1. Senior Centers to Wellness Centers: The Challenge of Meeting the needs of the “Baby Boomer” Presenter: Sharon Congleton, RN, BSN, MA Philadelphia Corporation for Aging

2. Senior Centers Today “Today, senior center staff are examining ways in which they can provide programming not only to enhance the wellness of older adults in the community but also to meet the challenges of aging in place… The role of senior centers varies within each community and is being redefined to better reflect the preferences and needs of their diverse communities of elderly”. This includes “ Baby Boomers”.

3. “Baby Boomers”, who are they? Born between 1946 and 1964: subdivisions of boomers, those born between 1946 and 1955 (Leading –Edge Baby Boomers). This group represents ½ of the generation, or roughly 38,002,000 people of all races throughout the world; The other ½ born between 1955-1964 (late Boomers or Trailing Edge Boomers) includes about 37,818,00; Today, 1 in 3 Americans is now 50 or older Since 2011, 10,000 Baby Boomers turn 50 every day.

4. Baby Boomer Stats Continued It is estimated that by 2035, 1 in 5 people in the U.S. will be 65 or older: Between 2000-2010, the 45-64 year old population grew 31.5% to 81.5 million in the U.S. and now makes up 26.4% of the population. Boomers are the wealthiest, best educated, most active and most physically fit generation up to this time; for the first time in history, people age 65 will outnumber children under the age of 5. Today’s older Americans are living longer due to advances in medicine and the treatment of chronic medical; conditions like hypertension and diabetes.

5. Boomers & Health 58 % of Boomers consider themselves to be in good or excellent health; 27% state they have survived a major illness; More that 6 of every 10 boomers will be managing more than one chronic condition, like arthritis and diabetes and obesity, chronic pain; 11% have had a major illness in the past year. Boomers exercise twice as much as previous generations.

6. Boomer Life Expectancy A person age 65 today can expect to live another 15 years. A man of 75 has a 50-50 chance of reaching 84, a woman 86.

7. Boomers and Finance Boomers have more disposable income than their parents; Boomers currently possess ¾ of the nation’s financial assets; ¼ of Boomers postponed their plans to retire in the past year; 80% of Boomers have retirement savings

8. Baby Boomer Expectations 79 % of Boomers expect to work in retirement; 70% of Boomers have a hobby or special interest; 51% expect to devote more time to community service and volunteering in retirement.

9. Disparity: Not All Boomers are Alike Philadelphia In Philadelphia county alone there are 153, 000 people between the ages of 55-70; 54 % live at or less than 100% of the federal poverty level; 35% consider their health fair- poor; 15% have less than a high school education; 13 % used activities at senior centers. Suburban In the 4 surrounding suburban areas there are 287,000 between the ages of 55-70; 12% live at or less than the federal poverty level; 18% consider their health fair- poor; 4% have less than a high school education; 8% used activities at senior centers

10. Boomer Perceptions of Senior Centers Places for “old people” Programs geared to frail Nothing in common with other members Nothing to do Boomers do not see themselves as old and many hate the term “senior” More competition from other non-senior center sites where older adults gather.

11. Snapshot of Today’s Boomer Health conscious, participates in exercise, more aware of nutrition issues, managing chronic conditions More disposable income More aware of social, environmental, political issues Better educated Many not ready to retire Do not see themselves as seniors or old

12. Senior Center/Wellness Center: Changing the Perception Redefining the environment Re-branding the site What do you have to offer the boomer? Flexibility in service hours/days Marketing Intergenerational services

13. Wellness Center Services Exercise: group, individual, personal trainers; Social activities: games, dancing, arts/crafts; Book clubs; Evening and weekend scheduling for working boomers; Café style congregate meals with varied meal selections ; Training in high-tech gadgets like i-phones, i-pads etc.

