Category Archive

IAHSA is very lucky that we are very well represented at the United Nations by our two Ambassadors, Bill Smith, CEO, and Katie Weiss, Chair of the Board, both at Aging in America in New York City. Their regular attendance at meetings of the NGO Committee on Ageing and other UN events is very important in keeping us up-to-date on these global activities that can impact our members.

A recent presenter was Professor Robin Blackburn, author of Banking on Death or Investing in Life and Professor of Sociology at the University of Essex in England. Banking on Death offers a panoramic view of the history and future of pension provision. A work of unique scope, it traces the origins and development of the pension idea, from the days of the French Revolution to the troubles of the modern welfare state.

Thanks Bill & Katie. We’ll keep reporting on your UN activities to our blog readers

On 12 February, I participated in – The Untapped Resource: Older Persons in the World of Work – a session organized by the United Nation’s NGO Committee on Ageing.  This programme was held as “side event” in conjunction with the 46^th Session of the U.N.’s Commission for Social Development (which concludes today in New York).On behalf of IAHSA, Dr. Robyn Stone, Executive Director of the Institute for the Future of Aging Services/IFAS (co-located with IAHSA in Washington, DC) gave the session’s keynote presentation.

Robyn’s presentation – The Geriatric LTC Workforce: Challenges & Opportunities for Older Persons – was extremely well received and a number of her points particularly resonated with me and my colleagues in attendance:

·        We are currently experiencing a great crisis in the recruitment and retention of the geriatric workforce (especially in regards to the frontline caregivers) that will only get worse as population ageing has made long-term care one of the fastest growing sectors in our economy.

·        While a significant percentage of the frontline workforce is already comprised of persons aged 50+, many older informal caregivers become “hooked” on this role and become professional caregivers once their responsibilities to their loved ones end.

·        Many older persons want to continue working in order to keep active and engaged, while other older persons must stay in the workforce out of economic necessity.

Robyn offered the following strategies regarding older persons as part of the long-term care and employment solution:

§         Technologies to help retain quality older staff (e.g. reducing physical burden)§         Work redesign (e.g. job sharing options)§         Retired physicians, nurses, administrators as volunteer mentors/coaches for younger staff§         Retired geriatric professionals as educators in colleges, universities, trade schools§         Retired CNAs, home health and home care aides as trainers for new direct care workers and family caregivers§         Second careers for older persons§         Family caregivers as formal providersIAHSA will keep you posted on our continuing collaborations with Robyn and IFAS on long-term care workforce issues! For more on IFAS’s research visit http://www.futureofaging.org/.

The International Day of Older Persons [IDOP] is an annual event that is celebrated at the United Nations with a full day of education, networking and policy.

The theme of this year’s celebration was Addressing the Challenges and Opportunities of Ageing: Empowering Older Persons. The program focused on the challenges and opportunities of ageing and provided an opportunity to discuss progress among stakeholders in implementing the Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing [MIPAA],adopted by 159 governments during the UN Global Ageing Summit in Madrid in 2002.

MIPAA is the first international agreement to call for ageing to be included in national social and economic development policies. It also links ageing to the UN Millennium Development Goals, promoting equal participation of older people in the development process.

Since 2002, there has been patchy progress in implementing MIPAA. In part, this is because the provisions of MIPAA are still relatively unknown to policy makers in governments and international agencies, including the UN.

The IDOP provides an opportunity to raise awareness of MIPAA and ageing issues. Under the leadership of IAHSA Board Member Bill Smith, we have published an Issue Brief that outlines our commitment to MIPAA, focusing on person-centered care.

We believe that while quality of care is critical for elders, quality of life is even more essential. Person-centered care is a vital approach in aged care supporting the empowerment and self-determination of older persons.

We also believe that it is critical to bring this philosophy and practice of care and services to countries that are just embarking on the road to formal and residential services for the elderly.

October 1st is the International Day of Older Persons and we want to know what YOU are doing to raise awareness in your community about global ageing and the important issues that face our world’s elders.

Here at IAHSA we are partnering with AARP International to host My Generation: Connecting, Giving, Enjoying on Tuesday, October 2. This event will be the American debut of the BBC’s acclaimed Documentary “Power to the People: the Great Granny Chart Invasion”. After the film, attendees will have the opportunity to share their ideas and insights with award-winning investigative journalist and documentary filmmaker Tim Samuels.

But the celebration goes beyond this event. Organizations and communities around the world around are already planning their celebrations. Organizations in Gisborne, New Zealand are working togehter to host an expo and the city of Leeds in the United Kingdom is planning a programme along with a week-long series of community events.

Share what’s happening in your community or plan your own event and help us spread the word about the International Day of Older Persons!