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Intergenerational Living: Bridging the Gap
Intergenerational Living: Bridging the Gap
"People want intergenerational connection." - Lauren Dunning Mark Turnbull discusses the implications of an aging population with experts …
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Aging Today Podcast
Dec. 9, 2024

Intergenerational Living: Bridging the Gap

Intergenerational Living: Bridging the Gap

"People want intergenerational connection." - Lauren Dunning

Mark Turnbull discusses the implications of an aging population with experts Lauren Dunning, Director Future of Aging at Milken Institute and Donna Butts, Executive Director at Generations...

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Aging Today Podcast

"People want intergenerational connection." - Lauren Dunning

Mark Turnbull discusses the implications of an aging population with experts Lauren Dunning, Director Future of Aging at Milken Institute and Donna Butts, Executive Director at Generations United. They explore the importance of intergenerational living as a solution to loneliness and isolation among seniors and younger generations. The conversation highlights the need for policy changes to support intergenerational connections and the role of social connections in promoting health and longevity.

Learn more about our Guests:
Donna Butts, Generations United: https://www.gu.org/
Lauren Dunning, Milken Institute: https://milkeninstitute.org/

We're proud of 8 years of Aging Today shows! 

Thank you to our sponsor: Royal Hospice Oregon

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Transcript
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But I think I always think back to what a foster

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grandparent told me once.

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And it was care where you are.

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Your biological grandchildren or grandparents

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may not be next door to you.

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But I'll bet in your neighborhood there's a child,

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there's an older person, and you can care where you are.

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There's an aging part of our population is aging.

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And they don't have children.

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They didn't have children.

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And having children doesn't make it a guarantee

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that they're going to take care of you.

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So who's going to care for us?

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And it's the responsibility we all share.

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In our communities that's there for them.

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And that's what we can all do.

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[MUSIC PLAYING]

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And now the podcast we're together,

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we discuss proactive aging on your terms,

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connecting to the professional advice of our special guests

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while creating better days throughout the aging process.

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Now here's your host, Mark Turnbull.

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Hello, everyone, and welcome back to another lively discussion

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on aging today.

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We are the podcast where together we're

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exploring the many options to aging on your terms.

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You can find aging today and our past eight years of programming

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on our website, all you got to do is go to agingtoday.us.

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That's agingtoday.us.

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And I just want to say thank you to all of you

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for joining in on our conversation today.

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And we do have a lively conversation,

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another one that comes out every Monday.

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And this is one that I know you will all enjoy.

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Well, one of the things that many of you know,

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and if you don't know, that by the year 2030,

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the percentage of adults age 65 and children

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under the age of 18 will be about the same.

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That's kind of interesting.

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It's an interesting stat.

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And so my question is, what does that mean to us?

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And then why should we be concerned?

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And then what's going to be the impact on our lives?

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Well, one of the things that we all are interested in,

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and that is healthy living and longevity to our lives,

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and there's impacts on longevity and healthy impacts.

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And what we're noticing is that there's

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an alarming rate of seniors that find themselves disconnected.

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And that will have an impact on our longevity.

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We'll have an impact on our health.

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And I can only say that we're designed to be social.

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And when we are isolated, we run the risk of loneliness,

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depression, which can then lead to increased risk of heart

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disease, stroke, dementia, anxiety, and other long-term illnesses.

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So here to talk with us through this whole topic of the strategies

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and the solutions that we all desire for adopting

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in our personal lives to help us live healthy.

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And with more longevity is Lauren Dunning and Donna Butts.

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And they are of the Milken Institute for Health.

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Welcome ladies to Aging Today.

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Hi, thank you.

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Yeah, so--

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Thank you, Mark.

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Absolutely.

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Looking forward to that.

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I'm actually with--

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I do have a disclaimer though, I'm not with the Milken Institute.

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I'm with Generation United.

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We're partners and friends and collaborators.

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OK.

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And Lauren, you're the one that's with Milken, correct?

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Yes.

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I'm Lauren Dunning.

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I'm with the Milken Institute Future of Aging.

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OK, great.

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I'm glad that we got that straightened out and up front

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so that we give the credit to the right organizations.

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So we always start out in our conversations.

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We always start out about what's in your story.

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Let's start with you, Lauren.

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What's in your story?

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What led you to being a part of the Milken Institute

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and some of the history that you've done in taking that track

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that way?

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Absolutely.

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I'll just also briefly introduce it.

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The Milken Institute's a nonprofit nonpartisan think tank

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more focused on accelerating measurable progress on the path

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to a meaningful life.

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And we believe that physical health, financial health,

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and the ability to give back are central to this progress.

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And within the Milken Institute, we

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have the future of aging where I sit.

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And we're working to advance healthy longevity

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and financial security for all.

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And we do that through research convening

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multi-sector partnerships and the elevation

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of high impact policies and practices.

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And I say this because that coming together of healthy longevity

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and financial security and looking out,

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looking towards the power of convening, leveraging our partners

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and elevating really great ideas is something

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I am passionate about.

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I'm a lawyer and I have a public health degree.

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And I previously worked in government.

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And in working in government, focused on public health

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and taking care of the health of the 10 plus million citizens

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and LA County and being a part of that endeavor really helped

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me understand what are some specific needs related

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to population aging.

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And that population aging is something

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that it's not coming tomorrow.

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And people often speak of it in the same breath as climate change,

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twin megatrends, they're changing how we live,

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they're changing the makeup of our societies.

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And I really wanted to be a part of not only

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addressing some of the challenges, which there are,

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but also creating upsides, right?

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There are upsides, there's benefits, there's really exciting things

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about how do we increase our health spans, increase our well spans

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and make the most of these sort of years that we've been given.

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And so that's why I'm here doing this.

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And as Donna mentioned, we have an incredible network

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of partners that includes Donna and Generations United.

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All right.

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And Donna, how about you?

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What has led you down this path and this journey

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to be where you are today?

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Yeah.

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Well, thank you, Mark.

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It's an honor to be here today and so wonderful to be

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with Lauren who's a terrific partner.

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My path, I think it always made sense to me

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because I come from a long line of Midwest ministers

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and I grew up in Salem, Oregon.

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And one of my first jobs was directing a teen program

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at the YWCA.

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My heart was always with teenagers

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because they're probably the most difficult population

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at times to work with.

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So when I was named as the teen director at the YWCA,

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one of the programs I inherited was called Senior Outreach.

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And it was one of those in early administration

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on ageing demonstration programs.

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And it was coming to the end of funding.

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And so I was like, at the wise age of 22,

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if we don't have funding, we'll just end the program

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if we can find funding great.

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And what the program was, was it took

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high school sociology students

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and they visited low-income, isolated older adults

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who were basically by themselves

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once a week for a friendly visit program.

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And what I found, the first time I went for a visit

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were older adults that didn't get out of bed

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until the day that they knew their young friend was coming.

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And teenagers who skipped school, except for the day

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that they were gonna go see their older friend.

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They both had purpose, they both had meaning,

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they showed up for each other.

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And those semester-long relationships

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went on to last lifetimes.

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So I just found it was such a powerful, powerful program.

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So as my career progressed through other teen work

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and youth work about 27 years ago,

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when I was poking around talking to some national leaders

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here in Washington, D.C., one of them said,

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"You know, Donna, we have this new organization

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"and you might be the right person for this job."

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And what it was was Generation United had just been formed,

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actually it had operated as a Looseningit Coalition

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founded by the National Council on Aging,

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ARP, Children's Defense Fund in the Child Welfare League

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of America.

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And they were looking for, really, their first executive director

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to either sink or swim with this organization.

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And it has been an incredible honor and thrill

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to be able to work with committed, fabulous people

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and be able to elevate intergenerational programs,

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public policies and practices that connect generations

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that value people at all ages and stages of life.

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And I think that our mission and the work of the Milken Institute

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is more critical today than ever.

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Yeah, how is the correlation between the two organizations?

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How does that work and where's the crossover

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and how you guys got all together?

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And then you're trying to solve a common problem.

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We are.

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So at the Milken Institute, we not only do our own research

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and work, but we do that by engaging experts, right?

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And so to do that, we have to have a large network of folks

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that we can partner with to share ideas,

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to help us build and generate new solutions.

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And Donna is one of those incredible, incredible people

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that we do that with.

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And to also elevate messages together,

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like we're doing here today.

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And by the way, thank you for this opportunity to share

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and to help people, your listeners learn

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more about intergenerational connection and healthy aging.

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And so, right, we do that by doing our work

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and then elevating together, partnering on ideas

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and getting great messages out there.

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So for example, I just will show them like earlier this year,

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we published Translending Age-Based Divides,

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which focuses on intergenerational connection

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and how it's an important solution

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for many areas of society where we need action.

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And then sorry, Donna, I'll just also say,

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Donna has an exciting new report that's focusing

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on intergenerational living and housing.

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And both of those sort of contain sort of complementary ideas

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and work to help keep elevating and help

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pushing forward and getting into the right hand

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so we can help decision makers, right?

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Make changes and help society reflect

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what we're all excited to see, which is more intentional ways

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that we're helping people of all ages connect with each other,

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including right, through housing and social connection

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and all different kinds of opportunities

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in our own communities and other--

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- Yeah, I'm always fascinated by all the different

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and array of organizations out there

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that are focused on some of the same things.

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And yes, we're talking about the aging complexities

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and as we're in aging culture, there's so many needs out there.

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Is the milk, is the milk and institute,

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is that a private organization or is that a governmental organization?

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How does that all fit in?

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- Absolutely, we're a private organization

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where a nonprofit organization

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and our work is focused on, right, research, convening.

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We host incredible events bringing together experts.

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Such as Donna, we got to see Donna last week

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at our future of health summit,

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where we had a conversation on health, place,

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and aging in community.

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And so that's just a brief explanation,

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Donna, I don't know if we want to say a bit more

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about generations united.

