination of community hosts, professional caregivers, science-based speakers, and public round tables strikes me as an inspiring model for effective conversations about aging. Well done, Karen.