ElderWeb

Gabriele Doblhammer and James W. Vaupel of the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research studied remaining life expectancy at age 50 of people in Denmark, Austria, and Australia, and found that in northern hemisphere countries, people born in the fall months of October-December had longer life expectancies than those born in the spring months of April-June. They found that the pattern was repeated in the southern hemisphere, where everything shifted by six months so that, again, those born in fall months had the longest life expectancies. The researchers reported that these findings are based on population data with more than a million observations. They also found a correlation between the month of birth and chronic diseases related to the cardiovascular, respiratory, and digestive systems, as well as for infectious diseases such as pneumonia and influenza. They speculate that these differences may be partly due to the fact that many years ago people were likely to eat much better in the summer than in the winter, thus mothers who gave birth to babies in the fall would have had better nutrition throughout most of their pregnancy than those who were pregnant during winter months. The report was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science.

A new gerontology page for The Netherlands (NL) was started up in January 2001. This initiative was taken to improve access to the field of gerontology in The Netherlands to stimulate and intensify international contacts for education, science and research in the domains of gerontology and geriatrics. (http://gerontologie.pagina.nl)

By Dr. David Lansdale, PhD

This section of the ElderWeb newsletter features national organizations serving consumers, professionals, legislators, and others interested in the aging space. This week, we interview Dr. Jeanette Takamura, Assistant Secretary for Aging in the Department of Health and Human Services. During her tenure of office, from 1997 to the present, Dr. Takamura was instrumental, among many other accomplishments, in helping get the Older Americans Act signed by President Clinton on November 13, 2000. Prior to coming to Washington D.C., Dr. Takamura served for four years as First Deputy of the Hawaii Department of Health. From 1987 to 1994, she was Director of the Hawaii Executive Office on Aging. Dr. Takamura has also served on the faculties of the School of Medicine and the School of Social Work at the University of Hawaii, where she has been Director of the College of Health Sciences and Social Welfare's Health Team Development Program.

Q. You have some significant accomplishments to look back on during your tenure, most notably the passage of the Older American Act. Can you tell us a little bit about this Act, and what you hope it will accomplish in the lives of older Americans?

A. We are indeed pleased with the enactment of the Older Americans Act as P.L. 106-501. Our intention was to increase opportunities and resources that can be utilized by the Aging Network to better serve our nation's growing older adult population and their families. The most prominent new provision in the Act establishes the National Family Caregiver Support Program, which was introduced by the Administration on Aging as a part of the Clinton Administration's long term care initiative. Our long range aspiration is that the Caregiver Support Program will grow over time. Our hope is that it will be funded to support more and more caregivers who are offering invaluable assistance to loved family members - young and old alike. We know that all too often, in the course of providing care, caregivers find themselves physically and mentally stressed juggling multiple work, family, and other responsibilities. We are also pleased that there is recognition within Title IV of the Act of the important potential work that can be done by the Network to better prepare persons of all ages for long life. This has, as you might guess, tremendous implications for women and minorities, who tend to live longer and be at greater risk of becoming poor, frail, and vulnerable in their older years. Tied to this, we are pleased that there is continuing general recognition of the special risks that confront older Americans of the greatest economic and social need, particularly minority elders.

Q: Let's talk about the Aging Network. How were they started?

A. Through various amendments to the Act, the Aging Network of state and local agencies on aging and tribal organizations were made the official structure through which Older Americans Act goals and programs are to be implemented. The governor of each state is responsible for designating a state unit on aging to be a focal point, advocate, leader in system development, and the entity to lead in the coordination and integration of relevant services and programs. We are pleased that in many states, state units have taken on responsibilities that go beyond the administration of Older Americans Act services and programs. States are managing Medicaid waiver programs and are involved in developing program innovations to better serve their older adult population.

Q. What is the mission of the Aging Network across the country?

A. State and local agencies on aging and tribal organizations serve as advocates for older Americans in states and communities across the nation. They plan for, design, and deliver services and programs to older persons. However, it is important to remember that Title I of the Older Americans Act articulates ten objectives which reflect transcendent values and a vision for the attainment of a quality of life for all older persons to which the Aging Network is to aspire. These include, for example, an adequate income in retirement, the best possible physical and mental health that is may be attainable, participating in meaningful activity, efficient community services, and others

Under the program titles of the Act, the Aging Network provides home and community based services including information and assistance, meals, transportation and other supportive services, the long term care ombudsman program, and legal services development. Beginning this year, the Network will also be implementing the new National Caregiver Support Program.

Q. What is the Aging Network strategy for addressing the opportunities and challenges that lie ahead as a result of significant gains in longevity, both in the United States and abroad?

A. The Aging Network has always worked within communities with all of the various sectors to identify the needs of older persons and their families, to advocate for essential responses, and to provide critically necessary services and programs. With new resources and a newly reauthorized Act, the Aging Network is now poised to play a significant role in helping to meet needs associated with the provision of long term care to older persons by their families. As growing numbers of people are realizing, most of the long term care provided to older Americans is offered in the home and in the community by relatives and friends, not in institutions by formal caregivers.

Q. What role do you see the Internet playing for our aging population, and in helping the Aging Network and the Administration on Aging accomplish its goals?

A. There is no doubt that the Internet will be a major vehicle for the dissemination of information and for interactions with growing numbers of older persons and their family members. We are already heavily reliant upon the Internet to convey messages to our many publics in a timely manner. I do hope that your readers will visit AoA at http://www.aoa.gov. We have two new sites, among others, that can be accessed via that address. One provides an electronic caregiver manual that we have entitled, "Because We Care." The other provides information that is intended to assist professionals to better serve minority elders.

Q. How might ElderWeb help your office and the Aging Network achieve their mission?

A. I appreciate all that ElderWeb is already doing and am grateful that it has made information on how to get to state level agencies on aging available. We know that much can be accomplished through our continuing collaboration. Thank you for all that you do.

The Alabama Legislature recently approved SB418 that changed the name of the Alabama Commission on Aging to the Alabama Department of Senior Services. This was done with the support of the Governor's office, Area Agencies on Aging and legislators. With this new name, the state's older citizens and other interested persons can more easily identify them as the state's focal point for aging services.

A new report from the International Longevity Center USA (ILC-USA) finds that the quality of life people experience as they age varies depending on their sex and nationality. The report, The Consequences of Population Aging for Society, is drawn from a 1999 international seminar in Luxembourg.

The average woman not only lives longer than the average man, she also remains more active in daily activities like shopping and household chores. The longer, more active lives women lead, however, often prove a mixed blessing. Women are more burdened by caregiving than men. Wives who are caregivers for their husbands report higher levels of stress and depression than those who take care of older women. Older single women ? unmarried, widowed or divorced -- are more likely to live in poverty than older single men. Despite their more active daily lives, when it comes to retirement, women turn out to be followers, not leaders. When a regular source of income is assured, a woman is apt to make her husband?s retirement a joint affair and retire too. But a wife?s decision to leave the workforce seems to have no affect at all on her husband?s choice to continue working.

Nationality plays a role, too. The Netherlands has the lowest poverty level among families with an elderly single woman as head, while Australia, the UK and the USA have the highest poverty levels among families with an elderly single woman as head. The most aging-oriented countries in terms of social expenditure are Japan, Greece, Italy and the USA. But despite the large percentage of its GDP the U.S. spends on older people, the United States has the most pronounced income inequality of any nation studied.