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- Well, I would just say, Mark,

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that as generation united, as I mentioned from our very beginning,

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we were formed as a collaborative

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and we really do believe that the strength is in

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when we work together, that we're really stronger

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when we work together

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and that we shouldn't compete to do good,

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that there's enough space for us.

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So a lot of our work is in collaboration

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and the sort of the analogy sometimes I use

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and being an organian, you might understand this,

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is an intergenerational can be everything or nothing.

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It's kind of a, you know, a times difficult to explain.

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So the approach that we take is we barnacle.

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We attach to issues and we attach the lens,

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the intergenerational lens and perspective

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and partner with really good people

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and really good organizations

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and look at how an intergenerational solution

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helps to address so many of the issues in our country.

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So it's really a thrill to be able to work with Milka

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and institute Lauren and her colleagues.

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- Now, the focus today in our conversation is on,

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you know, solutions for loneliness and isolation.

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And one of the tenants that you're putting forth

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is the concept of intergenerational living?

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Am I correct in that framing that our conversation today?

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- Yes, you are.

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We both in those lovely reports I just showed

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that folks can find on our respective websites.

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They both handle and discuss housing as a way

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to increase intentional intergenerational connection

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and also by having that type of proximity,

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it can support building intergenerational relationships,

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which as you mentioned, have important and unique benefits.

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And, Dawn, I know you've done lots of research

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on intergenerational connection

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and I think one of the most important pieces

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I just love to start with is that

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people want intergenerational connection.

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Eight in 10 older adults is looking to connect

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with someone from a different generation.

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And so we have to start there knowing that many people

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might not perceive or know or think

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that people really want to connect across different ages,

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but they do.

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- How did you come to that conclusion

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that intergenerational connectivity was so important

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to seniors and to our young people?

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- And to our families and to everyone in between.

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The research that we did,

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we actually did a national public opinion survey

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and asked people questions about,

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where the responses were,

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that most people wanted the opportunity

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to connect with other generations.

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They just didn't know how to do it or where to do it.

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They didn't feel like they had that avenue.

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They also thought about if they ever needed care

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or they needed to find a spot for care for their parents,

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that they wanted it to not just be single aged.

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They wanted it to be around children, youth

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and other older adults,

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that they're really very vibrant.

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So when you think about social isolation and loneliness,

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the fact is it's really our older adults

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and our younger people who feel the most isolated and lonely.

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And so when you connect the generations,

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you're really having much a multiple impact, multiple effect.

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And when you think about ageism,

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the two groups that suffer the most from ageism

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are older adults and young people.

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Young people aren't ready to be, they're waiting.

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Older adults are done and they're waiting to die.

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And neither one of those are true.

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They're vibrant.

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They have so much to contribute.

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And it's sort of like put me in coach, I'm ready.

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- Yeah.

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Yeah.

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And one of the things I was thinking about as you were describing

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that is many of our listeners may be saying,

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oh, what is intergenerational living?

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And so let's define that.

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And then we can look back on some of the solutions

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that it provides with those relationships.

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- Lauren and I might both have something to add to that definition,

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but basically with generations you might,

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there are a number of models around the country.

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And I almost always think of it kind of on a spectrum

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where it can be intentionally built housing,

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like for a multi-generational family,

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or it could be an older adult who chooses to home share

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with a student.

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It could be an intentional community like Bridge Meadows

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where adoptive and foster families live side by side

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with lower income older adults who's only job

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is to care about the families.

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It can be communities that are intentionally built

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so that the parks and the walking trails

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are good for people at all abilities and ages

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that they can all enjoy it.

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Has that community intergenerational center or space

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where they can connect?

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It has opportunities for young and old to engage,

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whether it's tutoring and schools or doing yard maintenance

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for an older adult or checking in on your friendly neighbors.

348
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So it's the intentionality that is really important

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and we're just seeing a tremendous surge in interest.

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It takes a while, we've made it too complex by zoning,

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by policy, things like that,

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but there are really fabulous innovators

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that are developing really, really warm

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and wonderful communities

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that help people live longer in their own homes

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and stay connected in their communities.

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So tell me how zoning and some of the other regulations

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that we have in our communities that are keeping people

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from connecting intergenerationaly?

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I'll offer a converse, which is,

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some really great trends that are helping people reconnect.

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So during the pandemic, we saw a rise in intergenerational living,

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more families living together.

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And right, there's some complex trends happening,

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including around housing availability and affordability

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and communities are looking for solutions.

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And one of those solutions that many cities are taking up

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are ADUs and allowing many, many different types

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of properties to have multiple buildings

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or additional units built on them.

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And that can be a way not only to increase housing stock,

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but also enable people to live in closer proximity

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or to have a larger unit and a smaller unit

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or to enable maybe families to live on the same property

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or people that want to rent and create their own

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intergenerational spaces either on accident or on purpose.

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And so many cities are taking that approach

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by changing zoning to enable more ADUs, right?

379
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And taking different approaches to helping housing arise

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that meets the needs of many different people.

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There's other examples as well that are less

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about zoning and regulation and more

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about private sector innovation.

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So for example, there's the idea of decentralized senior housing

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where there's one example of that is upside,

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which is a company that has a model that

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has rental units in buildings that are open

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and support people being there of all ages.

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But then enable older adults to live practically

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in those communities by offering the services

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that people might need as they age and might have some level

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of need such as for meal support or some level of assistance

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with ADLs.

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And that approach can also enable people

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through private sector innovation to have more proximity.

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00:19:03,760 --> 00:19:07,320
But first, obviously the baseline is being able to have,

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right, housing that supports multifamily living

398
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and that's a part of that equation that you were discussing.

399
00:19:13,840 --> 00:19:15,520
And Don, I know that your recent report

400
00:19:15,520 --> 00:19:18,360
has definitely some points on this.

401
00:19:18,360 --> 00:19:21,360
Yeah, I would add to what Lauren said is that part

402
00:19:21,360 --> 00:19:23,880
of how we've made it complicated is that we have really

403
00:19:23,880 --> 00:19:28,160
age-segregated or siloed policy, funding,

404
00:19:28,160 --> 00:19:32,320
and other services, the way that we live,

405
00:19:32,320 --> 00:19:34,120
when in fact we actually live together

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and we're interdependent.

407
00:19:36,400 --> 00:19:38,520
So sometimes you'll have a funding stream

408
00:19:38,520 --> 00:19:40,560
but it will only be for senior housing.

409
00:19:40,560 --> 00:19:42,600
You can't serve anybody younger.

410
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Or what we saw during the pandemic, which was amazing to me,

411
00:19:45,800 --> 00:19:49,840
were even food programs like meals on wheels

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00:19:49,840 --> 00:19:51,800
could deliver a meal to an older adult

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00:19:51,800 --> 00:19:54,080
but not to the child standing next to them.

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And a school lunch program, an older person

415
00:19:56,360 --> 00:19:59,320
could take a child at that school for the school lunch program

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00:19:59,320 --> 00:20:00,680
but they couldn't eat.

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00:20:00,680 --> 00:20:03,600
So we've really segregated and we need to address that.

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00:20:03,600 --> 00:20:05,480
And that happens locally too.

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00:20:05,480 --> 00:20:09,320
How we give preference to where we will allow a project

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00:20:09,320 --> 00:20:11,920
to site to be built.

421
00:20:11,920 --> 00:20:13,920
What is the square footage that's needed?

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00:20:13,920 --> 00:20:16,960
If it's a shared site with childcare and adult day care

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center, that sort of thing.

424
00:20:19,480 --> 00:20:21,800
And then how many restrictions there

425
00:20:21,800 --> 00:20:23,880
are a lot of the campus-based programs

426
00:20:23,880 --> 00:20:27,360
are taking years to develop because they have to hash through

427
00:20:27,360 --> 00:20:31,600
both who owns the land, what the restrictions are on the land,

428
00:20:31,600 --> 00:20:34,720
and how they're going to connect.

429
00:20:34,720 --> 00:20:38,480
So it's really a matter of us, I think,

430
00:20:38,480 --> 00:20:41,480
using that intergenerational lens and enabling,

431
00:20:41,480 --> 00:20:44,280
encouraging, and allowing people to live the way

432
00:20:44,280 --> 00:20:45,480
that we should be living.

433
00:20:45,480 --> 00:20:47,280
Yeah, one of my favorite sayings is,

434
00:20:47,280 --> 00:20:49,320
when you change the way you look at things,

435
00:20:49,320 --> 00:20:52,400
the things you look at change, and essentially,

436
00:20:52,400 --> 00:20:54,440
what you were describing right there.

437
00:20:54,440 --> 00:20:57,640
And as I was listening to the two of you

438
00:20:57,640 --> 00:21:02,920
discuss what each of your agencies do and how you do it.

439
00:21:02,920 --> 00:21:07,600
And I was curious, I mean, that's a monumental task.

440
00:21:07,600 --> 00:21:11,040
We're talking 50 states across 3,000 miles.

441
00:21:11,040 --> 00:21:15,360
I mean, how is our your voices connecting

442
00:21:15,360 --> 00:21:19,080
all the pieces out there in the practical world

443
00:21:19,080 --> 00:21:23,520
and how that's trickling down in affecting change

444
00:21:23,520 --> 00:21:26,080
in the way we're approaching our seniors?

445
00:21:26,080 --> 00:21:31,720
Well, Lauren, I'll jump in first, and please.

446
00:21:31,720 --> 00:21:34,000
I mean, a part of our work at Generation United

447
00:21:34,000 --> 00:21:35,840
is we do promote program.

448
00:21:35,840 --> 00:21:38,680
We elevate programs of distinction, programs of merit.

449
00:21:38,680 --> 00:21:41,800
We set the bar for high quality intergenerational programs.

450
00:21:41,800 --> 00:21:44,320
So we build the tent that connects people

451
00:21:44,320 --> 00:21:47,040
so they don't feel like they're isolated or they're alone.

452
00:21:47,040 --> 00:21:50,680
We do a global biennial intergenerational conference,

453
00:21:50,680 --> 00:21:54,640
the largest gathering of its kind in the world.

