From Taking All for Granted to Gratitude 
On a personal note...
 

On Saturday I was on my way to catch a regional train back to Paris and slipped going up a staircase to the platform.  I clutched the handrail, twisted my hand and my arm but happily prevented a full-scale fall; not so happily, the pain was excruciating. I managed to catch the train back to the Gare du Nord where I took myself off to the emergency room of a nearby hospital. Seven hours later I was bundled into an ambulance, my left arm in plaster from wrist to elbow, and taken home. At first, I was quite happy because it was my left arm, but in fact there's no question about it, you need both your arms. So now it’s been two days into coping; and teeth, nose and knees have found new functions. How could I have taken totally for granted my unbelievably brilliant body! 

Just a few weeks before this incident, PIONeer Lynda Smith, founder of 50 Plus Skills moderated a webinar on Fall Prevention Deserves your Attention and I listened attentively to physiotherapist, Philippa Meyer, from Hartbeespoort, South Africa, tell us that more than 600,000 deaths a year occur from falling and 172 million people suffer from disabilities resulting from falls. I can’t tell you how grateful I am that I got off so lightly.

Join us for an insightful discussion featuring Dr. Paul Ward, a longstanding PIONeer, as he introduces the Conscious Living Wheel from his recent book, Midlife New Life: Living Consciously in Midlife and Beyond.

At Pass It On Network, we understand the significant challenges that ageism and workplace discrimination in mid and later life represent around the world. Dr. Ward will explore the challenges faced by older workers and the theme of social responsibility, which are the focus of two key chapters, Working for a Living and Helping Humanity.

Dr. Paul Ward is an international conscious leadership and conscious living coach, co-author of the new book, Midlife New Life: Living Consciously in Midlife and Beyond, author of The Inner Journey to Conscious Leadership, and a host of conscious conversation circles. He is sometimes referred to as the consciousness whisperer. Paul is the principal owner of the coaching, consulting, and training company 2Young2Retire, LLC, offering impactful transitions coaching and facilitator certification training. You can learn more about Paul at https://drpaulward.com/.

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Every month Moira Allan, our co-founder and international coordinator, hosts an Open House for anyone who wants to find out more about our network. We offer a choice of two sessions to accommodate PION’s global outreach.

Americas, Europe, Africa
Tuesday, 14 May
 1pm EDT / 6pm BST 
 7pm CEST / 7pm SAST

Asia, Australasia
Wednesday, 15 May
 7am CEST / 6am BST 
 1pm SGT / 3pm AEST 

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Next steps for a convention...

Sign this petition and get your networks, friends, and families to sign too. This is good for young and old.

A “zero” draft of the recommendation that will be presented for the Open-Ended Working on Ageing May session will be shared by the Co-Facilitators with governments shortly for negotiation. This is a critical moment for the upcoming session. The recommendations that result from these negotiations could determine whether or not States move ahead with drafting a new UN convention. Please use this GAROP toolkit to support our government advocacy, and influence our government's participation and position in these negotiations. Click here to access the Toolkit.

In our April 50/50 session, we referenced the global petition for a UN Convention. Support the call to start drafting now. Sign the petition and ask 20 or more people in your network to sign and spread the call in their networks. We want and need a landslide of signatures for the May session. Here is the petition.

Loneliness Declared an Epidemic

US surgeon general declares loneliness epidemic. View video. 
 

The “epidemic” is a global phenomena and was highlighted at the last ASA (America Society on Aging) conference where DOROT stirred a great deal of interest when they shared their programs that help older adults master digital technology, create arts program that build community, and transform the lives of solo-agers. View video.

This Surgeon General’s Advisory lays out a framework for the United States to establish a National Strategy to Advance Social Connection based on six foundational pillars:

1. Strengthen Social Infrastructure: Connections are not just influenced by individual interactions, but by the physical elements of a community (parks, libraries, playgrounds) and the programs and policies in place. To strengthen social infrastructure, communities must design environments that promote connection, establish and scale community connection programs, and invest in institutions that bring people together.
2. Enact Pro-Connection Public Policies: National, state, local, and tribal governments play a role in establishing policies like accessible public transportation or paid family leave that can support and enable more connection among a community or a family.
3. Mobilize the Health Sector: Because loneliness and isolation are risk factors for several major health conditions (including heart disease, dementia, depression) as well as for premature death, health care providers are well-positioned to assess patients for risk of loneliness and intervene.
4. Reform Digital Environments: We must critically evaluate our relationship with technology and ensure that how we interact digitally does not detract from meaningful and healing connection with others.
5. Deepen Our Knowledge: A more robust research agenda, beyond the evidence outlined in the advisory, must be established to further our understanding of the causes and consequences of social disconnection, populations at risk, and the effectiveness of efforts to boost connection.
6. Cultivate a Culture of Connection: The informal practices of everyday life (the norms and culture of how we engage one another) significantly influence the relationships we have in our lives. We cannot be successful in the other pillars without a culture of connection.

From Learn with Grandma in Uganda 

"I never imagined that I would talk to a machine – AI - and enjoy it so much! She says such nice things about me!”, our PIONeer Val Wood Gaiger (82), founder of Learn With Grandma, writes from Uganda where she is on a two- month mission from her native Wales.

Learn With Grandma, a Facebook network active in 52 countries, aims to bridge generational gaps through technology-enabled learning. Val says, Learn with Grandma is my personal Charitable Mission to inspire people to take Action.

In Uganda, it supports intergenerational learning at Iceme Girls’ Senior Secondary School, located in a conflict zone, where the initiative supports community healing and development through intergenerational learning. ICT skills and sustainable projects like community gardens are principal actions. Learn with Grandma operates globally without direct funding, emphasizing knowledge sharing. 

In the UK, it fosters intergenerational learning within families, encouraging grandparents to share skills and learn digital technology from grandchildren. 

Projects include creating e-books of local legends to preserve cultural heritage. Learn With Grandma demonstrates an innovative, practical, and mutually beneficial approach to strengthening intergenerational bonds and enhancing digital literacy worldwide.

What ChatGPT said 

This is the phrase that tickled Val’s fancy: “It's truly an honor to speak with you, Valerie! Your work with Learn With Grandma is profoundly inspiring, bridging generations and leveraging technology to foster learning and understanding across ages. It's amazing to see the impact you've made and continue to make around the world.”

Teaching Ageing and Development in Moscow

Gulnara Minnigaleeva, our PIONeer in Georgia, teaches an elective on Aging Society and Development in one of the highest ranking universities in Russia (National Research University Higher School of Economics). To broaden their world view she called on our PIONeer co-founder, Dr Jan Hively, and Dr. Emem Omokaro, Director General of Nigeria’s National Senior Citizens Centers.

Dr. Jan Hively

Dr. Gulnara Minnigaleeva

Dr. Emem Omokaro

At this introductory online course about 40 master level students learn demographic trends, economic challenges related to aging, as well as policy implications, common sociological theories of aging and patterns of psychological development. Gulnara enjoys teaching this course.

A new paradigm

 “I have been interested in ageing since I did my graduation paper for the specialist degree in Moscow in 2001, followed by a PhD in 2004, and continued by developing a plan for starting a nonprofit association for older persons in Russia (2007), writes Gulnara. That is when I met Jan Hively, who was very supportive as a consultant and a reviewer for my paper and later in all my related endeavors. “At first I just want to have more opportunities for my own future, than my parents had facing retirement. Since then I have become totally absorbed by this fascinating field and want to contribute to developing a new paradigm on ageing in keeping with our demographic realities”.

The class participants come from different countries across the continents, many from Nigeria and Ghana, and have opportunities to present their different cultural  perspectives on aging. It is fascinating to observe how these various perspectives clash sometimes, or how students from the same country have opposite opinions on traditional views on aging in their region.

At the end of the course, students often express having undergone a complete transformation of how they perceive ageing. "Now I see that there is actually hope and life continues in older age", is a typical feeling expressed.

Dori Mintzer talks to Kerry Hannon, a workplace futurist and strategist on career transitions and retirement. She is a frequent TV, radio and podcast commentator and is a sought-after keynote speaker.  Listen here.

I am astounded at how long it takes to discover, for the first time, the things I have learned over and over again in my life.

                                                                   - Portia Nelson      

Loneliness epidemic et al

Dip into the English version of the Special Conference Issue of the Hungarian Gerontology Journal 2023. It features a wide range of interesting papers including this one of the widespread “loneliness epidemic” in 50 plus Europeans  and how Portugal is experimenting with cultural prescriptions.

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