Engaging Baby Boomers and Seniors through Social Media

Baby Boomers (post WW II; 1946 - 1955, or 1966 in Canada.) After the vets came home, there was a population boom. These are people with pensions, work histories, and women who began to work as a matter of choice or necessity, outside their homes.

You know the myths, that seniors are not on-line, and don't use computers!

This slide show, below, does provide some insight for those youngsters who think we don't know a mouse from a mole!
What bothers me is that we are not the target audience for many advertisers, despite being pretty sedentary evenings, unlike our younger folks.
We have the disposable income to spend, yet they do not target TV or radio shows to our generation.

I began using computers at work in 1989! My late mother, born 1945, learned to use a computer at work, when she was 40 years old, in order to publish their weekly newsletter for the Rotary Club of Toronto. I was so proud of her!

My friends in long-term care use them. A skill they learned in their 80s and 90s!

My late Aunt Lillian (Forsyth), Uncle Fred,
Marion, who died at age 16 in the 40s.

'Timmie is down the well!'

This slideshow is a publication of AARP, American Association of Retired Persons, which is a US-based lobby group. They survive on big bucks from those of us with disposable income.
The Canadian equivalent, CARP, does similar lobbying here in Canada.

Engaging Baby Boomers & Seniors through Social Media from Care2Team

Westport trip to The Cove

It was another hot day. Hubby suggested we go to The Cove for lunch. They have music on a Sunday afternoon. It was delightful.

The view is amazing.

Happy to support the local economy, musicians and The Cove, also a great supporter of local charities.




What I love to see are people of my generation using technology. The young people mock us, but we've managed to get ourselves out of our rocking chairs, and getting out in the world. Here is a timely news item:

 Revera, UofT collaborating on technology for seniors
Aim is to identify issues that technology can solve
Monday, July 9, 2012 -- Deron Hamel
Ninety-year-old Adrienne Dawson says she can’t imagine how she managed living so long without the Internet.
Dawson isn’t alone. Today, she is among the 27 per cent of Canadians aged 75 and older who are online. And it’s residents like Dawson that Revera will be connecting with through a partnership with the University of Toronto’s Technologies for Aging Gradually Lab (TAGlab) to discover new innovations in technology for senior citizens.

Everyone loves technology!
 It was this gentleman's birthday soon. I wasn't brave enough to ask him his age! Again, belies the myth of us retirees being a burden on the system!

Tax deferral plan for seniors is full of...well, holes!

Abandoned hotel in Muskoka

Property-tax deferral plan for seniors will be hugely popular

"The Grits must be crazy" 

Ya think?
 - by journalist Joanne Chianello Why wouldn't we all want to defer taxes?!

Look at my local MPP*,
 whose property has had a lien on it! He's on his own tax deferral plan.
He makes over $100,000 per year, off of taxpayer dollars, yet hasn't been able to resolve this issue without a lien on his home.

*On Twitter:
.@randyhillier, please pay your taxes.  bit.ly/rtZZ55 #PCPO #onpoli)
THIS makes @randyhillier look foolish!http://ow.ly/6u8KG



Also on Twitter: RT @robertbenzie @timhudak ducks questions on why landowner candidates Randy Hillier and Jack MacLaren skipped ploughing match.

I'm sorry to write another political rant, but I have to; as a daughter, grandmother, seniors' advocate and tax-paying citizen. An election is no time to dream up bizarre plans.

Yasir Naqvi (Liberal), in some misplaced bizarre idea, has proposed a benevolent move to assist seniors without the funds to pay taxes.

To allow seniors to defer property taxes is a huge mistake. This is nothing like putting in a wheelchair ramp for a senior with mobility issues. The province will loan them the money, at no cost, until the house is sold.

Seriously?
We just put a new roof on our home. It is a small cost to the upkeep of a house, a huge amount compared to taxes. Imagine the back taxes that would have to be collected. The administration of same.

I've attended elder abuse conferences where municipal workers have seen homes in such disrepair that the place needs to be condemned. Now, if this family defers taxes, do you think they'll put the money into upkeep? I think not.

Private sale!

This means that, for example, my mom and dad can defer taxes until they have to move into LTC. Then, when I have to sell their house, the taxes come due. What if the home has been neglected enough that it won't fetch much on the market? What if there isn't enough in their nest egg to let them live out their lives in comfort? We'll all have to pay on their behalf.

In my house we have our suspicions that this initiative comes not from seniors trying to stay in their homes, but from cottagers who are struggling to keep two homes, and face taxes in the range of $4500 in, for example, Muskoka. Landowners there complain bitterly about their taxes, despite many municipal services.

Heritage buildings and inheritable buildings

Old barns

Some cottages are run-down, and not worth very much, but these seniors are carrying a city house as well as a cottage. Municipalities are forcing cottagers to get onto local water and sewer. Many cannot afford this, and must either rent out their cottages, or give them up. There were a raft of sales before we left Bala, Muskoka.

