meeting the challenges and opportunities associated with growing old in america
Growing old in the 21st century is not what is used to be.
The purpose of this project is to develop an ongoing, national study of aging that asks the broad question:
- What is the impact of multiple engagements — in continued work, in volunteer activities, in education and other learning activities, in care-giving for family members and friends—on the mental and physical health of older people?
The Engaged as We Age project will bring to Boston College a group of thought leaders interested in the opportunities and dilemmas of aging in the 21st century. Policy analysts/advocates, practitioners/employers, foundation representatives, and academics from several disciplines will participate in a facilitated conversation this fall to re-think the dominant paradigms of aging in America to be held this fall at Boston College.
background
Overcoming Negative Perceptions of Aging
Over the past couple of decades, gerontologists have wrestled with ways to overcome outdated and mostly negative perceptions of growing older. Added years of longevity and health are unprecedented and represent opportunities for a variety of approaches to contentment, satisfaction, and even continued growth in later life.
Now the question is, how can we move beyond the idea of old age as a “roleless role”? How can we provide the optimal structure for maximizing opportunities for well-being and vitality. What do practitioners, employers, and policy-makers need to know in order to re-write the future of old age in America?
One of the responses to the old disengagement paradigms has been to focus attention on strategies to help individuals “age successfully.” Successful and healthy aging has often been interpreted as steps taken to avoid disease and disability, maintain mental and physical function, and continue engagement with life.
Another concept—“productive aging”—refers to “activities that produce goods and services, whether paid or not,” and focuses attention on the contributions that older adults make at work, in volunteer capacities, and with care-giving (either to spouses, parents, families members with disabilities, or grandchildren).
Considerations of “successful aging” and “productive aging” have challenged many old assumptions and expectations for the roles that older adults should/will assume. Despite the promise of these new paradigms, critics suggest that value labels such as healthy and productive aging imply that there is a “best way, an only way” to age well, and that people who develop a debilitating disease are “unsuccessful.” Some worry that efforts to get elder citizens to be more productive will undermine social programs like Social Security and Medicare, much needed supports especially for women and minorities. Furthermore, to date, there has been limited attention focused on the social and structural changes needed to facilitate “success” or “productivity.”
“If we are to promote productive aging, there is a need for enlarged public- and private-sector responsibility…we need to explore perceptions of the public and how they define productive aging, productivity, and older adult’s contributions” (Estes & Mahakian, 2001, p. 209).
moving forward
Overcoming Negative Perceptions of Aging
We believe it is a critical time to develop a major initiative of this type. In a recent article in The Boston Globe (July 26, 2009), Jennifer Graham suggested that “boomer geezers will serve no useful purpose to the young…”
Older adults entering the traditional retirement ages (such as the Baby Boom Generation referred to above) do indeed face a very different later life context than did the generation just ahead of them—in terms of health, economic realities, and longevity. Are we ready to optimize both their experience of aging and their potential contributions to the good of all?
A major report due out in early January will address these and other dilemmas confronted by people facing retirement in the new context of later life.
|
Engaged as We Age is a Joint Project of the Sloan Center on Aging & Work and the Institute on Aging at Boston College. |
 |
|
Supported by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, the Institute on Aging at Boston College, and Boston College Graduate School of Social Work. |
 |
the engaged as we age team
For more information on Engaged as We Age, or to schedule a conversation with any of the Center’s team, please contact Chad Minnich, Assistant Director of Marketing & Communications:
minnicch@bc.edu | +1 . 617 . 552 . 3122
primary investigators | |
| |
|
Marcie Pitt-Catsouphes, PhD |
Director Marcie Pitt-Catsouphes directs the Sloan Center on Aging & Work at Boston College. She is an Associate Professor in the Graduate School of Social Work, and has appointments at the Boston College Carroll School of Management and the Business School at Middlesex University in London. She was the Co-Principal Investigator for the 2006 National Study of Business Strategy and Workforce Development and the 2007-2008 Age & Generations Study. Her current work includes oversight of the 2009 Talent Management Study. She will be leading the 2010 Generations of Talent study with colleagues from around the world. |
| |
|
Jacquelyn B. James, PhD
|
Co-director of research Jacquelyn B. James, a personality and developmental psychologist, is co-director of research at the Sloan Center on Aging & Work and a research professor at the Lynch School of Education at Boston College. Her research has focused on the meaning and experience of work in women’s lives, gender roles, and adult development. Her most recent publication, The Crown of Life: Dynamics of the Early Postretirement Period, details the opportunities and challenges inherent in the early retirement years for new retirees. She is also co-principal investigator of the Workplace Culture and Flexible Work Arrangements study at the center. Dr. James is past-president of the Society for the Study of Human Development and serves on the editorial board of the society’s flagship journal, Research in Human Development. |
| |
research team | |
| |
|
Elyssa Besen
|
Research Assistant Elyssa Besen is a research assistant at the Sloan Center on Aging & Work. Her primary work is on the Age & Generations Study. In addition to her work at the center, Elyssa is a doctoral student in the Applied Developmental and Educational Psychology Program at Boston College. Her research interest is the role of work in adult development. |
| |
|
Melissa Brown, MSW |
Research Assistant Melissa Brown is a research assistant at the Sloan Center on Aging and Work and a doctoral student in the Graduate School of Social Work at Boston College. She also collaborates on the Family Caregivers of the Elderly Project, being conducted by the Families and Work Institute. |
| |
|
Christina Matz-Costa, MSW |
Research Associate Christina Matz-Costa is a research associate at the Sloan Center on Aging & Work at Boston College, where she is in charge of data management and analysis for the Age & Generations Study and the National Study of Business Strategy and Workforce Development. Christina is also a doctoral candidate in the Graduate School of Social Work at Boston College. Her research interests include employee engagement, productive aging, work-family issues, employer response to the aging of the workforce, quantitative data analysis and multi-level modeling. |
| |
|
Shribha Sahani
|
Intern Shribha Sahani is an Intern at the Sloan Center on Aging & Work and a MSW macro student pursuing Older Adults concentration at the Graduate School of Social Work at Boston College. Her research interest is elder abuse, working through retirement, and developing programs for older adults to maintain a healthy lifestyle in their Third Age. |
| |
