 So it's 10 o'clock. Let's call the meeting to order and Prudence you have that all the board members are here and accounted for Yep, okay Welcome everybody. I hope this is one of our last ever zoom meetings. I don't like looking at myself on this screen but Let's see There are no public people So let's go down to the minutes from the last meeting in May anybody have Corrections questions changes Sheila Marsha was Recorded as a board member instead of a guest Okay Nothing else. I'll correct that anybody else I have one Just typo part 4 Under be reopening plan the last sentence alter is a LT ar Minor got it Okay, should we accept as amended then yes Unless you're saying no, we're going ahead with that. Thanks Prudence and we're up to Kerry Middleton Welcome We are looking forward to hearing your presentation on reframing aging Thank you so much Susan So I can start All right. Well, good morning everybody and thank you for being here. So as Susan mentioned, so I'm Kerry Middleton and they work for the Boulder County Area Agency on aging Where I do a couple different things one is That I coordinate what's called the respite and companion volunteer program that some of you are probably aware of with your work with the Longmont Senior Center and then I also lead reframing aging efforts and so Really happy. I want to thank Michelle for inviting me to do this and I Will share my screen here in a moment. So let's all think happy technology thoughts But our test earlier was good. So I'm sure it's all going to be fine And I'm with you Susan. I'm ready to not see myself Okay, can everybody see that Okay, yes So I'm actually going to begin by asking you something and I think we're a small enough group that if you're comfortable with it It would be great if you would just unmute yourself So I want you to if you would take a look at this job ad That I pulled off of one of those major job-seeking websites that I will cherishably remain remain nameless And in so they're looking for temporary membership coordinator under their desired qualifications Some of the stuff you expect product management skills communication organization Now take a look if you would at the circle part digital native not afraid to learn and try new things And what what do you think that means? What are your reactions to that? And again? This is real. I didn't just pull this up make it up My reaction would be well, I don't want to work for them because they're only interested in digital natives I'm always of You know welcome to try new things, but that digital native is like that. I'm staying away Yeah, is that the common word or praise? It's not uncommon. Yep. Yeah. Yep. So let's talk about that. What does digital native mean? They don't define it. What do we think it means? So I'll be honest. I have not a clue what a digital native is and I I think You know, this is something that even organizations I work for put this in and You know, it can mean several things digital native can be referred to someone who grew up in the digital age It can mean someone who has some Has has greater than their phone Digital skills. Yeah So it's it's kind of common language now, it's not uncommon Agreed it's not uncommon and I found this job a particular job ad really just by going to one of those sites and searching for digital And then seeing the job as they came up and I think that you hit a common interpretation of this prudence On the head, which is someone who grew up Very comfortable with technology internet phone How smartphones wherever you want to describe that? So if we take that so you're a native to that technology So if we take that interpretation Then it seems like what do you think is being said here? What do they want? They want someone not who's grown up with this. I they want someone who's of a certain age and Ergo, they're not necessarily interested in someone of a different age What do you think of that not afraid to learn and try new things? That's okay, that's okay. Yeah, what do you think of it? Following the term digital native That's a software update you better not be pulling your hair out every time we do one No, absolutely go ahead prudence. It looks like you're gonna say something. I have a question. Yeah, so those of us probably Go those folks who are in their 50s and 60s. Yeah um may consider themselves digital natives because Internet comes out Really AOL. I think it's like 1984 so 94-2004, you know, that's 30 years ago. So you're already in Your 30s, right? So I'm I'm not sure Whether digital the term digital native then excludes folks who are in their late 70s or 80s, I Think that's one interpretation of it. I would say the most common interpretation I see when we go back to native is like when you think of a native language, you grew up speaking it So from your childhood you are okay with this so we may understand this in different ways How I think it's typically used in job context is to describe someone who's young enough to have grown up with a smartphone on their hand If he will or a tablet Go ahead question. What if If the term said native English speaker Would that be that would not be acceptable with it, right? And that's what I wouldn't think so but that takes us into other territory, but I wouldn't do so myself Why is why is this accepted to put the Great question exactly and so I throw this out here because I think it's a For one, it's really common and it's a really concrete Example of ageism we can understand that as prejudice Discrimination stereotyping again based on age and in this workshop will focus especially on those things based on older age And so in this case we have what I would argue is Not just that prejudice. Oh, we don't