BouncingBabyBoomer.com

Engage with Grace: The One Slide Project

The fellow who writes the blog linked at the end of this post has been a good friend for almost 20 years. He survived a scary bout with cancer last year, and Dave being Dave, he's now become a national bandleader in the e-patient movement which has him speaking about "patient empowerement" at medical meetings. But that's only the prelude to why I am sharing this link today. The "One Slide" project that Dave and many other bloggers shared yesterday is well worth knowing about.

Brainchild of engagewithgrace.org, the One Slide project offers an easy yet sensitive way to handle one of life's trickiest topics: How you prefer to die. If you think this is optional at your time of life, consider the following "... 73% of Americans would prefer to die at home, but up to 50% die in hospital. More than 80% of Californians say their loved ones “know exactly” or have a “good idea” of what their wishes would be.. but only 50% say they've talked to them about their preferences." Use this link to read Dave's story about the project, and to save and share your own copy of the slide.

Hot Headlines in Boomer Health This Week

Recent health stories worth reading by Boomers || From USA Today: Study Shows Statins Help 'Normals' and Women: In a study with 18,000 subjects. people with normal cholesterol but high levels of C-reactive protein had such a dramatic reduction in rates of heart attack and stroke the study was stopped to let those on placebos switch to Rx meds. The study was also able to validate a statin benefit which applied equally well to women; see link above for detail... / Congress questions some AARP health policies: AARP agreed voluntarily to stop selling some controversial "limited benefits" health insurance policies to people between age 50 and 64 after a Congressman questioned "misleading marketing" which may have led buyers to think they had more coverage than they did... / Angio May Be On Its Way Out:  Three major studies suggest that using angioplasty to open blocked arteries or treat chest pain may be riskier and no more beneficial than medication. ||  From the New York Times: This week's cover story in the New Old Age blog (aimed at Boomers caring for elders) is a Delicate Calculus in End of Life Decisions; / also in New Old Age, click to read Where the Mommy Track Crosses the Daughter Track ../ and click for Assisted Living Care: ‘Uneven and Often Problematic’ the latest in a controversial series on a topic becoming increasingly relevant to some Boomer parents; the reader comments in this series are as thought-provoking as the articles... / and last but not least on my NYT list, Stretching the Truth which suggests much of what we've been told about warming up for workouts has been wrong || Meanwhile, from New Scientist: Men-o-pause in Males? More and more, graying males are seeking HRT for fatigue, libido and other symptoms of what is now being called  "andropause." ||

They're Selling Us Daddy's Car After All

The leading edge of the Boomers are becoming linked to their parents in ways they haven't seen since Detroit gave up on selling us Daddy's Oldsmobile. Whatever the specifics of our own needs and interests, we begin being herded back into our parents' marketing niche as soon as we sign on for AARP at 50.

It's no small irony for the generation who perhaps worked the hardest to separate.

As a group, we probably made the biggest leap ever away from the 'rents when we pushed back around the draft and Viet Nam, then insisted that Nixon not skate on Watergate. Later, we led the leap in to the digital age and on to the Internet, leaving a number of elders feeling out of the swim and pressed to catch up.

By combining those larger leaps with a lot of smaller shifts, we may have become more autonomous and self-defined than any generation before us. But today as they approach their own retirement phase, the leading wedge of 50+ Boomers find themselves lumped into their parent's demo anyway.

The leading edge of the Boomers are becoming linked to their parents in ways they haven't seen since Detroit gave up on selling us Daddy's Oldsmobile. Whatever the specifics of our own needs and interests, we begin being herded back into our parents' marketing niche as soon as we sign on for AARP at 50.

It's no small irony for the generation who perhaps worked the hardest to separate.

As a group, we probably made the biggest leap ever away from the 'rents when we pushed back around the draft and Viet Nam, then insisted that Nixon not skate on Watergate. Later, we led the leap in to the digital age and on to the Internet, leaving a number of elders feeling out of the swim and pressed to catch up.

By combining those larger leaps with a lot of smaller shifts, we may have become more autonomous and self-defined than any generation before us. But today as they approach their own retirement phase, the leading wedge of 50+ Boomers find themselves lumped into their parent's demo anyway.

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