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What is to become of boomers as they age? What are the ten most important physical, social, spiritual, economic and political crises facing the bubble of baby boomers as they reach their elder years.

Senior News has given space in the 11 newspapers between May 1997 and March 1998 to a series of questions raised and solutions proposed by aging expert Ken Dychtwald at the American Society on Aging's annual meeting in 1997. Dychtwald is president and CEO of Age Wave, Inc., a marketing and communications firm focused on the growing elder marketplace. Here is a summary of those articles and the local articles we also ran.

I. Introduction, May 1997
Ken Dychtwald began 25 years ago to establish a relationship between business and aging. He formed a marketing firm with a focus on the 50+ population and in 1990 he wrote the book Age Wave: How the Most Important Trend of Our Time Will Change Your Future. He has emerged as a leading visionary on the aging of America and the maturing marketplace and has advised numerous corporations, health systems and governments how to best meet the challenges of the coming age wave. He is a psychologist, gerontologist, successful entrepreneur and author of eight books including Age Wave.

Part I introduced Dychtwald and announced that Senior News would take each one of his ten points and explore them in subsequent editions.

II. Chronic Illness, June '97
Aches, pains, breakdown, and frailty will become even more pervasive if we don't make some major changes to keep ourselves healthy. Solution: spend more money on the diseases of aging; set geriatric standards for physicians, nurses, pharmacists, physical therapists and HMOs; develop a new professional group of caregivers.

Local articles: "Humboldt Home Health graduates a new class of health care workers" by Yvonne Baginski; "The myth of wellness" by Tony Smithers; "Taking charge" by Sharon McKinney. "Hey, he's talking about me!" by Barbara Clark.

III. Alzheimer's, July '97
More and more people will reach their 85th birthdays, but almost half will not know it because of Alzheimer's and other dementias. Solution: Build more adult day care centers, commit the scientific community to funding research.

Also: "Photographs: a memory device" by Ruth Mountaingrove; "Journey into the unknown: the myth and mystery in everyday life" by Marion Kofford; "Caring for Alzheimer's afflicted" by Joel Geck-Moeller.

IV. Caregivers, Aug. '97
People in their 50s are caring for moms, grandparents, children and grandchildren-a double-decker sandwich generation. Solutions: eliminate diseases of old age; create an integrated health care system that includes adult day care, effective home care, respite and family support; engage churches in the process.

Also: "Faith in Action" by Rozanne Miller; "Parenting my parent" by Sharon McKinney; "National Caregivers survey;" The caregivers' dilemma" by Virginia Hinkley; "Asking for Help" by Joyce Rogers; The 36-Hour Day reviewed by Edilith Eckart.

V. Death and Dying, Sep. '97
Enormous money has been made on dying in our country. Solutions: make dying a part of life, talk about options, de-institutionalize the dying process, codify the right to suicide, build on the hospice model of care.

Also: "The right to die: Physician Assisted Suicide" by Lee Leer MD; "I wanna live," by Katherine B. Taylor; "A day in the life...of a hospice volunteer" by Ginger Kossow; "Hospice of Humboldt: what we are doing to honor dying" by Raeann Bossarte; "Visiting parents at work" by Sharon McKinney.

VI. "Gerassic" Park, Oct. '97
If we will be able to clone organs and remain alive into our hundreds, when should people begin to receive Medicare?

Solutions: decide how breakthroughs will be distributed; rethink life-stage activities to include a longer life span.

Also: The Retirement Myth reviewed by Charmaine Taylor; "Thoughts on the word elderly" by Millicent Niesen.

VII. The Marketplace, Nov. '97
Advertising still portrays the young positively and the old negatively, and products are not aging-friendly. Solutions: eliminate ageism in advertising, speak out for product change, encourage mature-oriented entrepreneurs.

Also: "Seniorly Incorrect: The politics of verbiage" reprinted from AgeBeat newsletter.

VIII. Social Insecurity, Dec. '97
Boomers are in trouble financially if they haven't set up a retirement program because Social Security won't be funded by a large enough Generation X that follows them. Solutions: understand the importance of savings, the traps of debt; establish portable, flexible pensions; engage 20- and 30-year olds in the discussion of what to do to make Social Security secure.

Also: "Boomers face unique financial challenges" by Sandra Haux; "Senior Investment Club keeps score" by Barbara Clark.

IX. Retirement Age, Jan '98
"Old age" is occurring ten years later now than it did when Social Security was formed 30 years ago. Solutions: enhance a cyclic life plan in which people go back to school several times during their lives; retrain people in their 60s, 70s and 80s; establish a new model for entitlements in which age 65 is no longer a fair marker of old age.

Also: "What age is Elderly?" by Virginia Hinkley; "Exercise can be done by everyone" by Eric Jansson MD.

X. Age Wars, Feb. '98
The "age wars" won't be between boomers and today's elderly, but between boomers and those now in their 20s. Solution: create more intergenerational communities, community centers, colleges, churches and workplaces; have all generations create mechanisms for the future; establish intergenerational justice as a key factor in the 21st century.

Also: "What kind of Social Security do we want?" by Nancy L. Schwarz; "Local currencies: new ideas for boomers' old age" by Paul Dillon; "Across generations: mentoring programs satisfy at many levels" by Si Talty and Lynn Delgado.

XI. Elder Wasteland, March 1998
What are we supposed to make of our old age-spend our days in retirement homes filled with our own generation, or what? Solutions: create an ElderCorps to become mentors in schools, mediators in churches, co-teachers in our community.

Also: "Just doing time till we die?" by Martha Greene; "View from Ecuador: A year of family wisdom" by Leah Miller-Freeman; "101 and a half" by Joy Ehlert.

One-time article Copyright 1998 by Humboldt Senior Resource Center.