we don't want someone who didn't grow up with this stuff We didn't we don't want someone who's older But to me when I read digital native comma not afraid to learn and try new things that suggests that well If you're not a digital native, you must be afraid to learn and trying things And that in itself is another is another prejudice And then in this kind of case in a job context Those prejudices and stereotyping can extend to actual discriminations like okay We're not going to interview if you know you didn't grow up with a tablet in your hand sort of thing So again, this is just one simple example, but it's a really really common example of ageism and so I've been giving these workshops in Partnership with changing the narrative, which is a nonprofit here in colorado that leaves anti-ageism efforts and reframing aging efforts And this is really part of a long-term social movement. So we don't expect things to change overnight. We don't We don't expect to see next week Digital native to disappear from job ads or all age-based discrimination disappear from the workplace But the idea is that the more people attend the workshops like this And the more people are doing something about ageism Then over time things do change and things do get better And so by attending these workshops you yourselves And especially in the work that you do at the Longmont Senior Center I think our part of this movement you're sort of as the slide says it's like we are the leaders that That we can we can change things and so as I said, I'm I'm always always happy and excited when I'm I'm asked to do these kinds of workshops so I would like to hear a little bit more from the group before we continue and You can answer these questions and going to put on the slides silently to yourself if you want Or you can also I didn't see a chat function in here You can also unmute yourself if you feel like sharing And this is a no shame poll So the reason I ask these questions is just to get a sense of what people are thinking Things they've experienced things they've thought about so First question is have you ever lied about your age and you can think about that for a moment Maybe you don't have to say Well, not for 50 years That's a long time not good for you Okay second part Which of these have you ever said or thought? I'm having a senior moment Entitled millennial I'm too old or too young for that Or you look good for your age so I think that I think they're all insulting I mean why would you For yourself Say I'm having a senior moment. I kind of I don't I never even Think of that Entitled millennial that just shows to me I'm prejudice against people who are too young Like I can't yeah Yeah, I don't like the other two either. I mean I I don't know I wouldn't say that except. Yes I saw a woman who was a hundred seven and she looked great I I'm guilty of three out of four And no no shame. I I have definitely thought at least three of those And I have to admit that I pray three out of four also. Yeah So these are really common and most of the time you don't even think about these sorts of things And so but let's let's go through them a little bit So entitled millennial That's it's absolutely true. That helps illustrate that ageism can also apply to younger people It's not just necessarily for older people. We're going to focus on older people and ageism here Not just because I work for the area agency on aging But also because the data is that if that's where it does the most harm, but it does cut both ways I'm having a senior moment So any of us ever forgotten something when we were younger than we are now I know I have was that a senior moment? No, it had nothing to do with my age It had to do with lots of other things perhaps if I'm not my age same with I'm having a senior moment That suggests well, it's because I'm a certain age and it's like why is that if you didn't think that when you were 30 Or are you thinking that if you're 60? Go ahead Prudence. Were you going to say something? I I was going to say I think that um It to me when I I hear that especially in a work setting, let's say um, I think it's it's Trying to excuse something That you probably didn't need in your head to begin with I mean you can just let it go I Have a lot of it like that, but probably we use we use language in multiple ways I need to disagree a bit I do because and maybe it's because I'm in my 70s, but um I do Have I don't call them senior moments, but my memory in certain areas is not as acute now as it used to be and That's just my opinion And thanks for sharing that and I think that the data is that We do experience some cognitive changes as we age And some of those are positive and some of those are some of those are not so positive Right. I think where I would quibble Is attributing it only to your age where we don't have a you know, I'm I'm having a millennial moment This is what happens when I'm 25, but we definitely forget things when we're 25 Or at least I've never met anybody who hasn't but that's a valid point Kerry Yes, I I hear this. I'm having a senior moment a lot from colleagues And I struggle with how to respond um that confronts the The ageism in that statement for me And so I often say exactly what you just said is or maybe you're just having a moment But now I'm going to incorporate what prudence just said which is or maybe it wasn't important for you to remember I love that Because sometimes you can come off. I can come off as you know being a little self-righteous So I have to think about how to respond to that statement Actually a lot and in a way that people can hear it. So prudence. You just gave me my response Which is yeah, you probably didn't need