The Economist recently sat down with the ILC's President & CEO Dr. Robert Butler, interviewing him for their Democracy in America blog. The magazine wanted to know — in “very real medical terms” — how McCain’s age might affect his presidency and how much ageism is a factor in this election.
Butler responded that he has not personally noticed anything in McCain’s behavior that is symptomatic of aging. On the contrary, Butler said, McCain seems remarkably energetic. However, he noted, if McCain were to say something incoherent, fuzzy, or take a long time to answer, it would be very quickly judged, and not only by younger people, but by older people, too.
Older people, Butler reminded, can sometimes be extremely ageist — a projection of their own fears of becoming dependent and sick.
Butler did concede that McCain’s melanoma was something to be followed, and that, statisfically as we get older, we are simply more vultnerable to disease and death.
Butler also reinforced the idea put forth in his new book The Longevity Revolution, that the elderly generally don't vote as a block, and don't recognize their own interests the way other groups do.
Listen to the full 10-minute audio interview, including Dr. Butler's thoughts on older people and the internet, social security, and more.
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Twelve innovative in-home caregiver training programs are being awarded up to $25,000 through the ILC's Community College Caregiver Training Initiative of the Caregiving Project for Older Americans, supported by MetLife Foundation.
“The number of high-quality training programs submitted was exceptional,” Dr. Kenneth Knapp, project manager for the Caregiving Project and senior research analyst at the ILC-USA. “We hope this initiative continues to highlight the important role community colleges can play in training our nation’s professional and family caregivers.”
The need for more training is an urgent one, as increasing numbers of people are finding it difficult to obtain affordable, quality in-home care for older adults. The available pool of family caregivers is shrinking, and at the same time, the caregiving profession is experiencing a severe and worsening shortage of paid caregivers. The Caregiving Project for Older Americans seeks to address this need by encouraging community colleges to develop new, creative programs that train both family and professional in-home caregivers.
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A story last week in The New York Times reporting on a study showing the U.S. spends over twice as much as most other industrialized countries for health care, yet places last in preventing deaths, was answered by members of the ILC’s World Cities Project. In a letter to the editor, co-directors Victor G. Rodwin, Ph.D. and Michael K. Gusmano, Ph.D., and researcher Daniel Weisz, M.D., reminded readers and policy makers that, while it is important to compare health care costs and quality, we must look beyond the numbers in order to make sense of the reasons behind the trends.
The mission of the World Cities Project, a joint effort with New York University's Robert F. Wagner School of Public Service and Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health, is to compare and analyze health, social services, and quality of life for persons age 65 in the cities of New York, London, Paris and Tokyo. Their research has shown that two key factors — access to disease prevention services, and improvements in social and environmental health factors — are critical to improving overall population health. One way access can be improved, they argue, is through universal health care coverage.
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