Heart's Content!

It is a shock to pay taxes for many, but it is the cost of being a home owner, for the services all residents require, and the infrastructure that keeps municipalities turning. It is part of being in this society.

While the libertarians want liberty from paying taxes, society will simply not work without all of paying our part.

poverty and addiction by some seniors

What if suddenly my parents die, and I inherit the house? Mummy and Daddy haven't paid taxes in 20 years. I don't have the money to pay those taxes. Or, I must buy out my brother, but cannot do so, as well as paying taxes.

What if a homeowner sells privately? Who would track this?

Abandoned buildings

What about those who own more than homes, but apartment buildings and earn a profit off of these buildings?

Much simpler would be a reverse mortgage. This protects the rest of us taxpayers, as well as society. This releases taxpayers from paying for administrative costs and the interest on these inter-free loans the Liberals propose.

If one cannot afford to pay taxes, one needs to rethink home ownership. We talk about being good stewards of the land, this includes our buildings. House hunting we can across many wrecks of houses, uncared for and rotting.

Retirees over age 55 - money issues

Give seniors a break!

So much talk in the recent Canadian election about we older folks. Apparently, there is much elder abuse (I've yet to see the data to support this), we're all going to be stuffed in long-term care and we will drain our younger Canadians' finances.
Any elder abuse (financial, emotional, physical) is to be disdained, but many seniors are in their homes, finding fulfillment in family, life, and activities.

Hold on there.
About one-third of retired Canadians are in some form of debt, a report from Statistics Canada said. But look at the debt.

Most of us have been foxy about our finances

Most of us have with convenience or consumer debts, e.g., we buy on a credit card. This is about 25% of us but we owe under $5,000.

Among retired people with debt:

• 25 per cent owed less than $5,000.
• 32 per cent owed between $5,000 and $24,999.
• 26 per cent owed between $25,000 and $99,999.
• 17 per cent owed $100,000 or more.

But those of us in this group tend to have a good foundation in finances.

We're not hiding in our shells
moaning about the state of the world

We own our own homes, our income and education gives us a high level of net worth.
We know that education and means makes a difference in having good health. We do not have large debt, getting an education that leaves us with large loans, and no jobs. We got an education we needed, apparently with higher standards than in this generation. I've taught in a University. It's all about marks, not about mastering material.

Q&A feeling blue in the ivory tower

May 14, 2011

Student disengagement, inflated marks and credentialism: University is not the answer to all problems, says author.

Afraid to peer over the edge

Is a university degree becoming the new high school diploma? Côté, a professor of sociology at the University of Western Ontario and co-author of...co-author of Ivory Tower Blues: A University System in Crisis. (Excellent book, by the way. But I won't read his new one, Lowering Higher Education: The Rise of Corporate Universities and the Fall of Liberal Education. It's too depressing. I fought these issues in the elementary panel.)

Making ends meet
Most of us only have short-term debt, e.g., a credit card. Only 20% of retirees age 75+ compared to 48% of those in the previous age bracket (age 55 - 64).

Most of us are managing in Canada. Most of us will not be a burden to our families, or on the system, as the media keeps fearmongering!

Mind you, it depends upon where you live.

Low income among seniors (Statcan PDF)

One in five seniors in Canada lives in a low-income situation. In 1998, almost three-quarters of a million

people aged 65 and over, 20% of all seniors, had incomes below Statistics Canada’s Low Income

Cut-offs. The proportion of seniors with low incomes has fallen sharply over the past decade and a half,

dropping from 34% in 1980 to 20% in 1998.

one summer home in Bala, Muskoka
retirees with money?
There are many in Muskoka.

There is wide variation in the proportion of seniors with low incomes in different provinces. In

1998, the share of seniors with low incomes ranged from 

• 30% in Quebec
• 25% in Manitoba
• 19% in British Columbia
• 18% in Saskatchewan
• 17% in Alberta
• 15% in New Brunswick
• 14% in Ontario.

Most of us will be able to stay in our homes and live healthy, fulfilling lives. Those who live in poverty are to be cared for, do not misunderstand, but many of us are out in the community, volunteering, living fulfilling lives.

Which generation are you? 
Lots of talk about millennials, but baby boomers are booming. I'm on the fringe of baby boomers, and we're doing just fine, thank you! We are using the skills we mastered for our jobs in our personal lives. We're volunteering these skills to many groups who need us.
We're going to be OK. How about you?!

Treating women with dignity

I was appalled to read this Editorial title:
'Little old ladies are crashing the system' MARGARET WENTE
First they blamed women for being raped, now they blame our precious elderly women for being ill, frail, or blame their caregivers for placing them in hospital. I have a pretty low opinion of Ms. Wente, perhaps it was her editor? I hope so.

Why do we blame the women, do you suppose? We know that senior women are the most impoverished. Many of our homemaker grandmothers and mothers were stay-at-home moms. They don't have pensions. My generation is juggling children and failing parents. I gave up a phenomenal teaching job, with a new, gem of a principal, and a classroom community of precious gr. 8s, to care for my parents.

