Yes, but is it funny?

"Senior citizens. People say they don't know how to drive. You think it's so easy to maneuver a car on the sidewalk?" ... that comes from a former professor and comedian mentioned in Time magazine article, posted today, on senior stand-up comedians. But speaking of "aging" funny guys, 68-year-old George Carlin's latest HBO special, Life is Worth Living, premieres Saturday at 10 p.m.

Reminder on Medicare webcast

"The Association of Health Care Journalists (AHCJ) and the Kaiser Family Foundation will host an interactive roundtable for reporters on Medicare and its new prescription drug benefit. The roundtable discussion will be webcast live on Tuesday, November 1, 2005, at 1:00 p.m. E.T., and viewers can ask questions by phone and email."

Budget cuts, with AARP reaction

Kaisernetwork.org's daily health policy briefing has good background and links about the ongoing budget debate, which includes proposed cuts in Medicare and Medicaid. Meanwhile AARP weighed in today, saying the Medicaid cuts threaten older Americans who need nursing home care.

Higher retirement ages in Europe?

Not sure anyone could convince editors this requires a trip to Europe, but couple things in news this week note proposals to increase retirement age -- in Germany from 65 to 67 and in Belgium from 58 to 60 for earliest retirement.

Joe Volz, unretiree extraordinaire

One of my favorite age beat pieces was following around Joe Volz on his "last" day at work. It was meant to show the conflicting emotioning of someone facing retirement. Joe, a veteran -- is pioneering too much? -- age beater himself, sent this to me recently. Please post any thoughts you have on "unretiring." Seems a great subject to revisit -- John Cutter

By Joe Volz

RETIRING AND RETIRING AND RETIRING

I retired in 1987. And again in 1997. And in 2000.

Now, I am working full-time and have no immediate plans to quit.

Perhaps, I represent a new wave of seniors—call us "unretirees," if you wish.

I don’t need the money. But I enjoy what I do although I now do it my way.

I have been a newspaper reporter for 45 years and now I am a full-time columnist but without the perks that my younger colleagues in the columnizing business have. I don’t get health insurance or a pension from my current employer, Copley News Service, where, an independent contractor, I write a weekly syndicated column called "Aging Lifestyles."

(I am sure that word, aging" along with "senior citizens" and "elderly" will be on the banned list of words that Paul Kleyman and the gang at the American Society on---dare we say it--Aging are drawing up.)

Anyhow, I don’t need those benefits. I get them from one of previous employers, AARP. ( I worked there when it was called the American Association of Retired Persons).

Yes, our vocabulary is changing as well as our role in the work force.

The first time I retired I was a Washington correspondent for the financially-ailing New York Daily News. The paper, then owned by the Chicago Tribune, was trying to downsize before selling it. They offered us senior employees a buyout. They would pay me two years’ pay not to work there. I had been covering the Mafia. I knew an offer I couldn’t refuse.

I figured I would do a little freelancing but, before long, I was recruited by a new news service, Maturity News Service, then syndicated by the New York Times. I traveled the country interviewing, among others, retirees for 10 years. But the news service folded.

Yet, I took another full-time job so I could buy a fancy condo in Washington. I went to work for the American Psychological Association as a magazine writer but soon decided I really wanted to be retired . I didn’t want to commute to the office every day on a regular schedule.

But now I work at home—when I want to.

I vowed, after my third retirement, that I would never wear a necktie again nor would I wear socks most of the time. I have kept that promise.

As an independent contractor, I have to pay more Social Security but the tax people let me write off all sorts of expenses. And just to keep busy, I have taken another job, once again as an independent contractor. I write a three-times-a –week column on anything I like for the local daily in Frederick, Md.

So, maybe we need a new word for retirees, too. I suspect there are a lot of people like me who keep working under new self-imposed ground rules.

You can call me anything you like. Just don’t call me a white elephant.

Census on Computer and Internet Use

This is out today. If you click on the web link, you can download files that show age breakdowns and a lot more. For example, only about 35 percent of people over age 65 have a computer in house, but boomers, as you might expect, are higher -- in 60s to 70s, depending on age. Here's intro to release: "Computer and Internet Use in the United States: 2003 -- A new report from the U.S. Census Bureau shows that 40 percent of adults used the Internet to obtain news, weather or sports information in 2003, a sharp increase from only 7 percent six years earlier. In a measure of how interpersonal communications are changing, more than half of adults (55 percent) used e-mail or instant messaging in 2003, a dramatic increase from the 12 percent who did so in 1997. The report also shows the Internet has become an integral part of the economy. In 2003, nearly half (47 percent) of adults used the Internet to find information on products or services. About one-third (32 percent) actually purchased a product or service online, compared with only 2 percent of adults who shopped online in 1997. http://www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/computer.html"