454
00:21:54,640 --> 00:21:59,320
That's going to be in June in Louisville, Kentucky, this year.

455
00:21:59,320 --> 00:22:02,600
We have learning communities around intergenerational living

456
00:22:02,600 --> 00:22:04,880
shared sites, grandparents raising grandchildren,

457
00:22:04,880 --> 00:22:07,120
but we build those communities.

458
00:22:07,120 --> 00:22:10,200
But we also focus on policy because if we want something

459
00:22:10,200 --> 00:22:14,920
to last to get it embedded in policy or to change policy,

460
00:22:14,920 --> 00:22:19,160
really does help to support and raise awareness

461
00:22:19,160 --> 00:22:21,320
and possibility in people's eyes.

462
00:22:21,320 --> 00:22:23,480
Now, does that policy then?

463
00:22:23,480 --> 00:22:26,760
You have relationships with individual states and governments

464
00:22:26,760 --> 00:22:32,200
and the impact of your messaging is that on a federal level,

465
00:22:32,200 --> 00:22:34,040
is it on a state level?

466
00:22:34,040 --> 00:22:39,520
And then how are what we're talking about,

467
00:22:39,520 --> 00:22:44,840
these policies being instituted to affect change?

468
00:22:44,840 --> 00:22:45,680
Yeah.

469
00:22:45,680 --> 00:22:48,240
So that's a deep question.

470
00:22:48,240 --> 00:22:50,240
That's a deep question.

471
00:22:50,240 --> 00:22:52,040
I sat on the other side previously,

472
00:22:52,040 --> 00:22:56,280
and I know that I always looked to write experts

473
00:22:56,280 --> 00:22:59,760
in the field that were working directly on specific issues

474
00:22:59,760 --> 00:23:02,360
when trying to solve an issue.

475
00:23:02,360 --> 00:23:07,520
And so looking at people's sort of working with experts,

476
00:23:07,520 --> 00:23:09,800
doing research and reflecting back,

477
00:23:09,800 --> 00:23:12,520
new thinking, elevating ideas from other places,

478
00:23:12,520 --> 00:23:15,640
so having resources that bring all that together

479
00:23:15,640 --> 00:23:18,680
and make that available can really help the job

480
00:23:18,680 --> 00:23:23,840
that folks in government who are passed with policy making,

481
00:23:23,840 --> 00:23:25,120
how they do their job.

482
00:23:25,120 --> 00:23:26,240
So it's supportive.

483
00:23:26,240 --> 00:23:31,440
It helps get information that is pretty specialized in many ways

484
00:23:31,440 --> 00:23:33,520
into the hands of people that can take action.

485
00:23:33,520 --> 00:23:36,000
And that's really what we're up to is using that research

486
00:23:36,000 --> 00:23:39,760
and convening power to elevate ideas, elevate policies

487
00:23:39,760 --> 00:23:42,280
and practices that we want to see spread,

488
00:23:42,280 --> 00:23:45,840
and also build and architect and give some prototypes

489
00:23:45,840 --> 00:23:50,400
or directions for how do you make some new things that

490
00:23:50,400 --> 00:23:52,280
might also help along the way?

491
00:23:52,280 --> 00:23:56,520
And so we do that by publishing, just like the brief,

492
00:23:56,520 --> 00:23:59,440
I showed you, we do that also by doing this.

493
00:23:59,440 --> 00:24:02,320
We do that by, we have a great government affairs team

494
00:24:02,320 --> 00:24:05,720
that can provide information directly to folks

495
00:24:05,720 --> 00:24:07,240
when there's something relevant,

496
00:24:07,240 --> 00:24:08,680
commenting on what's going on in the world.

497
00:24:08,680 --> 00:24:11,280
There's some exciting, right, policies, stuff going on

498
00:24:11,280 --> 00:24:12,480
at all kinds of levels, right?

499
00:24:12,480 --> 00:24:14,960
The Older American's Act is being renewed.

500
00:24:14,960 --> 00:24:19,960
Recently, there was a blueprint that was a scoping document

501
00:24:19,960 --> 00:24:21,560
for a national plan on aging.

502
00:24:21,560 --> 00:24:25,000
That's a federal plan to guide, right?

503
00:24:25,000 --> 00:24:27,960
How the federal government addresses aging

504
00:24:27,960 --> 00:24:30,320
across all kinds of domains.

505
00:24:30,320 --> 00:24:32,840
And we've seen things like that for other areas,

506
00:24:32,840 --> 00:24:34,960
such as Alzheimer's and caregiving.

507
00:24:34,960 --> 00:24:37,600
And so thinking about it from an overarching level for aging

508
00:24:37,600 --> 00:24:40,320
is a really exciting proposition.

509
00:24:40,320 --> 00:24:43,520
States are creating multi-sector plans for aging

510
00:24:43,520 --> 00:24:45,000
that include housing.

511
00:24:45,000 --> 00:24:48,320
And there's many, many ways that they're gathering input on that,

512
00:24:48,320 --> 00:24:51,240
including by checking out all of sort of these exciting

513
00:24:51,240 --> 00:24:54,040
documents and then also by getting direct input

514
00:24:54,040 --> 00:24:57,000
from stakeholder groups and from other groups like

515
00:24:57,000 --> 00:24:59,360
think tanks and nonprofits such as ourselves.

516
00:24:59,360 --> 00:25:02,840
- Yeah, I'm always fascinated by the voice

517
00:25:02,840 --> 00:25:04,400
and you have to have that voice.

518
00:25:04,400 --> 00:25:06,920
And you're the voice of two in the wilderness

519
00:25:06,920 --> 00:25:09,600
and you're saying to the world out there,

520
00:25:09,600 --> 00:25:12,240
hey, we have an issue, we have a problem.

521
00:25:12,240 --> 00:25:18,160
And the problem is that as our population is aging,

522
00:25:19,720 --> 00:25:22,440
along with the aging population,

523
00:25:22,440 --> 00:25:26,680
is being as high as it is and then also you've got

524
00:25:26,680 --> 00:25:30,800
the younger generations, they seem to be as equal

525
00:25:30,800 --> 00:25:33,920
in terms of numbers and percentage of our population.

526
00:25:33,920 --> 00:25:37,240
And what you're trying to do is to bridge that gap

527
00:25:37,240 --> 00:25:39,760
so that you can affect both populations.

528
00:25:39,760 --> 00:25:42,800
'Cause I think one of the things that we've lost

529
00:25:42,800 --> 00:25:47,320
in my opinion is the whole concept of honoring

530
00:25:47,320 --> 00:25:49,520
your mother and your father.

531
00:25:49,520 --> 00:25:54,080
And when we disconnect from our aging population

532
00:25:54,080 --> 00:25:58,240
as young people, I think that has a negative effect

533
00:25:58,240 --> 00:26:00,840
on our culture and not in a good way.

534
00:26:00,840 --> 00:26:02,880
And I think that's what you guys are addressing.

535
00:26:02,880 --> 00:26:07,280
- Mark, you're really right because one of the benefits

536
00:26:07,280 --> 00:26:11,360
of intergenerational programming is that you ask a child

537
00:26:11,360 --> 00:26:16,080
or a young one who's been in an intergenerational program,

538
00:26:16,080 --> 00:26:18,800
show them a picture of a seven year old and a 70 year old

539
00:26:18,800 --> 00:26:20,600
and they're gonna look at both of those and say,

540
00:26:20,600 --> 00:26:22,000
that's my friend.

541
00:26:22,000 --> 00:26:24,320
When they're exposed, when they grow up,

542
00:26:24,320 --> 00:26:28,680
they don't look at the differences as something that matters.

543
00:26:28,680 --> 00:26:31,200
They also learn soft skills and their patients,

544
00:26:31,200 --> 00:26:33,600
they learn more communications or more accepting

545
00:26:33,600 --> 00:26:35,520
of people with disabilities.

546
00:26:35,520 --> 00:26:38,120
And then for older adults, they see hope in the future.

547
00:26:38,120 --> 00:26:41,600
So again, just from a very early age,

548
00:26:41,600 --> 00:26:44,720
but I think that when we think about policy,

549
00:26:44,720 --> 00:26:46,920
there's so much that we can do at the federal level,

550
00:26:46,920 --> 00:26:49,200
but so much as state and local.

551
00:26:49,200 --> 00:26:51,280
The one thing that I really appreciate

552
00:26:51,280 --> 00:26:55,080
about intergenerational work is that it really cuts

553
00:26:55,080 --> 00:26:58,920
across party lines because we all have had aging parents

554
00:26:58,920 --> 00:27:01,480
or we're all aging or we know people,

555
00:27:01,480 --> 00:27:03,320
it's our neighbor, it's that sort of thing.

556
00:27:03,320 --> 00:27:05,760
So you can really build common ground.

557
00:27:05,760 --> 00:27:08,600
And so what we try to do similar at Lauren was saying

558
00:27:08,600 --> 00:27:11,600
is elevate the models that we see around the country.

559
00:27:11,600 --> 00:27:15,200
For example, Nebraska just passed a state,

560
00:27:15,200 --> 00:27:20,800
a state law that they're providing a certain amount

561
00:27:20,800 --> 00:27:22,960
of money and incentives for people

562
00:27:22,960 --> 00:27:25,040
who are building senior care facilities

563
00:27:25,040 --> 00:27:27,120
with childcare centers.

564
00:27:27,120 --> 00:27:30,720
And they're doing that because the workforce,

565
00:27:30,720 --> 00:27:35,000
the caregiving workforce is really a very tough area

566
00:27:35,000 --> 00:27:38,800
to recruit in, it's a tough area to retain people.

567
00:27:38,800 --> 00:27:42,080
And by providing childcare, the workers have a place

568
00:27:42,080 --> 00:27:44,640
to take their children, they stay connected to their family

569
00:27:44,640 --> 00:27:47,040
and then the children benefit by their exposure

570
00:27:47,040 --> 00:27:48,480
with the older adults.

