Their sheer numbers conjure up dire consequences of boomers aging — draining the workplace of employees, taxing the health care system and bringing Social Security to its knees.
Aging experts, though, point out there are many positives associated with the massive numbers of boomers aging.
Society favors youth over old age, experts say, but some shifts in society’s view of aging are slowly emerging.
One of the positives is more diversity in the older population, said Suzanne Kunkel, director of the Scripps Gerontology Center at Miami University, where she’s also a gerontology professor.
“We’re recognizing that there’s no such thing as a typical 65-year-old. ... It’s not just about how many birthdays you have,” Kunkel said.
“There are a lot of other factors that influence who we are and the kind of lives that we lead,” Kunkel said.
Because of their range of interests and purchasing power, boomers are changing the way older people are portrayed in media.
TV commercials and shows that previously only depicted older people as the butt of jokes are showing more mature people who are central characters and portrayed in positive ways, Kunkel said.
“We’re not just advertising incontinence products and denture powder anymore,” Kunkel said. “We’re now advertising cars and expensive liquor that the marketplace thinks we like and can afford.”
Meanwhile, aging baby boomers are shedding light on the magnitude of aging-related health issues.
There’s hope for greater understanding of illnesses, such as Alzheimer’s disease.
Yet, increased funding doesn’t look promising because of widespread funding cuts of all kinds, said Charles Puchta, director of The Center for Aging With Dignity at the University of Cincinnati College of Nursing.
“If anything, I think it’s not so much that we’re incumbent upon the system to help us, but we’re incumbent upon ourselves to take responsibility for our own wellness,” he said.
His colleague, associate director Evelyn Fitzwater, notices a significant increase in boomers looking at their diet, exercise and their lifestyle choices, such as smoking and drinking.
It gives her hope that in the future, they might not have as many lifestyle-related health problems.
Help next generations
With so many boomers moving through the health care system and other parts of society, their influence and advocacy may pave the way for future generations.
“As this population emerges out of nowhere, they’re going to come forward, and they’re going to let their expectations be known,” Puchta said.
“And they’re not going to tolerate some of the stuff that’s been happening in the past,” Puchta said.
“And even in health care, we already see changes, because there’s a lot of people in health care that are boomers,” Puchta continued, “and we all want to make sure that we’re receiving the best level of care.”
Many older people in their 70s, 80s and 90s are sometimes invisible because society is so negative about aging, Fitzwater said.
“We see the next boomer generation coming along, and they’re going to be a significant number of people,” she said.
“They’re not going to allow themselves to be invisible, and if they do,” Fitzwater said, “it’s really a choice that they’re making, and then it’s their responsibility if they’re invisible.”
Legions of baby boomers will make themselves visible in schools, hospitals, soup kitchens and other volunteer venues.
“It’s especially good news since we’re going to need the experience and expertise and just the person power of baby boomers,” Kunkel said, “since the generations coming behind us are much smaller, and we’re going to need the economic productivity of baby boomers.”
It’s too soon to tell if the influence of baby boomers will effect sweeping and lasting changes in attitudes about aging, though.
“It’s 50-50,” Fitzwater said. “I don’t know as a group. On an individual basis, if you get to know people on their level and share their reality and their story and share yours with them, that’s when the magic happens.”
Fitzwater and Puchta have to force many of their students to spend time with older people.
Once they do, the students enthusiastically report, “Wow! They were a lot of fun.”
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