Home care quality measures

Someone a little more savvy than I probably could find some nuggets in this, just over on PR Newswire. (Note: The NQF has members from a wide variety of health care groups, businesses and consumers.) "WASHINGTON, Oct. 26 /PRNewswire/ -- The National Quality Forum (NQF) today announced publication of a new set of national consensus standards for home care. National Voluntary Consensus Standards for Home Health Care provides a set of standardized performance measures, to facilitate comparison of the quality of home health care providers. The Executive Summary of the report, with a list of endorsed performance measures and their specifications, can be found on the NQF web site, http://www.qualityforum.org.

Hey, You, Get Off of My ... Mercedes?

Quite an ad on Page A7 of the New York Times today -- The Rolling Stones leaning on a Mercedes-Benz. It's the official car of the Stones tour. Well, Start Me Up!

Latest edition of Age Beat Online (10-25)

Here is intro to latest edition of Age Beat Online from the Journalists Exchange on Aging. Click here to read whole newsletter.
IN THIS ISSUE: A tip of the hat to Rosa Parks-everyone to the front of the bus!

1. WILL "WEST WING" PLAY THE AGE CARD?
2. WILL THE ABO LANGUAGE SURVEY TRUMP THE AGE CARD?
3. "AGE BEATLES NEWS": Time's Barlett and Steele Expose "The Broken Promise" of American Pensions; USA Today Series on Aging This Week; New Cleveland Plain Dealer Column on Medicare Part D
4. ON THE ABO BLOG THIS WEEK (Plus a Half-Million Wasted Years)
5. THE CALENDAR: Medicare Part D Webcast, Nov. 1
6. "LARKIN'S LINKS": Elders Get Their Wishes, Too, Amy Grant!

Webcast of Medicare roundtable

This just moved: "The Association of Health Care Journalists (AHCJ) and the Kaiser Family Foundation will host an interactive roundtable for reporters on Medicare and its new prescription drug benefit. The roundtable discussion will be webcast live on Tuesday, November 1, 2005, at 1:00 p.m. E.T., and viewers can ask questions by phone and email."

USA Today on aging

The USA Today weeklong series on aging that I mentioned in earlier post started Monday. You can find it online here. Lots of familiar stuff, well-packaged, and includes interview with the ever-present Andrew Weil. The graphic is cool. Try to ignore the flashing toenail fungus ad that runs next to the main online page, giving a vision of aging that I'd rather not have right after lunch.

New study on heart attack death rates

This came this afternoon from NIH. "Ninety days after acute myocardial infarction (AMI) — or heart attack — death rates for African Americans and white patients were found to be significantly higher in hospitals that disproportionately serve African-American patients than in hospitals that serve mainly white patients, according to a major new study led by researchers at Dartmouth Medical School. The researchers suggest that quality of care, more than racial differences per se, determines AMI outcomes." Unlike some studies, this had a huge sample -- more than 1 million people in Medicare over several years. Could be great way into racial/ethnic differences in health care quality. For those, like me, who believe you need to read the actual study, you can find it here, in Circulation.

New Medicare rule on some mobility equipment

Here's a potential story: Apparently Medicare is changing the rules on how people can get "power mobility equipment" like power wheelchairs and scooters. An interim rule takes effect this week. Some in Congress aren't happy, according to this news release. I couldn't find many stories on this, but this is from Indy Star. I also found some info on the CMS web site.

Age Beat Online takes language survey

Paul Kleyman of the Journalists Exchange on Aging emailed a survey to many folks this week: “Seniors,” “senior citizens,” “elders,” “aging boomers,” “50 and older,” “midlifers,” “older people,” “old folks,” the “chronologically gifted”—what terms for those we write about in coving issues in aging do reporters prefer? What do your readers and audio/video audiences favor—or dislike? The Journalists Exchange on Aging hopes to enlist your help in developing the first national Journalists Language Guide on Aging. Unlike most such usage guides, though, ABO guide not only will reflect the thoughts of experts but also will incorporate the feedback of those who discuss and describe older people and issues in aging on a regular basis—you, the writers who cover aging.