571
00:27:48,480 --> 00:27:52,840
So I love seeing states that are taking progressive,

572
00:27:52,840 --> 00:27:56,400
but not progressive so much as proactive stances

573
00:27:56,400 --> 00:27:58,640
to be able to make sure we're connecting generations.

574
00:27:58,640 --> 00:28:01,320
And those are common sense things.

575
00:28:01,320 --> 00:28:03,480
Did you know that many factors, not just those

576
00:28:03,480 --> 00:28:06,360
we typically think of like diet, exercise,

577
00:28:06,360 --> 00:28:10,080
and not smoking contribute to health and longevity?

578
00:28:10,080 --> 00:28:13,640
One critical area is social connection.

579
00:28:13,640 --> 00:28:16,680
Lacking social connection is as dangerous to our health

580
00:28:16,680 --> 00:28:19,520
as smoking up to 15 cigarettes a day,

581
00:28:19,520 --> 00:28:22,880
interacting with friends, family, and neighbor staves

582
00:28:22,880 --> 00:28:25,480
off the very real impacts of loneliness,

583
00:28:25,480 --> 00:28:28,800
which is associated with increased risk of heart disease,

584
00:28:28,800 --> 00:28:32,800
stroke, dementia, anxiety, and depression.

585
00:28:32,800 --> 00:28:35,040
This, did you know, segment was brought to you

586
00:28:35,040 --> 00:28:40,040
by this week's guests and sponsored by Royal Hospice of Oregon?

587
00:28:40,040 --> 00:28:41,840
And those are common sense things.

588
00:28:41,840 --> 00:28:44,400
I mean, I'm in the in-home care agency,

589
00:28:44,400 --> 00:28:47,520
I have an in-home care agency and a hospice agency.

590
00:28:47,520 --> 00:28:53,200
And so I understand the tension between not having enough caregivers

591
00:28:53,200 --> 00:28:57,320
and oftentimes caregivers, they're young mothers,

592
00:28:57,320 --> 00:28:58,440
they're young fathers.

593
00:28:58,440 --> 00:29:01,920
And what keeps them from showing up to work

594
00:29:01,920 --> 00:29:04,680
on a consistent basis is childcare.

595
00:29:04,680 --> 00:29:09,520
And I love the solution that Nebraska is doing.

596
00:29:09,520 --> 00:29:12,600
And I think that should be pushed out to all the states

597
00:29:12,600 --> 00:29:16,840
and providing, you know, if all of our institutions,

598
00:29:16,840 --> 00:29:19,840
you know, our long-term care communities had that ability

599
00:29:19,840 --> 00:29:22,320
to provide some care.

600
00:29:22,320 --> 00:29:25,080
And again, I don't know how you pay for all that,

601
00:29:25,080 --> 00:29:27,840
but it's, I, but I get the concept

602
00:29:27,840 --> 00:29:31,200
because the long term effect of that is, is,

603
00:29:31,200 --> 00:29:33,120
it's intergenerational.

604
00:29:33,120 --> 00:29:36,080
It's going to affect our seniors, but it's also going to affect,

605
00:29:36,080 --> 00:29:38,680
you know, one of the things I'd like to say about myself

606
00:29:38,680 --> 00:29:43,680
and I say this with great pride is that I'm a privileged man

607
00:29:43,680 --> 00:29:48,160
and the reason why I'm a privileged man is because I grew up in a home

608
00:29:48,160 --> 00:29:53,160
where we live out the intergenerational care for my, you know,

609
00:29:53,160 --> 00:29:56,760
I grew up around grandparents and I grew up,

610
00:29:56,760 --> 00:30:00,640
and I'm taking care of my mom currently in her home

611
00:30:00,640 --> 00:30:04,120
so that she can live her days on her terms

612
00:30:04,120 --> 00:30:07,440
the way she wants to live out her final days.

613
00:30:07,440 --> 00:30:11,320
And yet at the same time, I take great pride in that,

614
00:30:11,320 --> 00:30:16,320
but I'm also aware that the majority of our population

615
00:30:16,320 --> 00:30:20,440
doesn't have that ability, they don't have

616
00:30:20,440 --> 00:30:23,520
intergenerational relationships with grandparents

617
00:30:23,520 --> 00:30:28,160
or maybe those intergenerational relationships

618
00:30:28,160 --> 00:30:30,800
with grandparents are, you know, out of state.

619
00:30:30,800 --> 00:30:33,680
And so how do you, how do you live that way?

620
00:30:33,680 --> 00:30:35,560
I mean, it's just, it's crazy.

621
00:30:36,880 --> 00:30:40,520
You know, it's, I think, and thank you for everything you're doing,

622
00:30:40,520 --> 00:30:41,960
Mark, I mean, that is terrific

623
00:30:41,960 --> 00:30:43,920
'cause not everybody has that opportunity,

624
00:30:43,920 --> 00:30:45,880
but I think I always think back to what a foster

625
00:30:45,880 --> 00:30:49,480
grandparent told me once and it was care where you are.

626
00:30:49,480 --> 00:30:52,480
Your biological grandchildren or grandparents

627
00:30:52,480 --> 00:30:54,040
may not be next door to you,

628
00:30:54,040 --> 00:30:56,360
but I'll bet in your neighborhood there's a child,

629
00:30:56,360 --> 00:30:59,760
there's an older person and you can care where you are.

630
00:30:59,760 --> 00:31:01,840
And I think that's a conversation that we're having

631
00:31:01,840 --> 00:31:04,960
more and more now because people are thinking about

632
00:31:04,960 --> 00:31:07,240
people who have not had children.

633
00:31:07,240 --> 00:31:08,360
You know, there's an aging population,

634
00:31:08,360 --> 00:31:09,960
part of our population is aging

635
00:31:09,960 --> 00:31:12,400
and they don't have children, they didn't have children

636
00:31:12,400 --> 00:31:14,560
and having children doesn't make it a guarantee

637
00:31:14,560 --> 00:31:16,200
that they're gonna take care of you.

638
00:31:16,200 --> 00:31:18,560
So how are, who's gonna care for us?

639
00:31:18,560 --> 00:31:22,720
And it's the responsibility we all share in our communities.

640
00:31:22,720 --> 00:31:26,000
I love, my husband is retired and he spends a lot of time

641
00:31:26,000 --> 00:31:29,440
checking up on our former housekeeper who's 95

642
00:31:29,440 --> 00:31:31,400
and our former neighbors who are 80

643
00:31:31,400 --> 00:31:33,280
and he engages regularly with them.

644
00:31:33,280 --> 00:31:37,480
He's that extra pair of hands and heart that's there for them

645
00:31:37,480 --> 00:31:38,920
and that's what we can all do.

646
00:31:38,920 --> 00:31:40,680
- Yeah, absolutely.

647
00:31:40,680 --> 00:31:44,400
- And so much of how you make those connections,

648
00:31:44,400 --> 00:31:46,280
it's great if they happen organically

649
00:31:46,280 --> 00:31:48,640
and sometimes they do from shared activities or interests

650
00:31:48,640 --> 00:31:50,840
but because so many things are siloed,

651
00:31:50,840 --> 00:31:53,680
we also aren't afforded those opportunities, right?

652
00:31:53,680 --> 00:31:56,720
To develop those relationships intentionally

653
00:31:56,720 --> 00:31:59,560
and so the more that we can create conditions, right?

654
00:31:59,560 --> 00:32:01,320
Through intergenerational communities

655
00:32:01,320 --> 00:32:03,960
that involve, right, strategically planning

656
00:32:03,960 --> 00:32:05,480
to have multiple generations be there

657
00:32:05,480 --> 00:32:08,720
that have sort of all the sort of incentives

658
00:32:08,720 --> 00:32:10,600
that financially that help and support people

659
00:32:10,600 --> 00:32:12,160
to live in intergenerational communities

660
00:32:12,160 --> 00:32:14,680
and then programs that help people connect

661
00:32:14,680 --> 00:32:17,600
in a structured way so that they can build those relationships

662
00:32:17,600 --> 00:32:20,640
because, right, it is, it does change your life

663
00:32:20,640 --> 00:32:22,320
in your perspective, right?

664
00:32:22,320 --> 00:32:24,400
And once you sort of do it once,

665
00:32:24,400 --> 00:32:26,600
you go, oh, I can do this again, right?

666
00:32:26,600 --> 00:32:29,040
And we all maybe have that person in our lives, right?

667
00:32:29,040 --> 00:32:32,080
My gardening partner of passions intergenerational gardening

668
00:32:32,080 --> 00:32:36,080
is 97 and we've been gardening together for about 15 years

669
00:32:36,080 --> 00:32:39,080
and I think, you know, when I first started gardening

670
00:32:39,080 --> 00:32:40,840
at the garden, if you would said,

671
00:32:40,840 --> 00:32:43,480
do you want a 97-year-old best friend,

672
00:32:43,480 --> 00:32:46,360
I have to admit, maybe I might have been slightly ageist

673
00:32:46,360 --> 00:32:48,920
and had a perception that, oh, it's gonna involve

674
00:32:48,920 --> 00:32:53,360
so much giving my time and, you know, it'll be an outlet,

675
00:32:53,360 --> 00:32:55,400
I don't want that kind of responsibility.

676
00:32:55,400 --> 00:32:57,880
I think people might be surprised

677
00:32:57,880 --> 00:33:02,280
that there's giving and receiving on both sides, right?

678
00:33:02,280 --> 00:33:05,000
And that we have to remember that it's, right,

679
00:33:05,000 --> 00:33:07,560
to make a real relationship, we have that opportunity

680
00:33:07,560 --> 00:33:08,960
for both ways, right?

681
00:33:08,960 --> 00:33:11,880
And that generativity, like the act of,

682
00:33:11,880 --> 00:33:14,160
specifically older adults, to younger people,

683
00:33:14,160 --> 00:33:15,560
benefits both sides, right?

