Gilbert Guide: Day 2 at the 2007 ASA-NCOA Joint Conference

by Jill Gilbert

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It’s been a full first day at the 2007 Joint Conference of the American Society on Aging and the National Council on Aging conference here in Chicago. This is my first time here and I have to say that I’m blown away by the unbelievable attendance. It’s packed! There are swarms of people at the Sheraton Chicago Hotel & Towers, where the conference is headquartered. And even as crowded as it is here, there are two more hotels being used for their conference quarters and rooms. I went to pick up my badge and information this morning and had quite an awakening. I opened my bag to discover a gigantic catalog. I immediately assumed it would be full of advertising, but much to my surprise, it was a listing of all of the workshops and lectures taking place throughout the duration of the conference. The scope of issues and topics being discussed were way beyond my expectations. It just goes to show how many people are dedicated to the aging industry.

I constantly hear from people who are disappointed about how inadequately today’s seniors are served, but today would have brought a smile to many of them. There are so many people who are utterly devoted to serving the aging population. And the services are so varied: Medicare/Medicaid counseling, day care centers, Alzheimer’s research and treatment, senior housing, homecare, family caregiver support...the list could go on and on. It’s quite impressive, and it inspires me to continue making people aware of these amazing resources.

It makes me even more committed to ensuring Gilbert Guide will become the nerve center for Americans to find the senior care resources they need. There so many people and organizations out there offering wonderful services that go unheard of.

Today I attended a full day of workshops to learn about the baby boomer population and how best to serve them. It might surprise you that I would spend so much time trying to understand this market instead of the senior market, but I am well aware that most of the people who search for quality care are looking for their elderly parents. So spending time in getting to know the needs of adult children is quite important. At Gilbert Guide, we’ve spent the past several years concentrating on thoroughly understanding the criteria that long-term care facilities and services need to meet in order to deliver quality care. Now we want to understand the demographic of adult children who are searching for care for their loved ones.

Rather than bore you with a whole bunch of boomer marketing jargon, I thought I would present some of the things I learned as well as the statistics that surprised me today.

Over the past 100 years, we’ve added an additional 30 years to our life expectancy.
Older people spend more of their income on health than any other need or activity.
The New England Journal of Medicine reported that 9 out of 10 cases of Type 2 diabetes (aka adult-onset diabetes) could be prevented if people exercised more, ate better, stopped smoking and adopted other healthy behaviors.
According to renowned researcher Dr. William Evans, “the single greatest deficit in many older people [65+] is their inability to lift 10 lbs.”
The fastest-growing age group is 100+.

And finally, the top seven reasons why older adults say they exercise, according to the AARP:

Improve overall health 83%
Increasing energy level 69%
Preventing disease 67%
Reducing stress 60%
Looking good 48%
Socializing with others 34%
Better sex 28%

Tomorrow will be a full day here. The exhibit hall is open and I can’t wait to tour the room and meet some of the amazing companies that will be sharing and demonstrating their services. There are so many entrepreneurs out there that have started businesses in the aging market that are really listening to the needs of seniors, and it’s always fascinating to see what they’ve come up with. I really think the seniors of tomorrow will benefit from the innovation of today’s business owners. I’m looking forward to having Gilbert Guide bring to light these “gems.”

Until tomorrow—

Jill

Posted in: Aging, Gilbert Guide News, Senior Health