Where does the blame lie? The lack of beds, the unpreparedness for physicians, with little time, many chronic care patients, with complicated comorbidities. But the media blame the women.

• We don't blame the many nurses, who monitor CADDs to ensure that our palliative patients are not in pain. The medical community, it has been said, has a 17 - 20% shortage of nurses.
• We don't blame the physicians, who march into a hospital room and declare, "She just won't die!" and provide less than helpful homecare or palliative care. Or the shortage of geriatricians in this country.
• Don't blame taxpayers who, like the Americans, want to be able to pay for private insurance plans, but not pay for other's healthcare: those in poverty, between jobs, or the working poor. Insurance companies who can deny their American members at the drop of a hat.

I am shocked at the tone of this article and some comments. We blame adult children (primarily women, daughters, daughters-in-law) who cannot cope with an ill senior. Hospitals who send them home, telling the daughter to provide care for mother, father, mother-in-law, father-in-law who all had surgeries.

My late father, 2007, with one of his favourite PSWs

We cannot blame the system, we can blame the women for being ill, not the shortage in trained Personal Support Workers (PSWs) who are undertrained, inadequately trained, not regulated, nor monitored by any agency. We do not blame the government for the lack of foresight in naming Aging at Home as a priority, but not providing further funding. nor do they rely on much but for-profit agencies. Long-term Care homes who reheat 'retherm' meals, which are awful, do not provide fresh fruit, yet send dividends to shareholders. Something like 5/6 of LTC homes are for-profit. Is this right?

The good news is that many nurses, working and retired, are spearheading projects, like Hospices, and supporting an organized system of caring for these frail, at-risk elders in our community. Most want to be home. Most want highly trained medical personnel to help them in their homes, or in residences, not institutions.

Look around your community. You'll see many seniors volunteering and keeping their hands, brains, and bodies busy. Knitting for others. Creating quilts for raffles, or family and friends.

Grandparents and the Internet

I have heard news of great developments and innovations on the Internet. I recall taking my first Computer Science course in Jarvis H. S. in the 70s. It was endlessly frustrating. You had to fill in these delightful cards pictured right), which were then sent to the uToronto for processing. Each card had to be filled in with code. Then, your 100 cards would be returned two weeks later with a 'syntax error in line 463'. How far we have come.

The course I found rather tedious. I dropped it.

But I went on to end up, once my kids were born and I went back to work, taking some tutorials from a grade six student in the school where I was teaching JK. I found teaching and integrating technology into my classrooms so very rewarding. I would give the digital camera to the least well-behaved student, and they would be happy and motivated. We used iMovie, Claris Home page (& "Nightmare Weaver" when they 'improved' Claris!), Graphic Converter to make .gifs, Fetch to upload web pages, Kidspiration to create Mind Maps, and Flash for the more sophisticated students.

Many Baby Boomers had to learn technology for work. And it was easy with someone at your shouldere to help you. These days, senior grandparents (who may not have learned technology previously), are incorporating it into their daily lives. I remember, in 'the old days', grandparents would do audiotapes and phone, but computer-to-computer is so much different. My favourite video was taken with the built-in camera on my computer. She loves to watch herself dance, Josephine & Frosty 2 .

J. is fascinated with 'babies' on the computer. When could watch herself, and was so interested in watching the 'baby'! The video that shows us dancing to the Conga we watch. We say, "One, Two, Three..." and J (20 mos, old) now responds with, "Kick!"

Her other favourite video is the airplane. Over and over she presses play, waves 'bye' to the plane.



Many of us are on Facebook (FB) to socialize with Grand Kids (and we think they are all grand!). Many of us send digital photos back and forth. We e-mail and talk to our kids on Skype. It is a marvellous tool. It is the best thing about technology!

I have heard much to denigrate FB, but I use it as a tool. Parents can check out kid's activities, and see who their friends are. I think it a great way for parents to monitor their teens, as well. The price of the Internet is full access to their accounts. It is a privilege, not a right, and we have a responsibility to supervise them.

What we have done, is take photos and video of the kids, upload them to FB and then our granddaughter can go home and review and remember what she did. I don't want to bore everyone with our video. But below I posted the video of the various exciting activities. In the old days we wrote journals. These days we have visual diaries, which promote pre-reading skills, expressive and receptive language skills, and thinking skills in our little kids. Reviewing and reprocessing the visual puts it into the long-term. It helps a young child remember people like her Uncle Jesse, the actor, who did an Polar Bunny (Easter) swim when she was here! She'll say, "Jesse, towel!"

Grandparents, integrate technology into your lives! Let the young people know that we are marching into the new millennium: Betsy has a new toy, too! You will never regret it. With the economy, changing job markets, the necessity to travel for work, families can still keep in touch across distances.
How do you incorporate technology to keep your family closer?

J. at Easter