My New Blog – How Seniors Can Live Well at Any Age

Most of us spend time providing caregiving for parents during their late stages of life to reciprocate for their having cared for us when we were young.  As an only child, my role extended to care for many aging relatives, many who no one else available to help.  This was sometimes hard to balance with the rest of my life, but rather than viewing this as a burden, I usually felt gratified to be able to help.

(Probably the most challenging situation my cousin Henry who was fiercely independent and would resist my getting involved until he had no other choice.  After his passing, it took me years to clear out his apartment and to distribute his assets which mostly went to his nieces.)

As I’ve had fewer relatives to help, I turned my attention to helping other seniors, often using my background in nonprofit technology.  In 2012, I began working with Dorot as a computer tutor, event scheduler and volunteer and visited seniors at home with holiday packages.  Since 2014, I have led a monthly Virtual Senior Center class for Selfhelp Community Services, allowing homebound seniors to join an online community while learning.  In 2015, I began advising the newly launched Radical Age Movement on technology, participating in a social media committee and preparing / sending email marketing campaigns.  Also in 2015, I started my involvement with Senior Planet, an amazing Manhattan facility which allows anyone 60+ to get help with technology (sponsored by Older Adults Technology Services).

It’s become clear to me that the traditional view of ‘retiring’ at 65 (or younger) no longer makes sense.  Most seniors continue to want to lead active, productive lives as long as they can.  By the work which I’ve done for the above organizations, I hope I’ve been able to help them to do so.

Fortunately, I’ve been able to fit in my multiple roles in helping seniors with my full time work as a nonprofit project manager.  But now I seek to make to expand my commitment to work with seniors full time, using technology as a tool to reduce social isolation and to maintain community engagement which will hopefully help them to stay healthy for as long as possible.

This blog will feature resources which describe how seniors can live a full, engaged life whatever their age.