HOW ABOUT THEM BOOMERS? The last JEoA survey on media uses of language was in 1997. What has changed since then is that the boomers are eight years older, and more within the age-beat sphere than ever. For the first time, in the year 2005, a majority of boomers edged past 50. And in January 2006, the first boomers will turn 60. So what will become the terms of art for the ageless generation—and for their longevous parents? This concern especially animated the JEoA meeting during the 2005 ASA-NCOA Joint Conference in Philadelphia, and we decided to see what ABO readers have to say. And with the increasing interest in the age boom, we decided to use your responses as the basis of a guide for all reporters. This will not be written in granite but will be a working document open to discussion and updating over time.

Please take a few minutes by our OCT. 31 DEADLINE (Halloween) to answer the short list of questions below. Just paste the survey below in an email and send to Paul Kleyman.

Thank you for participating,

Paul Kleyman, Editor, Age Beat Online
Steve Slon, Editor, AARP the Magazine

WORDS SURVEY QUESTIONS:

1. In the past year, have you participated in a discussion about terms preferred or not preferred for middle-aged or older people? Yes / No: ______

Indicate which entity or entities you discussed this with: colleagues at your news organizations, colleagues elsewhere in journalism, friends, family members, members of your audience.

2. What one or two terms for midlife or older people do your readers or audience members seem to prefer to others?

3. What one or two terms do you use for midlife or older people do your readers or audience members seem to dislike the most?

4. In the past two years has any reader/audience member formally or informally objected to a term or terms your news organization has applied to middle-aged or older people?

If so, briefly note the word or phrase in question and note the nature of the objection.

5a. FOR STAFF JOURNALISTS ONLY: Does your news organization include references to preferred usage of terms related to the age of those in articles in its official style sheet? Please recall these rules and quote them if you can.

5b. FOR FREELANCERS: Have you had to heed style variations among your clients? Yes / No: _______

Briefly cite key differences among them in preferred or abjured terminology, and note whether the media outlet was national or local/regional (names of outlets are optional).

6. Have you noted any words or phrases that indirectly convey positive or negative connotations or stereotypes related to aging, such as “feisty?” What are these words and usages?

Have you or your news organization noted (or plan to note in the coming year) these connotative or stereotyping words in its style guide or acted in any way to avoid such usages in your copy or that of the news outlet? Yes / No: ___

Comments:

7. Briefly, please add any observations comments about what journalists should consider in their word choices about age.

8. If you could recommend one word to replace ‘senior’ in the journalism vocabulary, it would be ___________. ” (If you don’t have a problem with “senior,” please indicate this.

9. If you could recommend one word to replace “boomer” or “baby boomer” in the journalism vocabulary, it would be ___________. ” (If you don’t have a problem with “senior,” please indicate this.)

10. Please add any additional comments you would like to offer.

GAO on Social Security in other counties

A new report from the General Accounting Office looks for lessons in how other counties handle their Social Security program. Find the highlights here, with a link in the PDF file to full report.

Wilma OK here, but this note on Katrina deaths

So far, for us in Orlando area, Wilma has been mostly about "thunderstorm activity." So, back to the blog. This from AP today: NEW ORLEANS Oct 24, 2005 — A majority of people killed by Hurricane Katrina were older residents unable or unwilling to evacuate in the rising floodwaters, according to a study of almost half the bodies recovered in Louisiana. About 60 percent of the nearly 500 victims identified so far were age 61 or older, the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals reported."

Taking a break for Wilma

Yet another hurricane for Florida. The rains have started here north of Orlando. I'll be off the blog for a day or so, working my real job. Godspeed. Or something like that.

Horrible crash details from St. Pete

A 93-year-old driver ran down a pedestrian in St. Petersburg, Florida, this week and drove for miles with the victim's body poking out of his windshield, until he was stopped at a toll. St. Pete Times has folo today, pointing out what most of us would suspect -- driver had shown signs of dementia. This is certain to revive discussions in Florida and elsewhere about driving in old age. A good resource, mentioned in the article, is The National Older Drivers Research and Training Center at University of Florida. Sue Samson, of the AAA in St. Pete is also good, and there likely are people like her at your local AAA or state aging office. Also, this CDC page has good links at bottom.

I'm still quitting if I hit Powerball

A study released in today's British Medical Journal says there is no link between retiring early and living longer.

Medicare Q.I. bill signed, but...

The President today signed HR 3971, which among other things extends the Medicare Qualified Individual program that pays Medicare Part B premiums for some low-income people. There is post on this below. But the bill does take something away -- Medicare and Medicaid will no longer pay for some erectile dysfunction medications in 2006 (Medicaid) and 2007 (Medicare). I can't find any news stories yet on Bush's signature, just this note on WhiteHouse.gov. Also, Kaisernetwork.org has some background and links on bill here.