to know that anyways. Exactly. I love it It's a it's a great response And sometimes we'll talk a little bit about this further on but sometimes I also will just ask What do you mean by that and of course or tell me more about that And sometimes if people are asked to explain or what makes it a senior moment Excuse me and right there there were more and less more or less Righteous ways to say that but sometimes I think just asking a question can help people think about well, what are they saying? What what assumptions are underlying that? Um, or you look good for your age So underlying that seems to get that notion that well, if you look good, that's surprising because as we get older everything goes downhill So underlying this again are some pretty negative assumptions and stereotypes And we use these in particular these these examples because they are super common And because we don't necessarily think of them as Agest But if you start to little dig a little deeper you can see that behind them Are some negative assumptions All right, so This is so the bad is the background This is what we're going to cover today. So And apologies. My neighbor has chosen right now to mow the lawn. You can hear that that that's what that is So we're going to cover what ageism is we've talked about that a little bit so far And how it affects not just us as individuals, but also our communities We're going to talk about what do we do about it? What's effective? What does the research say? How do we talk back? and Becoming a change agent that's changing the narrative's Term for how do you get involved in in this movement? And there are lots of different things that you could do and it's sort of a matter of what What interest do yours speaks to you and that's sort of that choose your own adventure There are multiple things that we can do So these workshops usually go an hour to an hour and a half and it really just depends on how many questions there are How much discussion there is And throughout I will I will ask, you know, your feedback as well because Nobody likes to sit in front of the computer and have someone talk to them for for an hour and a half So I really appreciate all the all the lively discussion we've had so far So ageism We we use the world health organization's definition here. So Defined as prejudice stereotyping discrimination based on age And prejudice we've talked about some of those things already Stereotyping things like well, you must be digitally incompetent and then we've seen Discrimination and again a really obvious example is workplace discrimination That we will we'll talk about a little bit more later on And then prejudice so that can be as simple as you know, I don't like old people How many of us who work in the aging services field have heard someone say I don't want to go there. That's where the old people are I or I don't want to go to long-term care. That's where the old people are there So a kind of prejudice like well and also, you know, since I well, I can't be old It's always someone else who's old So sometimes people ask especially people outside aging services like well, is that is that really happen? Is that actually a thing? And sadly it is so apart from the examples that we've already gone over The university of michigan just last year did a poll on healthy aging And what they found is that of the respondents 82 percent of older adults said they experienced one or more forms of ageism in their day-to-day lives And that can be things like Going to a store and a person, you know, assuming going back to that stereotype of digital incompetence That's happened to my mom. Well, you probably shouldn't have this phone because it's going to be really hard to operate So just as an example of of everyday ageism Or people going to a doctor and having the doctors say hi, sweetie. How are you today as though that person is 10 as opposed to an adult And then the AARP in 2019 did a study where two thirds of folks Had either experienced or witnessed age discrimination in the workplace And speaking of the workplace the urban institute in a 2018 study They followed 20 000 people who entered their fifties with full employment So they have been working in those jobs for at least five years. They were full-time They were benefited jobs and over half of those were either pushed out or laid off in their fifties so And less than 10 of those folks ever recoup financially So it's it's very much a thing unfortunately and it is very real and when we think about Workplace discrimination based on age There can also be a compounding effect If say you're a caregiver and you've left employment to care for someone And then you're trying to get back and you have a certain age or employers like that We're only looking for the gel natives as an example or we think he won't be able to learn this Or we think he won't be able to keep up with the pace that sort of thing So Why should we be trying to end ageism now? so That that's by now the all too familiar picture of the corona virus So i'd be curious to hear from you. What have you heard or seen? About ageism in the age of covid Any thoughts? So I think the plan that covid testing And covid vaccines initially was all online um And certainly not older adults are not the only ones who struggle with Access to technology, but certainly they're a great percentage of folks I find that find that planners in instituting that plan Probably don't understand who they're Who their neighbors who their customers who their clients? Who who is in this world? And I find that Agest in the sense of The lack of awareness the lack of understanding I think that there were comments that came out relative to um