Golden assets

It’s happening just as predicted: the well-documented hordes who were young adults during the summer of love are entering the autumn of their lives and retirement with all the speed of a Jimi Hendrix guitar solo. That doesn’t mean they’ll all retire. Many will continue to work at jobs they love or start completely new businesses.

The 78 million baby boomers control $3 trillion worth of wealth and will continue to do so for many years.

They’ll cause disruptions and transformations by what they choose to buy and by their sheer numbers just as they have during childhood, parenthood and as mature workers. They’ll affect the delivery of health care and other services, giving rise to businesses society hasn’t even imagined yet to fill needs that stress present systems.

Once they leave their customary employment, they’ll live wherever family, preference or need dictates. They’ll want community services that allow them to stay in their own homes; or new homes that offer ease of care; or whole communities constructed to deliver choices for remaining safe, healthy and physically and mentally active.

According to the Thomas Jefferson Planning District (Albemarle, Nelson, Greene and Fluvanna counties and Charlottesville) the 65 and over population will increase by 24 percent by 2010 (this compares to a 16-percent total population increase and a 40-percent increase in those 85 and over).

Both groups — “young old” and the “old old” — will grow by 77-percent by 2020, compared to the 32-percent increase in the total population. By 2025 the population of residents who are older than 65 will be double the population that age in 2000.

These estimates are in line with predictions from Rockingham County and everywhere in between, not only because older people are staying here to live out their lives, but retirees are actually moving here to take advantage of lower taxes, cheaper housing, better weather, more congenial institutions and a slower pace of life.

Melissa Crocker, who chairs the Waynesboro Senior Advocacy Commission (formerly the Waynesboro Commission on the Elderly) isn’t sure what it will take to accommodate this drastic change. But she is sure that we need to start asking the question.

The commission plans a series of information exchanges over the next few months, with the first one scheduled for Monday from 7 to 9 p.m. at the First Baptist Church in Waynesboro. The first forum will offer an introduction to services available in the Waynesboro area.
“Everything from services for healthy, independent-living seniors to medically-based services for older adults with serious health conditions,” said Crocker.

To field questions covering a wide array of topics, the commission has invited many of the people responsible for different pieces of the aging services puzzle.
Linda Gail Johnson, director of community wellness with Augusta Health, will be on hand for those concerned about the medical and health maintenance needs of the growing elderly population.

Johnson confirmed the biggest consumer group of medical services at Augusta Health is the 65 and older population. This group is also very active in Augusta Health’s Lifetime fitness center, she said.
“This was one of our goals in having the fitness center,” she said. “We want to provide ways for all our patient groups to stay active and strong.”

Johnson is also the director of the Augusta Health Foundation, which sponsors community health forums, similar to the senior forums, except focused solely on health. This group allows representatives of service groups to let each other know what they’re working on, what they need, what they have to offer, she said.
“I’m expecting that’s what will happen with the senior forum. I’ll be there to answer questions about health and medical care, but also to find out about other services.”

Other panelists will be: John Maher, transit manager with Virginia Regional Transit; Jeanne Russell with Home Instead Senior Care; Ann See, who specializes in elderly services with Blue Ridge Legal Services; and Janice Gentry, Waynesboro Senior Center director with Valley Program on Aging Services.

The forum, which is open to the public, will have vendors on hand with displays and information about products and services for the senior population. After the initial event, future forums will target individual issues such as health care, legal issues, housing, caregiving and volunteer opportunities.