684
00:33:15,560 --> 00:33:19,040
It's a unique type of giving and it provides benefits

685
00:33:19,040 --> 00:33:21,920
and so getting ways that people can have that

686
00:33:21,920 --> 00:33:24,760
so that now whenever I, you know,

687
00:33:24,760 --> 00:33:27,360
I look at the world differently from here on out

688
00:33:27,360 --> 00:33:29,080
and I'm one of those people that as,

689
00:33:29,080 --> 00:33:31,840
encounter people who might be so waging or meet new neighbors,

690
00:33:31,840 --> 00:33:35,320
it's just sort of changed my perspective and capacity as well

691
00:33:35,320 --> 00:33:38,160
and so I know that Donna's working hard

692
00:33:38,160 --> 00:33:40,000
to make those opportunities for more people

693
00:33:40,000 --> 00:33:41,000
in different ways.

694
00:33:41,000 --> 00:33:45,120
- Yeah, and, you know, it's real too.

695
00:33:45,120 --> 00:33:47,800
As I'm involved in seniors,

696
00:33:47,800 --> 00:33:52,800
lives in multiple, you know, multiple areas of their aging

697
00:33:54,240 --> 00:33:57,920
as they age all the way from needing a little assistance

698
00:33:57,920 --> 00:34:00,040
to all the way to the end of life,

699
00:34:00,040 --> 00:34:05,040
it's a daunting task as we age and, you know,

700
00:34:05,040 --> 00:34:07,800
one of the greatest fears everybody says

701
00:34:07,800 --> 00:34:11,280
that seniors fear the most is out living here resources.

702
00:34:11,280 --> 00:34:13,880
Number one, number two is the fear of falling

703
00:34:13,880 --> 00:34:15,760
and, you know, number three, you know what?

704
00:34:15,760 --> 00:34:19,880
I think even this is in third place the way I'm putting it

705
00:34:19,880 --> 00:34:24,880
but I think that fear of being alone is right there at the top

706
00:34:24,880 --> 00:34:29,800
and I know a lot of people in their 40s and 50s

707
00:34:29,800 --> 00:34:33,200
may not think that that's that great of a fear

708
00:34:33,200 --> 00:34:35,400
but when you're in your 70s and 80s

709
00:34:35,400 --> 00:34:38,240
and your abilities are diminishing

710
00:34:38,240 --> 00:34:40,600
and you don't have family around you,

711
00:34:40,600 --> 00:34:42,640
you don't have a support system,

712
00:34:42,640 --> 00:34:46,040
you don't have that intergenerational support,

713
00:34:46,040 --> 00:34:47,600
it can be scary.

714
00:34:47,600 --> 00:34:50,680
I can only imagine and, you know,

715
00:34:50,680 --> 00:34:53,680
when you don't have that power to do anything about it.

716
00:34:53,680 --> 00:34:56,960
- And a part of why we advocate

717
00:34:56,960 --> 00:35:01,680
for intergenerational relationships is because if you only have

718
00:35:01,680 --> 00:35:05,880
one age co-horidist friends and your aging with them,

719
00:35:05,880 --> 00:35:08,120
then yes, all around you, what you're gonna see

720
00:35:08,120 --> 00:35:11,480
is what I call the three P's, pain pills and passing.

721
00:35:11,480 --> 00:35:13,080
People are gonna talk about what hurts,

722
00:35:13,080 --> 00:35:14,600
they're gonna talk about, you know,

723
00:35:14,600 --> 00:35:17,040
what medication they're on, they're gonna talk about who died

724
00:35:17,040 --> 00:35:19,280
but you can't do that if you also have friends

725
00:35:19,280 --> 00:35:22,520
in their 40s or 20s or there's kids

726
00:35:22,520 --> 00:35:24,760
who are running around that sort of thing.

727
00:35:24,760 --> 00:35:26,720
So I think what you're, you know,

728
00:35:26,720 --> 00:35:28,520
you're right in that people start to see

729
00:35:28,520 --> 00:35:32,040
a diminished social circle because they haven't had

730
00:35:32,040 --> 00:35:34,560
or nurtured or intentionally thought about making sure

731
00:35:34,560 --> 00:35:37,000
they know people of other ages

732
00:35:37,000 --> 00:35:39,720
and they nurture those relationships.

733
00:35:39,720 --> 00:35:41,720
And also that they focus,

734
00:35:41,720 --> 00:35:45,240
it's easy to focus on diminishing ability

735
00:35:45,240 --> 00:35:48,040
rather than what abilities you still have left

736
00:35:48,040 --> 00:35:49,440
and to be able to use those

737
00:35:49,440 --> 00:35:51,440
because we've had intergenerational programs

738
00:35:51,440 --> 00:35:53,600
where homebound seniors back in the day

739
00:35:53,600 --> 00:35:56,600
were the telephone support to after school kids

740
00:35:56,600 --> 00:35:58,800
or they were the ones that could, you know,

741
00:35:58,800 --> 00:36:00,240
that could wave out the window

742
00:36:00,240 --> 00:36:03,160
or they could do, there were things that they could do

743
00:36:03,160 --> 00:36:05,040
in spite of the fact they couldn't get out

744
00:36:05,040 --> 00:36:07,160
or get around as well as they used to.

745
00:36:07,160 --> 00:36:08,160
- Yeah, yeah.

746
00:36:08,160 --> 00:36:09,680
- And it's efficient, right?

747
00:36:09,680 --> 00:36:12,440
So bringing it back to intergenerational housing, right?

748
00:36:12,440 --> 00:36:14,040
We're talking about loneliness,

749
00:36:14,040 --> 00:36:15,040
we're talking about isolation,

750
00:36:15,040 --> 00:36:19,160
we're also talking about fear of outliving your resources,

751
00:36:19,160 --> 00:36:20,600
right, and intergenerational solutions

752
00:36:20,600 --> 00:36:25,600
can be incredibly efficient and also just plain joyful

753
00:36:25,600 --> 00:36:28,480
way to address so many issues at once.

754
00:36:28,480 --> 00:36:32,040
And that's why I think that the report,

755
00:36:32,040 --> 00:36:34,200
recent report from General Rations United

756
00:36:34,200 --> 00:36:37,000
on healthier lives across generations is really important,

757
00:36:37,000 --> 00:36:39,360
right, because those two things, right?

758
00:36:39,360 --> 00:36:41,120
Where will I live and who will take care of me

759
00:36:41,120 --> 00:36:42,760
and then we're gonna add also,

760
00:36:42,760 --> 00:36:45,400
how do I ensure that I have the resources to do so?

761
00:36:45,400 --> 00:36:48,800
Really is the place where we live,

762
00:36:48,800 --> 00:36:51,680
where we age is so central to answering those questions

763
00:36:51,680 --> 00:36:54,360
and intergenerational housing can be a really important

764
00:36:54,360 --> 00:36:57,640
solution to making the answers easier for people.

765
00:36:57,640 --> 00:37:00,840
- Yeah, one of my greatest concerns is,

766
00:37:00,840 --> 00:37:04,360
going back to outliving your resources

767
00:37:04,360 --> 00:37:08,440
and that is a legitimate fear because I know what I charge

768
00:37:08,440 --> 00:37:12,080
in in-home care and I can't even afford

769
00:37:12,080 --> 00:37:15,280
my own services and this has got me very concerned

770
00:37:15,280 --> 00:37:18,440
is that the majority of our population

771
00:37:18,440 --> 00:37:22,600
cannot stay in their own home and that's not much of a choice

772
00:37:22,600 --> 00:37:24,840
and everybody should have that choice

773
00:37:24,840 --> 00:37:27,320
in that opportunity to stay home

774
00:37:27,320 --> 00:37:29,800
or they can go into a long term care community

775
00:37:29,800 --> 00:37:34,800
of various kinds, whatever they desire,

776
00:37:34,800 --> 00:37:41,040
but it's even, it doesn't matter what model you choose,

777
00:37:41,040 --> 00:37:45,120
they're getting prohibitively expensive where people

778
00:37:45,120 --> 00:37:48,720
just don't have the resources or they lose their entire

779
00:37:48,720 --> 00:37:51,040
estates in the process.

780
00:37:51,040 --> 00:37:55,160
So somehow, some way is that being addressed

781
00:37:55,160 --> 00:37:57,000
by both of your organizations?

782
00:37:57,000 --> 00:38:01,080
How are we going to make it affordable for people

783
00:38:01,080 --> 00:38:04,880
to live a quality of life because we're living longer?

784
00:38:04,880 --> 00:38:06,280
How do we do that?

785
00:38:06,280 --> 00:38:07,600
- Yeah, absolutely.

786
00:38:07,600 --> 00:38:09,400
I mean, I think that there's a lot of ways

787
00:38:09,400 --> 00:38:11,320
people are addressing this, right?

788
00:38:11,320 --> 00:38:13,920
And so right now we are doing work

789
00:38:13,920 --> 00:38:16,120
on the future of connected care in the home

790
00:38:16,120 --> 00:38:19,280
where we're looking at how technology can be an important,

791
00:38:19,280 --> 00:38:22,960
we'll call it force multiplier to helping people

792
00:38:22,960 --> 00:38:26,920
get the care they need, including remotely,

793
00:38:26,920 --> 00:38:28,880
which can address some of the challenges

794
00:38:28,880 --> 00:38:33,480
as an expense of providing direct hours of in-home care,

795
00:38:33,480 --> 00:38:36,360
and our previous work focusing on the forgotten middle,

796
00:38:36,360 --> 00:38:41,360
the group of older adults who have too much in assets

797
00:38:41,360 --> 00:38:46,560
or income to qualify for government support programs,

798
00:38:46,560 --> 00:38:49,040
but who cannot afford the housing and care

799
00:38:49,040 --> 00:38:51,080
that they will need or want, right?

800
00:38:51,080 --> 00:38:55,160
And so we focused on that group on how can we create

801
00:38:55,160 --> 00:38:58,440
financial models and also new ideas, maybe in healthcare

802
00:38:58,440 --> 00:39:02,000
partnerships in housing and healthcare can work together

803
00:39:02,000 --> 00:39:05,120
to increase the affordability of housing options

804
00:39:06,120 --> 00:39:07,960
for the missing middle.

