“You might be on the back nine of life, but it’s good to finish strong.” — Morton Shaevitz, PhD, geriatric psychologist.
Part of finishing strong is to remain active, both physically and socially. There is nothing that wears us down faster than sitting alone in our homes day after day waiting for death. As Compay Segundo wrote, “ Let death pursue me, let it chase me; for, I will give it a run for its money.”
One way to stay active is to continue to seek out people to engage with and to try out new things.
One place where you can do both is at your local senior center. The name “senior centers” may be an outdated title; perhaps they would be more aptly named friendship centers or clubhouses.
Most local senior centers are generally run by and for the individuals who frequent the center. Unfortunately, many local senior centers are suffering from lack of interest, severely declining memberships and programming that does not appear to meet the dynamic needs of a new generation of older adults. If nothing is done, many of them will cease to exist and I, for one, believe losing the local “senior center” would be a tragedy.
Studies throughout the country have found that senior centers were designated as community focal points. At their best, senior centers not only provide helpful resources to older adults and opportunities to engage with others, but they can also serve the entire community with information on aging, support for family caregivers, training for professionals and students, and be a place where people meet to learn, laugh and grow. That is, as long as they can weather the changing expectations, goals and desires of a new generation of “seniors.”
The interesting paradox is that in order for senior centers to thrive and once again serve their critical purpose, we need the very seniors who feel that the centers are not meeting their needs to go to the centers and insist that they reinvent themselves. It has been shown that successful aging is more likely when individuals are actively engaged in life. Senior centers are one of the most accessible, friendly and inexpensive places that offer programs and services that promote active engagement and enjoyment of life by older adults.
If your local center does not meet your needs, make it your mission to help the center reinvent itself. By working with the centers to help them become what you need them to be, you will assure that the places where seniors can gather will continue to survive.
Let death pursue you; let it chase you, as you invest time and energy in revitalizing your local senior center.
If you have any questions, or if there is a topic you want to read about in the Ask Your Daughter column, please send me an email at [email protected] or write to me at Senior Services of Albany, 32 Essex St., Albany 12206.
Be well and be happy.
Monika