14. Seven Best Practices for Health Promotion and Aging Programs  Structured, ongoing programs to facilitate healthy aging through risk factor modification;  Ongoing measurement of outcomes to demonstrate program effectiveness and incorporates feedback into program revisions;  A variety of planned program activities to facilitate behavior change and promote self-efficacy;  Facilitation of social engagement opportunities to facilitate peer interaction;  An appropriate level and variety of programming to bridge the spectrum of older adult participants from frail to very active;

15. Seven Best Practices Continued  Promotion of active marketing and outreach to others services and organizations;  Creative use of available resources, utilization of well -trained staff, or volunteers and members and provides ongoing training opportunities.

16. Building Partnerships It takes time! Several meetings may be required to clearly define your program goals and objectives to potential partners; Seek guidance on where to look for partners; Keep partners informed of all activity related to restructuring process; Establish benchmarks to demonstrate success /challenges

17. Forming New Partnerships Invite potential partners in to see what you currently are doing; Invite community members, community leaders and local politicians in for an open house to get their opinions on what they feel are the needs of older adults in that community; provide an update on trends in aging in that community, trends in aging throughout the country, and tell them about future trends in aging in relation to senior center evolution; Get their suggestions on who could be approached for financial support Talk to directors at other sites to learn how they made the transformation; how did they find funding?

18. Looking for Funding Community and civic organizations: YMCA, YWCA, non-profit, philanthropic organizations: Pew Foundation; Financial institutions Faith-based organizations

19. What’s Next? Challenges Changing image of senior center Boomers vs. frail elderly Space limitations Outdated buildings Inadequate funding Limited sources for collaboration Opportunities It’s all about marketing Offering multi-faceted programs, unique scheduling Grant writing to various non-profit social service support agencies, city/state/federal agencies Network to seek out money

20. Determining What Works Design a community needs assessment unique to the area asking community residents their opinions on how the needs of all older adults can be met in their community and asking them to identify challenges facing older adults of that community. Survey current center members and staff about their vision for senior centers and what they would like to see at your site; Communicate with centers who have already done the work; Replicate what works.

21. References Administration on Aging: The U.S. Population Reaches a New Zenith as Baby Boomers Turn 65: http://www.aoa.gov/statisticalprofile/2010. Retrieved from internet 8/5/14. http://www.aoa.gov/statisticalprofile/2010 Amato, Anne, M. (November 27, 2011) Boomers in no rush to join ‘senior ‘ centers. Newstimes.com, http://www.newstimes.com/local/article/Boomers -in- no-rush to join-senior- centers retrieved 8/21/14http://www.newstimes.com/local/article/Boomers Becker, Jonathan:, Attracting Baby Boomers: Making the Shift to a New Age Community Center from a Senior Center (2010) The National Resource Center on Nutrition and Aging. www.nutritionandaging.org Retrieved 8/11/14. www.nutritionandaging.org Household Health Survey 2013: Community Health Survey of Southeastern Pennsylvania Public Health Management Corporation; Public Health Management Corporation 2013. Learn-Andes, Jennifer (July 15, 2013 ) ‘Active adult center's part of new strategy.retrieved from www.timesleader.com/news/local/Active-adult-centers-part of new strategies www.timesleader.com/news/local/Active-adult-centers-part The National Council on Aging (9/2013) Partnering to Promote Healthy Aging: Creative Best Practice, Community Partnerships, Center for Healthy Aging, model health programs for communities. retrieved from www.ncoa.org retrieved 8/11/14www.ncoa.org Pirkl, James (2009) Demographics of Aging. retrieved from http://transgeneraltional.org/aging/demographics 8/5/2014 http://transgeneraltional.org Satran, Richard (June 21, 2013) retrieved from u.s. news and world reports 12 Surprising Facts About Boomer Retirement. Retrieved 8/1/14 http://money..usnews.com/money/personal financehttp://money..usnews.com/money/personal finance Wagner, Donna, Senior Center Research in America: An Overview of What we Know.