805
00:39:07,960 --> 00:39:10,880
And so we are, you know, and have published on both

806
00:39:10,880 --> 00:39:13,080
of those topics and we'll keep publishing on both

807
00:39:13,080 --> 00:39:17,320
of those topics and also would be remiss if I didn't mention.

808
00:39:17,320 --> 00:39:19,600
Mark, we're also doing on caregivers in the workplace,

809
00:39:19,600 --> 00:39:21,600
making sure that, you know, looking at aging

810
00:39:21,600 --> 00:39:25,800
as an intergenerational issue and aging as a life course journey,

811
00:39:25,800 --> 00:39:28,280
right, making sure that family caregivers

812
00:39:28,280 --> 00:39:31,760
that are in the workforce that are doing elder care

813
00:39:31,760 --> 00:39:33,840
are able to, right, keep, you know,

814
00:39:33,840 --> 00:39:35,680
maintain their employment, have support,

815
00:39:35,680 --> 00:39:38,800
and see some things in the private sector that might support them

816
00:39:38,800 --> 00:39:41,680
and bring some of that innovation we've seen in childcare

817
00:39:41,680 --> 00:39:44,000
to people doing all different sorts of caregiving.

818
00:39:44,000 --> 00:39:46,400
And so we're working on all three of those issues

819
00:39:46,400 --> 00:39:49,280
and more about connecting health span and wall span.

820
00:39:49,280 --> 00:39:54,280
- And I think that, you know, Lauren said is very important,

821
00:39:54,280 --> 00:39:58,480
there's a way we need to restructure some of the reimbursements,

822
00:39:58,480 --> 00:40:01,760
some of the ways that we look at funding

823
00:40:01,760 --> 00:40:04,480
and change and update some of the policy around that.

824
00:40:04,480 --> 00:40:05,800
But there are other things as well.

825
00:40:05,800 --> 00:40:08,280
I think there's some really wonderful innovation underway.

826
00:40:08,280 --> 00:40:11,920
There's a gentleman named Marvell Adams

827
00:40:11,920 --> 00:40:14,320
who is a part of the Eisner Foundation's

828
00:40:14,320 --> 00:40:17,440
intergenerational fellows program designed a model

829
00:40:17,440 --> 00:40:21,560
of an intentional intergenerational mixed income community

830
00:40:21,560 --> 00:40:26,320
so that they actually, the support was there financially

831
00:40:26,320 --> 00:40:30,520
to help some of the lower income folks be able to age there.

832
00:40:30,520 --> 00:40:32,040
And then the home share programs,

833
00:40:32,040 --> 00:40:35,080
well not for everyone, for many older adults

834
00:40:35,080 --> 00:40:38,200
to have a student in their home to either help them

835
00:40:38,200 --> 00:40:42,440
with some of the, you know, have a meal together

836
00:40:42,440 --> 00:40:45,360
help with isolation, walk the dog when it snows,

837
00:40:45,360 --> 00:40:47,280
but also provide a little bit of income

838
00:40:47,280 --> 00:40:50,480
that they need to be able to stay in that home.

839
00:40:50,480 --> 00:40:53,680
And some state, one state at least, was looking at how

840
00:40:53,680 --> 00:40:56,720
they made sure that home repair dollars were targeted

841
00:40:56,720 --> 00:41:00,000
to that population so that their home was in good enough shape

842
00:41:00,000 --> 00:41:03,000
to be able to have a student live with them

843
00:41:03,000 --> 00:41:04,680
and for them to be able to stay.

844
00:41:04,680 --> 00:41:07,200
So I think we're starting to see some beautiful nuggets

845
00:41:07,200 --> 00:41:09,720
around the country, but as we've all said,

846
00:41:09,720 --> 00:41:12,400
it's elevating those, it's amplifying them

847
00:41:12,400 --> 00:41:15,720
and it's also enabling their replication.

848
00:41:15,720 --> 00:41:18,960
- Yes, I know because the need is growing, right?

849
00:41:18,960 --> 00:41:22,640
We know that half of older adults by 2029

850
00:41:22,640 --> 00:41:24,880
that are, you know, will be in the missing middle

851
00:41:24,880 --> 00:41:26,920
won't be able to afford the housing and care they need.

852
00:41:26,920 --> 00:41:29,960
That's so many people, but there's lots of solutions

853
00:41:29,960 --> 00:41:32,600
sitting out there that people are trying to unlock

854
00:41:32,600 --> 00:41:35,400
and leverage one of my favorite figures is

855
00:41:35,400 --> 00:41:39,120
from a private sector group, but that it's 137 million

856
00:41:39,120 --> 00:41:41,440
spare bedrooms, right?

857
00:41:41,440 --> 00:41:43,720
You're talking about the possibility of leveraging

858
00:41:43,720 --> 00:41:47,240
even some of those to help make housing more affordable

859
00:41:47,240 --> 00:41:49,520
and also support connection.

860
00:41:49,520 --> 00:41:52,840
- I do have to say, though, Lauren, because I agree with you

861
00:41:52,840 --> 00:41:55,080
that it's interesting because if you talk with an older adult

862
00:41:55,080 --> 00:41:57,920
and probably to any of us, we don't have a spare room.

863
00:41:57,920 --> 00:42:01,840
It's our sewing room, it's our storage room, it's this,

864
00:42:01,840 --> 00:42:04,120
so we have to be careful about how we frame it.

865
00:42:04,120 --> 00:42:07,720
You know, that you have that space that could be welcoming

866
00:42:07,720 --> 00:42:12,400
and engaging and you'd have company and build

867
00:42:12,400 --> 00:42:14,400
the expectation, because I hadn't really thought

868
00:42:14,400 --> 00:42:16,760
about that before that there aren't many people to think,

869
00:42:16,760 --> 00:42:18,000
oh, yeah, I have a spare room.

870
00:42:18,000 --> 00:42:20,120
It's like, no, that's got my sewing machine

871
00:42:20,120 --> 00:42:22,600
or my hobbies or this or that in it.

872
00:42:22,600 --> 00:42:25,120
- And that's, as we keep talking about in this conversation,

873
00:42:25,120 --> 00:42:28,960
right, lens, right?

874
00:42:28,960 --> 00:42:32,240
You had such a great way to say at Mark about changing

875
00:42:32,240 --> 00:42:34,440
how you look at it, changes what you're looking at.

876
00:42:34,440 --> 00:42:38,320
And so it's definitely not a solution for everyone.

877
00:42:38,320 --> 00:42:40,960
I think that there's a lot more that can go on

878
00:42:40,960 --> 00:42:44,440
in terms of financial models making senior housing

879
00:42:44,440 --> 00:42:47,480
more affordable people that are looking at bringing

880
00:42:47,480 --> 00:42:50,680
sort of care and decentralized models out into communities

881
00:42:50,680 --> 00:42:55,680
and looking at how in housing that's supported

882
00:42:55,680 --> 00:42:57,360
through various government programs,

883
00:42:57,360 --> 00:42:59,880
how it is more age integrated.

884
00:42:59,880 --> 00:43:02,960
I think that, right, that everything is sort of a suite

885
00:43:02,960 --> 00:43:04,440
of solutions when we're talking about something

886
00:43:04,440 --> 00:43:05,440
that's magnitude.

887
00:43:05,440 --> 00:43:06,440
- Yeah, yeah.

888
00:43:06,440 --> 00:43:08,200
You know, one of the things I was thinking about

889
00:43:08,200 --> 00:43:10,320
as you were describing that because I've been putting

890
00:43:10,320 --> 00:43:14,560
a lot of thought into this myself, how did we get here?

891
00:43:14,560 --> 00:43:19,520
And, you know, sometimes, and again,

892
00:43:19,520 --> 00:43:22,200
this may be controversial, but that's okay.

893
00:43:22,200 --> 00:43:25,240
We're on a podcast so we can be controversial.

894
00:43:25,240 --> 00:43:28,120
Sometimes I feel like we put too much emphasis

895
00:43:28,120 --> 00:43:30,960
upon the government to solve our problems.

896
00:43:30,960 --> 00:43:33,960
And we've gotten away from the family.

897
00:43:33,960 --> 00:43:38,640
And I know that from my own perspective of,

898
00:43:38,640 --> 00:43:42,200
and again, I look at it from a place of,

899
00:43:42,200 --> 00:43:46,560
I was privileged to be in a intergenerational family

900
00:43:46,560 --> 00:43:48,880
that has stayed together.

901
00:43:48,880 --> 00:43:53,880
And unfortunately, our culture has over the last 20, 30 years

902
00:43:53,880 --> 00:43:59,520
has been talking about how the family is not that important.

903
00:43:59,520 --> 00:44:02,680
And now we're seeing why the family is important.

904
00:44:02,680 --> 00:44:08,600
And so when we dissolve the familial relationships,

905
00:44:08,600 --> 00:44:11,760
now we've opened up, you know, an empty hole,

906
00:44:11,760 --> 00:44:13,720
and then we have to fill it with something.

907
00:44:13,720 --> 00:44:16,120
And then that's where the government steps in.

908
00:44:16,120 --> 00:44:17,560
And I don't think that's the answer.

909
00:44:17,560 --> 00:44:22,240
I think going back to multi-generational, you know,

910
00:44:22,240 --> 00:44:25,640
my children need to take the responsibility

911
00:44:25,640 --> 00:44:27,080
of taking care of me.

912
00:44:27,080 --> 00:44:28,840
I need to take the responsibility

913
00:44:28,840 --> 00:44:30,520
of taking care of my parents.

914
00:44:30,520 --> 00:44:32,560
To me, that's multi-generational.

915
00:44:32,560 --> 00:44:34,920
And then that can go out, that's in-house.

916
00:44:34,920 --> 00:44:36,560
And then there could be an outhouse form

917
00:44:36,560 --> 00:44:38,440
of that multi-generational care,

918
00:44:38,440 --> 00:44:42,960
which we're talking about is open that up to people

919
00:44:42,960 --> 00:44:46,000
outside of your familial, you know.

