Older Americans

by KYW's Dr. Marciene Mattleman

One can see as Older Adults Month is celebrated each May that the definitions and the language referring to those in their later years are changing. Nobel laurete Elie Wiesel calls older adults guardians of the world’s vital memories.

Gerontologists focus on persons 60 years and older. The federal government uses age 65 as the marker for Social Security and Medicare benefits and the term “senior’ is used at the movies.

In 1900, only about 3 million people reached 65; by 2000 that number increased to approximately 35 million and it’s estimated that 50 million people, 17% of our population, will be older than 65 by 2020.

Polls show that today’s youngish retirees want to continue working, but hope to get paid. The Obama agenda offers stipends for service to the community as an important way to deal with society’s ills.

Think about painter Grandma Moses and activist Maggie Kuhn, who founded Gray Panthers-- examples of the work of older Americans-- and get more information from the American Psychological Association at www.apa.org.