OPERATIONAL EXCELLENCE
Re-Creating Aging as a Time
fi rst, she’s a professor of medicine at Uni- versity of California, San Francisco, where she also cares for patients. Under the other, she has prizes and kudos for her work in- cluding the nonfi ction bestseller, Elderhood, which Bookpage called a “passionate, deep- ly informed critique ... its message touches the entire span of human life...a vitally important book.” Her ideas have captured attention and
L
spurred new ways of thinking about aging. Her website off ers more resources as well as a newsletter:
louisearonson.com.
Q. What do you see as the top challenges in aging for the decade ahead? A. I might have had a diff erent answer four months ago, maybe even two months ago. I think there’s reason for some hope, be-
cause—for sort of all the wrong reasons— we’re talking about the inequities in dealing with older lives in medicine and society. People are paying attention. Hopefully
we can use that to rethink how we age, in ways that help people look forward to their futures, even if it includes some acquired disabilities and some need for help. Similarly, we're seeing that a lot of the
people leading the eff orts nationally and even locally—at my hospital—are them-
microlearning
The proper handwashing reminder posters and refresher videos are an example of microlearning—fast bursts of training on the fl y. It’s been shown to be especially eff ective for reinforcing and refreshing existing knowledge and skills.
ouise Aronson needs two biographies on her website: One for the doctor, and one for the writer. Under the
selves elders. I'm hoping that we'll see more accurately the range of elderhood and understand the huge untapped potential to make even the later stages much more pleasant and meaningful. We could more eff ectively tap the longevity dividends.
Q. In what ways do you think life might change for older people in the next decade? A. We live in a society that says, on the one hand, older people don’t contribute, and on the other hand, I'm not going to hire you; you’re old. We live decades longer than we used to.
Retirement is a fairly recent phenomenon. When the United States set this [retirement] age at 65, the average age of death was 67. Now, the average age of death is much old- er—the economics don't play out. But I also think society has to say, well, maybe you don't work 60 hours a week anymore. Maybe you don't work 40 hours. Maybe you work fewer hours, but you still work. And that gives you an economic solvency and allows the country to help support the people who really need it. We could create new jobs for this new life phase. I feel like our imaginations are the limit. We can do things that are meaningful, that take advantage of older people's talents and abilities, and that make everybody more solvent.
That We Can Look Forward To By Sara Wildberger
Change Agent Profi le
Louise Aronson, MD, MFA Author, Professor of Medicine University of California, San Francisco
Q. Does this kind of thinking make a diff erence to your work as a doctor? A. I was already doing things a little dif- ferently. In geriatrics, among the things I've been trying to teach is actual health care. Because what we teach in medicine is disease care. I’ve been focusing on health care: What
does being healthy look like at 60, 70, 80, 90, a hundred, 110? Some of that has less to do with the age than with the individual. I think we end up blaming old age for
things that actually can be delayed, ame- liorated, worked around, et cetera. There's abundant data that attitudes, physical activi- ties, social engagement, purpose—these can make life healthier and more meaningful. As people get older, they may have multi-
ple problems. You may not entirely fi x any, but you can make several better, and you can make the whole human being much more comfortable and more functional. We sometimes abdicate control, when
with a little creativity and a little greater sense of self, people can create something else. Instead of saying I don't like this—well, what would you do instead? Make that hap- pen.
MAY/JUNE 2020
ARGENTUM.ORG 41
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56