920
00:44:47,480 --> 00:44:48,480
And then there's a family.

921
00:44:48,480 --> 00:44:51,640
And I don't know, what's your thoughts on that?

922
00:44:51,640 --> 00:44:57,720
- One thing is, I think I look at this slightly different

923
00:44:57,720 --> 00:45:01,320
than you do, but one thing is that many years ago,

924
00:45:01,320 --> 00:45:03,160
the United Nations declared the family

925
00:45:03,160 --> 00:45:05,560
as the cornerstone of civil society.

926
00:45:05,560 --> 00:45:07,920
It should be respected and supported.

927
00:45:07,920 --> 00:45:10,440
And so I think we all agree to that.

928
00:45:10,440 --> 00:45:13,760
And what I think about is that really,

929
00:45:13,760 --> 00:45:17,440
we started to see the trend back in the middle

930
00:45:17,440 --> 00:45:22,120
of the last century that people used to always

931
00:45:22,120 --> 00:45:23,840
live in multi-generational households.

932
00:45:23,840 --> 00:45:26,680
They grew up on farms that they needed everybody to work.

933
00:45:26,680 --> 00:45:27,880
- We used to put that on, yeah.

934
00:45:27,880 --> 00:45:29,160
That was a great example.

935
00:45:29,160 --> 00:45:30,080
- Yeah, the wall, yeah.

936
00:45:30,080 --> 00:45:31,080
- And then, and then,

937
00:45:31,080 --> 00:45:33,360
- And so we're there going, what's the wall to?

938
00:45:33,360 --> 00:45:34,680
(laughs)

939
00:45:34,680 --> 00:45:35,520
- John Boy.

940
00:45:35,520 --> 00:45:38,280
- But as we started to industrialize,

941
00:45:38,280 --> 00:45:40,760
and families started to go to make,

942
00:45:40,760 --> 00:45:42,120
you know, so they could make more money

943
00:45:42,120 --> 00:45:45,600
so that they could make it in this new society,

944
00:45:45,600 --> 00:45:48,040
we started saying that that was the norm,

945
00:45:48,040 --> 00:45:49,640
that there was something that was wrong

946
00:45:49,640 --> 00:45:50,760
if we were interdependent.

947
00:45:50,760 --> 00:45:52,720
We needed to be independent.

948
00:45:52,720 --> 00:45:54,640
I always call it the John Wayne mentality,

949
00:45:54,640 --> 00:45:56,400
like I don't need anybody else.

950
00:45:56,400 --> 00:45:59,880
So we reinforced that, you know, to be independent,

951
00:45:59,880 --> 00:46:01,280
that you needed your own home,

952
00:46:01,280 --> 00:46:04,920
you needed, you know, that was like success in America.

953
00:46:04,920 --> 00:46:07,600
And what's happened, which I love over the last,

954
00:46:07,600 --> 00:46:12,200
probably 25 or more years is that unfortunately,

955
00:46:12,200 --> 00:46:15,080
there'd been horrible things like the housing,

956
00:46:15,080 --> 00:46:20,080
bust and COVID that people, families back together,

957
00:46:20,080 --> 00:46:21,360
living under one roof.

958
00:46:21,360 --> 00:46:23,440
And everybody thought that they were gonna split up again

959
00:46:23,440 --> 00:46:25,160
as soon as that crisis was over.

960
00:46:25,160 --> 00:46:27,640
But in fact, the numbers of multi-generational households

961
00:46:27,640 --> 00:46:29,760
continued to increase.

962
00:46:29,760 --> 00:46:32,640
It didn't diminish after the housing bust,

963
00:46:32,640 --> 00:46:34,400
it didn't diminish after COVID.

964
00:46:34,400 --> 00:46:36,360
And when we surveyed the families,

965
00:46:36,360 --> 00:46:38,120
something like well over 80%,

966
00:46:38,120 --> 00:46:41,720
so they were gonna stay together after COVID,

967
00:46:41,720 --> 00:46:45,160
because if that had it worked, financially, caregiving,

968
00:46:45,160 --> 00:46:48,720
culturally connecting to their roots.

969
00:46:48,720 --> 00:46:51,400
So I think it's what we have to do is push against

970
00:46:51,400 --> 00:46:54,040
the societal norm that we don't need each other

971
00:46:54,040 --> 00:46:55,040
because we do.

972
00:46:55,040 --> 00:46:58,840
And bring up public health lens, right?

973
00:46:58,840 --> 00:47:01,520
Public health is all about creating the conditions, right?

974
00:47:01,520 --> 00:47:04,040
So how do we help create those conditions, right?

975
00:47:04,040 --> 00:47:08,760
Some of it is by right making it so that from an infrastructure perspective,

976
00:47:08,760 --> 00:47:11,400
right, we have communities that support

977
00:47:11,400 --> 00:47:14,200
intergenerational housing and housing stock that supports

978
00:47:14,200 --> 00:47:17,320
aging and place in older adults having homes

979
00:47:17,320 --> 00:47:19,680
that have design features and communities that have design features

980
00:47:19,680 --> 00:47:23,120
that enable them to be fully included as well as people of all ages

981
00:47:23,120 --> 00:47:24,120
to be included.

982
00:47:24,120 --> 00:47:25,200
That's the best part about inclusive design

983
00:47:25,200 --> 00:47:27,560
as it's not just for older adults, as for everyone.

984
00:47:27,560 --> 00:47:30,760
But then also thinking about the conditions, right?

985
00:47:30,760 --> 00:47:35,640
Including to support people who might be performing elder caregiving

986
00:47:35,640 --> 00:47:40,680
by looking at right the role of employers and how people are supported

987
00:47:40,680 --> 00:47:42,600
in doing that work.

988
00:47:42,600 --> 00:47:44,600
And then also looking at innovation, right?

989
00:47:44,600 --> 00:47:48,840
For people that are far away and caregiving far from a loved one.

990
00:47:48,840 --> 00:47:51,320
How do we have the technology that lets them have insight

991
00:47:51,320 --> 00:47:54,680
and makes it just easier for people to be in contact,

992
00:47:54,680 --> 00:47:57,320
connected and mobilizing resources?

993
00:47:57,320 --> 00:47:59,880
And so I think there's innovation across all three of those things

994
00:47:59,880 --> 00:48:03,480
that are happening and that can help create those conditions, right?

995
00:48:03,480 --> 00:48:08,360
Because we need, once again, the public health lens of creating conditions

996
00:48:08,360 --> 00:48:11,400
and making it nudges, behavior,

997
00:48:11,400 --> 00:48:13,400
just making things easier, smoothing the way,

998
00:48:13,400 --> 00:48:16,360
not making it so hard because I think one narrative that you just,

999
00:48:16,360 --> 00:48:20,840
you brought it up a few times is that it's difficult to try to put everything together

1000
00:48:20,840 --> 00:48:24,040
that people might need, whether it's yourself putting together things

1001
00:48:24,040 --> 00:48:26,760
for yourself, whether you're doing it with your family,

1002
00:48:26,760 --> 00:48:28,440
whether you're doing it with your chosen family.

1003
00:48:28,440 --> 00:48:32,520
It can be difficult to plan and execute, but there's,

1004
00:48:32,520 --> 00:48:35,080
like I said, I think resources on the way and people really working on it,

1005
00:48:35,080 --> 00:48:36,680
including us.

1006
00:48:36,680 --> 00:48:41,800
Yeah, and that's why I was going to go is that your two organizations are addressing,

1007
00:48:41,800 --> 00:48:49,160
you know, this whole idea about how we can best serve our senior population

1008
00:48:49,160 --> 00:48:54,520
and how we can best serve our senior population to fight loneliness

1009
00:48:54,520 --> 00:49:00,280
and all of the things that go along with that is, is one of the solutions is to bring

1010
00:49:00,280 --> 00:49:04,280
the intergenerational approach to it, bring in the young people.

1011
00:49:04,280 --> 00:49:10,600
And so that young people then begin to get this idea and this concept of how

1012
00:49:10,600 --> 00:49:14,920
what it means to honor your mother and your father, your grandparents,

1013
00:49:14,920 --> 00:49:18,840
and or just in general older people.

1014
00:49:18,840 --> 00:49:23,640
And there needs to be a respect for the different ages.

1015
00:49:23,640 --> 00:49:27,960
And then the seniors can bring so much, I've seen it over and over again,

1016
00:49:27,960 --> 00:49:35,320
I've seen seniors reaching back and down into the younger generations and bring all of the wisdom

1017
00:49:35,320 --> 00:49:41,320
that they have to the table and the younger generation can benefit from that, for sure.

1018
00:49:41,320 --> 00:49:48,680
So you've got a task at hand, you got the present and you've got the future voice.

1019
00:49:49,800 --> 00:49:54,840
Presently you're working on the intergenerational thing and other things I'm sure as well.

1020
00:49:54,840 --> 00:50:02,520
Where do you both see this conversation going into the future and what are some of the future

1021
00:50:02,520 --> 00:50:10,120
things that you are looking at and recognizing that we're going to be faced with, you know,

1022
00:50:10,120 --> 00:50:15,960
10, 15 years down the road? Because I'm at the tip of the baby boomer generation. I'm on the tail,

1023
00:50:15,960 --> 00:50:23,080
you know, I'm wagon the dog, if you will. I'm 67 years of age and you know,

1024
00:50:23,080 --> 00:50:31,240
it's the biggest population that we have. And so how are we going to dress this and as you're

1025
00:50:31,240 --> 00:50:36,600
bringing these concepts to the table currently, then what are some of the things you're looking at

1026
00:50:36,600 --> 00:50:45,800
for the future? Well, I'll just start absolutely. We are excited about looking at the future

1027
00:50:45,800 --> 00:50:49,560
and of aging, right? And that involves so many things connecting health,

1028
00:50:49,560 --> 00:50:55,080
spend, and we'll spend. And many of the things we've talked about today are about how do we better

1029
00:50:55,080 --> 00:51:02,520
integrate our home, taking care of our health and the care we might need. And how do we do that in

1030
00:51:02,520 --> 00:51:09,400
new configurations that might help bake it more affordable, more accessible, and really meet our

1031
00:51:09,400 --> 00:51:17,080
needs better while at the same time, you know, addressing the intergenerational nature of aging, right?

