A Conversation with an Elder Statesman NCOA Board Chair, Msgr' Charles Fahey'

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Sponsored by the National Council on Aging and
IlluminAge
Healthy Aging Briefing Series
A Conversation with an Elder Statesman - NCOA
Board Chair, Msgr. Charles Fahey. Personal
Reflections on Service, Advocacy, and
Professional Development in the Field of Aging
WELCOME
This session will begin promptly at 130pm
ESTPlease mute your phonePersonal
introductions are not necessaryThe moderator
will be on the line shortly
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2009 Aging in America Conference Las Vegas,
March 15-19.

• Each year NCOA and ASA join together for one of
  the most dynamic educational conferences and
  networking opportunities in the field of aging.
  Last year was our biggest year yet with over
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  bigger event this year.
• Early registration begins October 15th and NCOA
  members get up 200 off conference registration
  fees.
• Join NOW or RENEW and get two (2) years of NCOA
  membership for the price of one! Join by calling
  our membership service specialists at
  800-373-4906 and mention promo code 2008022.
• Dont Delay Join NCOA Today!

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Personal Reflections on Service, Advocacy, and
Professional Development in the Field of Aging.

• Msgr. Charles J Fahey
• September 17, 2008

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The Three Ages of Living Beings

• First age
• From first moment of existence until physical
  (sexual) maturity.
• Second age
• Period of maximum reproductive and physical
  productivity
• Third Age
• A new Age as normal in the life journey

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Healthy Aging

• Toward a healthy Third Age
• Aging
• Process
• State
• Healthy
• Process
• State

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Elements in Health?The quest for Homeostasis

• Physical
• Absence of disease and debilitating factors
• Capacity to live a full life
• Emotional . . . Psychological
• Correspondence to and with reality
• Mental . . .Intellectual
• Capacity, judgment, adequacy for life
• Spiritual . . . Identity and connectedness

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Personal Determinants of Health

• Genetics
• Individual experiences over time
• Knowledge
• Access to and use of resources
• Choices

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External Determinants of Health

• Relationships
• Environment
• Physical
• Social
• Political
• Civic

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Aging in Time

• Cohorts
• Groups sharing the same temporal space and social
  phenomenon
• Period
• Age effect
• Numbers of individuals skewing the social scene
• Period effect
• Impact of societal events of cohorts that
  experience them

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Frailty in the Life Journey

• Frailty is the disequilibrium between internal
  capacity and external demands
• In the third age the inability of molecular
  repair can not keep pace with molecular
  deterioration
• Some commonalities across population
• Some idiosyncratic elements
• Frailty has social components as well as physical

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Goal of Healthy Aging

• The goal of healthy aging activities is to
  minimize the disequilibrium
• Working with the determinants of health
• Assisting individuals
• Modifying environments
• Physical
• Social
• Compensations for losses

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Two Facets of Healthy Aging

• Personal
• Life time perspective
• Current choices and access
• Societal
• Support
• Detriments

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Fifty Years of AgingChanges

• Individual
• Fewer premature deaths
• Fewer poor
• Better education
• More options
• Society
• Four generations
• More retirees for longer periods
• Less discrimination

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Fifty Years of Aging Causes

• Demography
• Advances in science and technology
• Public health
• Medical interventions, prostheses, rehabilitation
• Aging Movement
• Medicare, Medicaid, Older Americans Act
• American s with Disabilities Act
• SSI
• Age Discrimination Laws

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Current Scene Challenges

• Fragmented Society
• Autonomy, Independence, freedom
• Social solidarity, reciprocity, interdependence
• Fragmented Aging movement
• Economy
• Competing demands for public dollars
• Inadequate private and public savings

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What should we as a nation be most proud of ?

• Improvements in health interventions
• Enactment of entitlements
• Anti discrimination statutes
• Better integration of diverse groups and people
  in society

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What needs to be Done

• More public support of those with intense
  progressive intermittent frailty as well as those
  who care for them
• Integrated communities that are frailty friendly
• Further development of frailty friendly housing
• Developing interoperable medical records toward
  system building
• Improving quality and quantity of care givers

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What are some of the most exciting developments
in aging?

• Introduction of IT in every facet of the field
• Emphasis on consumer directed care
• Emphasis of resident centered long term care
• Concern for caregivers

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Important Lessons

• Dont forget the most vulnerable
• Freedom and autonomy can be cold comfort
• Home may not be the least restrictive
  environment
• We are all interdependent
• Remember the common good
• We are all pioneers, pilgrims and must be
  prophets as well

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QUESTIONS?Charles Fahey CharlesFahey_at_milbank.o
rg
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Dont Forget Your Free Copy of Aging in Stride
NCOA and Caresource are pleased to offer
first-time registrants for this Healthy Aging
Briefing Series a complimentary copy of the book,
Aging in Stride, which includes the new
supplement Just In Case Emergency Readiness for
Older Adults and Caregivers. To receive your
copy, please visit www.AgingInStride.org/NCOAoffer
. Or just email service_at_caresource.com with your
name, title, organization, mailing address, phone
number, and date of the Briefing you participated
in. One free copy per registrant, please.