Outreach, training and support enticing to potential paid caregivers.
Unique Tucson Effort to Bolster Direct Care Workforce
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Personal Reflections on Indigenous Elders as Repositories of Culture
‘The best part was hanging around the elders as they quietly showcased their brilliance and artistry.’
The Older American Indian: Yesterday and Today
As indigenous populations move to urban centers, Native cultures are threatened.
Aging in Indigenous Communities: An Overview
‘It is critical to appreciate the diversity across and within these communities.’
Passion and Purpose: Cherokee Geriatrician Blythe Winchester on Choosing Geriatrics
Her patients help her to reconnect with her tribe and to incorporate her indigenous heritage in her work.
Climate Change Makes Acting on the Elders’ Lessons Critical
‘Our ancestors survived so their teachings and knowledge could survive.’
A Better Coordinated, More Participatory System That Links Healthcare to Where People Live Is Needed to Stave Off Disparities
The SASH system can be scaled across entire states for large benefits.
Why Older American Indian and Alaska Native Disparities Persist and Possible Paths Out
Health statistics and advice for practitioners with AIAN clients.
Student Debt Weakens Retirement Security; COVID-19 Aggravates the Situation
Student loan debt is the fastest growing debt since 1992.
Delivering—and Measuring—Healthcare That Matters for People with Complex Healthcare Needs
New way of measuring healthcare could deliver person-driven outcomes.
The Growing Pressures Facing Unpaid Family Caregivers
‘The government and employers need to step up their support so that caregivers can continue to work.’
Generativity Holds Many Positive Effects for AI/AN Older Adults
Indigenous cultural generativity can preserve values, improve well-being and contribute to healthy aging.
Tips for Enhancing Access to Legal Help for Tribal Elders
New n4a report identified legal assistance as a top need for Native American aging programs.
Asian American and Pacific Islander Caregivers Need Our Support
Rising hate crimes and cultural beliefs mean long-term, intense caregiving for this group, with little external support.
About Generations Today
Generations Today A bimonthly digital publication covering current trends and people impacting the field of aging through OpEds, feature articles, profiles, and first-person pieces.
Inside This IssueAging in Indigenous Communities
Generations Today, vol. 42, no. 5 (Sept-Oct 2021)
Unique Tucson Effort to Bolster Direct Care Workforce
Editor's note: The John A. Hartford Foundation, the Administration for Community Living (ACL) and The SCAN Foundation fund the Aging and Disability Business Institute, led by USAging. The mission of the Aging and Disability Business Institute is to build and...
Personal Reflections on Indigenous Elders as Repositories of Culture
During 2020, while COVID-19 was raging across the nation, my tribe, the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians in Cherokee, N.C., took intense measures early on, shutting down the Qualla Boundary (our tribal lands), implementing mass testing, contract tracing and case...
The Older American Indian: Yesterday and Today
As I sit and reflect on the paths that have been taken by the older generation of American Indians as they adapt to the new world in which we now live, I can only come up with one word that captures their lives: Resilience. In 1974 when I began my journey in the field...
Aging in Indigenous Communities: An Overview
It is difficult to provide an overall picture of aging in American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) communities. This difficulty is due to the great diversity across communities with respect to cultural traditions, health, healthcare, social services and family...
Passion and Purpose: Cherokee Geriatrician Blythe Winchester on Choosing Geriatrics
Blythe Winchester is a woman of many passions, but two stand out—a great skill with and desire to give indigenous elders the best medical care possible, and an abiding need to ensure she incorporates her indigenous heritage into that work, as a geriatrician....
Climate Change Makes Acting on the Elders’ Lessons Critical
Nikki CooleyHonor and respect your Elders. This has been and still is a central part of Indigenous culture. It certainly was one of mine growing up on Diné Bikéyah (Navajo Land). Intergenerational teachings are an innate part of life and come in the form of...
A Better Coordinated, More Participatory System That Links Healthcare to Where People Live Is Needed to Stave Off Disparities
Ethel (neither names are real), an older Black woman living in a high-rise affordable housing site is having an anxiety attack in its lobby during the COVID-19 shut down. Amenda, a 72-year-old woman who speaks no English, is discharged from a nursing home to her HUD...
Why Older American Indian and Alaska Native Disparities Persist and Possible Paths Out
In the United States it is well-documented that there are huge gaps in healthcare access, treatment and outcomes for minority populations (IOM, 2003; Riley, 2012). American Indians and Alaska Natives (AIAN)* experience these disparities and inequities at higher rates...
Student Debt Weakens Retirement Security; COVID-19 Aggravates the Situation
The debt burden of older households has been increasing for the past 30 years, mostly due to rising student loan debt that pays for the education of these households' children and grandchildren. This has consequences for retirement security as more and more people...
Delivering—and Measuring—Healthcare That Matters for People with Complex Healthcare Needs
People with complex healthcare needs—whether because of multiple chronic conditions, serious illness or social needs—receive healthcare that is often extensive and costly. Their care can be fragmented, burdensome or even harmful, and it rarely matches what matters to...
The Growing Pressures Facing Unpaid Family Caregivers
Editor's Note: This column is sponsored by the AARP Thought Leadership and International team. Thought Leadership and International seeks to position AARP as a global thought leader by identifying emerging trends around the world, cultivating and elevating new ideas...
Generativity Holds Many Positive Effects for AI/AN Older Adults
American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) communities are experiencing sociocultural changes, including climate change, outmigration of younger people and relocation due to environmental or health-related changes. These changes are adversely impacting the health and...
Tips for Enhancing Access to Legal Help for Tribal Elders
Editor's note: During the summer of 2020, as the urgent issue of racial injustice took center stage, ASA and Justice in Aging (JIA) embarked upon a series of articles in Generations Today highlighting for the aging advocacy community how aging, identity and racial...
Asian American and Pacific Islander Caregivers Need Our Support
Editor's Note: This article represents the sixth in a series by the Diverse Elders Coalition (DEC) published in Generations Today. Articles are connected to ASA-hosted webinars; see end of article to register. The series of articles by the DEC highlights research from...