1032
00:51:17,080 --> 00:51:21,960
It's about people across the life course. And so we're looking at different types of innovation

1033
00:51:21,960 --> 00:51:27,080
on that. And as I mentioned, connected care. So, right, looking at the home is a side of care that

1034
00:51:27,080 --> 00:51:34,760
brings together, right, how people get care, right? And not all of its health care, right? It's some

1035
00:51:34,760 --> 00:51:38,840
of its care for activities daily, living some of its care for just how you're living your life,

1036
00:51:38,840 --> 00:51:43,400
social care, how are you connecting with people? And sort of looking at new ways to bring all of

1037
00:51:43,400 --> 00:51:48,760
that together with the home at the center. And so technology will be a huge enabler of that. And

1038
00:51:48,760 --> 00:51:53,880
we're taking a look at how all of the technology that's on both the health side and on the consumer side

1039
00:51:53,880 --> 00:52:01,480
might fit together in ways that integrate and also sort of build on the models that we have

1040
00:52:01,480 --> 00:52:06,040
for being able to afford it, including those in health care and other types of insurance. So we

1041
00:52:06,040 --> 00:52:11,560
will be talking about that more later this year. And we remain very excited about that as we look at how

1042
00:52:11,560 --> 00:52:17,480
we support older adults and caregivers as people are aging. Thank you.

1043
00:52:17,480 --> 00:52:24,360
Well, I agree. We're also focused on intergenerational living because it's consumer driven.

1044
00:52:24,360 --> 00:52:31,320
It's what people want. So I think in the future, in my ideal future, we would do a way with

1045
00:52:31,320 --> 00:52:37,960
gated senior only communities and that we would incentivize people and make it possible for them to live

1046
00:52:37,960 --> 00:52:46,920
in age-integrated communities and see the value and the benefit of that. And I think a part of it is

1047
00:52:46,920 --> 00:52:51,480
when we think about age-cigricated, I guess I've been thinking more lately about age-sellerated,

1048
00:52:51,480 --> 00:52:57,480
accelerated age-sellerated. That's any time we're looking at an issue in this country, we need to

1049
00:52:57,480 --> 00:53:02,520
look at it with that intergenerational lens, whether it's concern about the environment, whether it's

1050
00:53:02,520 --> 00:53:07,320
concern about the discourse in the country right now and the conversations that we're having.

1051
00:53:07,320 --> 00:53:12,760
It's making sure that we're looking at it from that age perspective. We don't have to tackle

1052
00:53:12,760 --> 00:53:17,800
transportation for older people. We need to tackle transportation for all ages. We don't need to

1053
00:53:17,800 --> 00:53:22,520
tackle hunger for older people. We need to tackle it for all ages. So how do we come up with those

1054
00:53:22,520 --> 00:53:28,280
intergenerational solutions? So we're going to continue to advocate using that lens and

1055
00:53:28,280 --> 00:53:35,320
elevating examples that show how powerful it can be. Well said. Lauren, if some of our listeners would

1056
00:53:35,320 --> 00:53:44,200
like to learn more about the milk and institute, how would they best do that to dive in and see

1057
00:53:44,200 --> 00:53:48,360
what you guys are doing? And then also if they want to connect with you, what's the best way to do that?

1058
00:53:49,960 --> 00:53:56,200
Absolutely. So we're milkandinstitute.org and we have our publications on our website. We also,

1059
00:53:56,200 --> 00:54:00,040
it's really exciting. We have credible flagship events that bring together experts and leaders

1060
00:54:00,040 --> 00:54:06,600
talking about timely issues and across all different areas. And they're actually available on our

1061
00:54:06,600 --> 00:54:14,040
website. So you can listen to Penny Pennington from Edward Jones talk about retirement with an

1062
00:54:14,040 --> 00:54:20,520
incredible array of other experts on the stage, including from TAA and Trans America. So you can watch

1063
00:54:20,520 --> 00:54:25,240
it. It's right there for you. And so folks can check that out. And then if you want to get in touch with

1064
00:54:25,240 --> 00:54:32,200
me, my email is l. Lauren Dunning at milkandinstitute.org. Always enjoy interacting with folks. And thank you

1065
00:54:32,200 --> 00:54:36,920
for having me here today. Yeah, absolutely. And Donna, how about you? What's the best way to connect?

1066
00:54:36,920 --> 00:54:43,480
The best way is to check out our website at gu.org. We try to keep it simple. Just gu for generation

1067
00:54:43,480 --> 00:54:49,880
genited.org. And on the website, you'll find out you'll learn about our learning communities that

1068
00:54:49,880 --> 00:54:54,200
usually meet quarterly and they connect people around the country. We have an intergenerational

1069
00:54:54,200 --> 00:54:59,640
program database that you can search by your city, by your state, what programs there are. I'd

1070
00:54:59,640 --> 00:55:04,840
really encourage people who are very interested in this to think about the global conference because

1071
00:55:04,840 --> 00:55:10,200
it only happens every two years. And it'll be in Louisville. So we tried to make a kind of a central

1072
00:55:10,200 --> 00:55:16,360
area in June. And there are ways that you can ask questions on the website so that we make sure that

1073
00:55:16,360 --> 00:55:22,200
we connect you with the right person at generation United. So that's usually just gu@gu.org.

1074
00:55:22,200 --> 00:55:27,880
And my emails on the website as well. But I always like to say I work with an amazing group of people.

1075
00:55:27,880 --> 00:55:34,440
I'm usually not the one that knows the most. Yeah, well, the mark of a smart woman is not that she

1076
00:55:34,440 --> 00:55:39,880
knows everything, but she knows where to find out about everything. That's what I always say about

1077
00:55:39,880 --> 00:55:45,800
myself is the same thing. Nobody knows everything, but that's the mark of a smart person.

1078
00:55:45,800 --> 00:55:51,400
Yeah. So mark it's been a joy to thank you. And thank you.

1079
00:55:51,400 --> 00:55:56,440
It literally has. And, you know, so we've been talking about fighting and combating against

1080
00:55:56,440 --> 00:56:01,400
loneliness amongst our senior population and the solution that you're bringing forward in both

1081
00:56:01,400 --> 00:56:09,640
of your organizations is intergenerational connectivity and connecting the generations to each other

1082
00:56:09,640 --> 00:56:17,800
and that will supply some of the and provide a solution to some of the loneliness that seniors

1083
00:56:17,800 --> 00:56:23,320
are up against in their daily lives because we all want in the in the end, we all want to live our

1084
00:56:23,320 --> 00:56:30,760
best lives possible. Whatever that means to you. So ladies, thank you so much for being on aging

1085
00:56:30,760 --> 00:56:38,760
today and your influence is being felt across our great land. And we want to say thank you for all

1086
00:56:38,760 --> 00:56:45,400
of the efforts that the milk and institute is doing and generations united is doing to make all of our

1087
00:56:45,400 --> 00:56:51,160
lives better each and every day. So thank you for being on aging today. Thank you, Mark.

1088
00:56:51,160 --> 00:56:56,040
Thank you. All right. This is Mark Turnbull, your host. And I want to thank all of you for tuning

1089
00:56:56,040 --> 00:57:02,120
into aging today. And as a reminder, we are the podcast where together we're exploring the many

1090
00:57:02,120 --> 00:57:10,200
options to aging on your terms. Join us every Monday when we release a new conversation on aging

1091
00:57:10,200 --> 00:57:17,080
today to your favorite podcast channel. And I want to leave you with this. We're all in the process

1092
00:57:17,080 --> 00:57:22,760
of aging. And as we age, we really are better together. So stay young at heart.

1093
00:57:22,760 --> 00:57:35,800
♪ You make me feel so young ♪ You make me feel like spring has sprung ♪ In every time I see your face, I'm such a happy

1094
00:57:35,800 --> 00:57:46,360
individual ♪ A moment that you speak ♪ I want to go play hide and seek ♪ I want to go and bounce the moon

1095
00:57:46,360 --> 00:57:58,920
♪ Just like a toy balloon, well you and I are just like a bulletots ♪ Running across the metal ♪

1096
00:57:58,920 --> 00:58:08,200
♪ Bigger, a lot, so forget me not so you made me feel so young ♪ You made me feel there are songs to be sung ♪

1097
00:58:08,200 --> 00:58:15,480
♪ There will still be wrong and wonderful things to be found ♪ And even when I'm old and grey ♪

1098
00:58:15,480 --> 00:58:22,200
You've been listening to Aging Today where together we explore the options to aging on your terms.

1099
00:58:22,200 --> 00:58:28,920
Join Mark and his guest next week for another lively discussion on proactively aging on your terms,

1100
00:58:28,920 --> 00:58:34,760
connecting you to the professional advice of his special guests with the goal of creating better days

1101
00:58:34,760 --> 00:58:41,000
throughout the aging process. Your host has been Mark Turnbull. Join Mark and his guest every week on

1102
00:58:41,000 --> 00:58:46,460
aging today your podcast to exploring your options for aging on your terms.

1103
00:58:46,460 --> 00:58:49,760
♫ And even when I was in grade

1104
00:58:49,760 --> 00:58:53,640
♫ You make me feel the way I feel today

1105
00:58:53,640 --> 00:58:57,620
♫ 'Cause you make me feel so

1106
00:58:57,620 --> 00:59:01,140
♫ You make me feel so

1107
00:59:01,140 --> 00:59:06,360
♫ You make me feel so young

1108
00:59:06,360 --> 00:59:08,760
♫ So young

1109
00:59:08,760 --> 00:59:11,700
♫ You make me feel so young

1110
00:59:11,700 --> 00:59:14,620
♫ You make me feel so young

1111
00:59:14,620 --> 00:59:17,040
[music]