The Summit on Creativity and Aging in America

This report looks at how the federal government can leverage the arts to foster healthy aging and inclusive design for this growing population. This white paper features recommendations from the May 2015 Summit on Creativity and Aging in America, a convening of more than 70 experts hosted by the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Center for Creative Aging. The paper highlights recommendations on healthy aging, lifelong learning in the arts, and age-friendly community design. The summit was a precursor to the 2015 White House Conference on Aging, which addressed four major issues: retirement security, long-term services and supports, healthy aging, and elder abuse

Aging in the Social Space

A publication called Aging in the Social Space is a compilation of studies, which deal with theoretical understanding and empirical solutions, learning about problem spheres, specifying content parallels of social, legal, economic, moral and ethical views on senior issues in society, which are closely related to each other and are interconnected. This publication focus on the case study of Poland. It is supposed to provide a multidimensional view of old age issues and issues related to aging and care for old people in society. We believe that it is natural also to name individual spheres, in which society has some eff ect, either direct or indirect, within issues concerning seniors. Learning about these spheres is the primary prerequisite for successful use of social help to seniors in society

Psychological principles of successful aging technologies: A mini-review

Based on resource-oriented conceptions of successful life-span development, we propose three principles for evaluating assistive technology: (a) net resource release; (b) person specificity, and (c) proximal versus distal frames of evaluation. We discuss how these general principles can aid the design and evaluation of assistive technology in adulthood and old age, and propose two technological strategies, one targeting sensorimotor and the other cognitive functioning. The sensorimotor strategy aims at releasing cognitive resources such as attention and working memory by reducing the cognitive demands of sensory or sensorimotor aspects of performance. The cognitive strategy attempts to provide adaptive and individualized cuing structures orienting the individual in time and space by providing prompts that connect properties of the environment to the individual's action goals. We argue that intelligent assistive technology continuously adjusts the balance between `environmental support' and `self-initiated processing' in person-specific and aging-sensitive ways, leading to enhanced allocation of cognitive resources. Furthermore, intelligent assistive technology may foster the generation of formerly latent cognitive resources by activating developmental reserves (plasticity). We conclude that `lifespan technology', if co-constructed by behavioral scientists, engineers, and aging individuals, offers great promise for improving both the transition from middle adulthood to old age and the degree of autonomy in old age in present and future generations. Copyright (C) 2008 S. Karger AG, Basel

Intergenerational learning with ICT: a case study

In a context of rapid demographic and technological changes, digital skills are essential in order for citizens to actively participate in society. However, digital literacy for all citizens, especially for the older population, is not yet a reality. It is increasingly crucial for active ageing, lifelong learning, and life-wide learning that the elderly learn digital skills. Intergenerational learning can play a key role in achieving a wide range of goals. This paper focuses on the contribution of intergenerational learning to digital and social inclusion. We promoted ICT intergenerational workshops and chose the case study methodolog y to study three distinct cases of intergenerational learning with ICT. The results show that intergenerational learning with ICT contributes to the digital literacy of adults and seniors and fosters lifelong learning, active ageing, and understanding and solidarity among generations. We reveal the benefits of the intergenerational learning process for all participants and suggest some ways to achieve intergenerational learning through ICT in order to build more socially and digitally cohesive societies

Promises and Prospects of Microbiome Studies

Since Anthony van Leeuwenhoek, first microscopic observations of the unseen microbiota and the more recent realization that little of the microbes in the biosphere are known, humans have developed a deep curiosity to fully understand the inner workings of the microbial realm. Our ability to characterize the complexity of microbial communities in their natural habitats has dramatically improved over the past decade thanks to advances in high-throughput methodologies. By eliminating the need to isolate and culture individual species, metagenomics approaches have removed many of the obstacles that hindered research in the ecology of mixed microbial consortia, providing valuable information about the diversity, composition, function, and metabolic capability of the community. Microbes are the unseen majority with the capability to colonize every environment, including our bodies. The establishment and composition of a stable human microbiome is determined by the host genetics, immunocompetence, and life-style choices. Our life-style choices determine our exposure to many external and internal environmental factors that permanently or temporarily can influence our microbiome composition. Figure 1 illustrates some of the life-style-related factors that might influence the microbiota of the skin, mouth, and gut. It is not limited to what we carry, touch, breath, and eat. Other dispersal vectors include secretion, excretions, aerosols, air flow, animals, moving surfaces, water, beverages, food, contact, wind, tools, toiletry, and others. These influence the microbiome membership, who are present, and they have the ability to participate in the microbiome dynamic within an environment. The establishment of a microbial community is dependent on many environmental factors, including pH, temperature, altitude, weather, soil type, nutrient availability, relative humidity, air quality, pollutants, microbial competitors, and others. In other words, we are superorganisms interconnected with other living forms on this Earth

Re-thinking urban planning for Singapore's extended lifespan population of 2050: a league of its own

The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and the World Health Organization’s Healthy Aging and Age Friendly Environment are comprehensive guidelines in ascertaining global standards for betterment of aging populations. However, as an economically established and highly organised city-­state, Singapore has its own separate set of criteria regarding successful aging. This paper explores the contexts of living, working, and playing in Singapore’s current 65 and over population and the population over the age of 65 by 2050. The study demonstrates that these elderly life contexts are not only dissimilar to those on which the UN and WHO guidelines are based, but are uniquely Singaporean. These life, work and play contexts of an aging population also generate a new set of criteria that impact the model in urban planning and design for the tropical island-­state. In this paper I argue that Singapore’s current 65 and over population is not the typical aging population, but one characterised by an extended lifespan with autonomy, employability, and vitality. These characteristics will be even more prominent for the country's over the age of 65 by 2050 population, which will be comprised of the current Gen X and Millennials. To maintain sustainability and adaptability, urbanisation strategies in Singapore need to take into consideration these different generations of an aging population, which necessitate that planning and design recognise sets of criteria unique to each generation

Directions for 21st Century Lifelong Learning Institutes: Elucidating Questions from Osher Lifelong Learning Institute Studies

The literature regarding lifelong learning is robust, while the literature on lifelong learning institutions, centers, and programs remain under-researched in comparison. This article draws insights from a specific network of lifelong learning institutes with a rich history and high rapport in the United States: the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) network. Sixty articles regarding OLLIs are catalogued and highlighted to elucidate twelve thematic areas and twelve questions for future research and practice. In particular, these themes are related to adult education, healthy aging, and educational gerontology. The article concludes by reflecting on trends in and needs for institutional research and practice.Les publications portant sur l’éducation permanente sont nombreuses, contrairement à celles touchant les institutions, centres et programmes d’éducation permanente qui, en comparaison, demeurent généralement mal connus. Cet article recueille des idées d’un réseau d’instituts d’éducation permanente ayant un passé riche et de bons rapports aux États-Unis : le réseau Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI). Soixante articles portant sur OLLI ont été catalogués et analysés pour faire ressortir douze thèmes et douze questions pour la recherche et la pratique à l’avenir. Ces thèmes se rattachent à l’éducation des adultes, le vieillissement sain et la gérontologie éducative. L’article se termine par des réflexions sur des tendances et des besoins relatifs à la recherche et la pratique institutionnelles.Mots clés : recherche institutionnelle, éducation permanente, ainés, éducation des adultes, universités adaptées aux personnes âgée