the folks in long-term care and the old old dying from covid that were insensitive Agest and completely inappropriate Like somehow it was more okay for an 84 year old Relatively healthy person to die than it would be for a 32 year old person to die I just there were different things that happened through covid that That I found were unsettling and in some cases agest I appreciate that and I think you're you're spot-on with all of those things. I think we probably all heard the sense of Well, they were old. They were going to die anyway And so right that notion that it mattered less that people in long-term care, for example died than if younger people died And early on there was that sense of well, this is only killing old people So it's not that big of a deal. The rest of us can just carry on Other other thoughts. I mean, I've thrown some other things on the slide But I'm wondering if folks have other things that they'd like to share So this is credence. So I think a couple of things. I think that um the intent of putting everything on digitally um Was not done I don't think there was intention to exclude people. I think that the So so that's kind of one thing. I didn't think they That people inventing these systems thought that far into who could and who could not and As you go across the country When you look at the coasts You know or major urban centers I think you'll see that there are more people Are older i'll use 50 as the break-off age Who are digitally competent? So I don't think there was intent there I think that they Most likely the people inventing these systems live in an area That's highly digitalized. Yeah, it's a good point. So Second thing is is that um, there was also um, because the highways even though it was a public health issue was You saw politicians come out And say it's okay because they're older The these folks should be willing to sacrifice so I There was a political divide and that political divide resulted in comments That were agist Yeah So kind of to that point there was as recently as last summer. So it was about a year ago now there was a magazine article in time That was from two economists who Quite seriously suggested that the way to end the pandemic and get the economy back on track was Just keep older people at home. So everybody else can go about their business But only older people should stay at home never and this again this was a I don't remember the economist the university they were from but so well known respected university in a national magazine and They weren't the only ones who are making this kind of comment Even though we also know that there were other people at higher risk for the disease It was not just older people, but somehow people who were older were singled out There was an also. I think it was last summer. It might have been as late as last fall There was also an article in ember post that talked about how PPE was not prioritized for long-term care Even though long-term care settings were experiencing some of the highest mortality rates And the federal government was sending PPE that in some cases was inferior inferior or not even usable So just as another example of ageism at work in the pandemic Here in colorado, as you're probably aware, there were also trios standards critical care standards that were developed That moved older people to the back of the line for care such as ventilators and one thing that I would say here is that We also know that the pandemic disproportionately affected people of color So we can see how marginalizations can compound upon each other. So imagine someone because of social context who's a person of color More more higher exposure to covet gets covet if they also happen to be an older adult then If there was a trios situation, they're going to be marginalized further by moving back to the line So these things they're not separate. They they compound each other unfortunately So the pandemic I think really has I don't know that it's creative ageism, but it is very much exposed that This is a real thing people say all we'll say all kinds of things like Calling the virus a grandma killer or a boomery mover those sorts of things were said too and Like I said mainstream publications things like well, let's just keep older people at home The rest of us can go about our lives So it's it's pretty real It also affects us Both affects us personally so we've already talked about financial security and As that relates to workplace age discrimination And I mentioned that steady or only 10% of less than 10% of those folks recoup financially when they were pushed out as older adults And of course, if you lose your job then in this country then potentially you're losing your health insurance as well There's also a study by the Yale school of public health that shows that age is some negatively affects our health both our physical and mental health And negatively affects our memories even so there was an interesting study that Suggested that people who have more positive beliefs um about aging and getting older were Almost 50% less likely to get dementia even if they had a genetic marker for it So again, this is measurable and people who think more positively about aging Literally live about seven and a half years longer than people who don't So again, this is what the research says and this is it's measurable um It also affects our whole communities So one of the things i'm going to talk about a little later on Is communications recommendations by an organization called the frameworks institute Which is based which is a dc-based think tank that looks at how we communicate effectively about social issues And one of the things that they found in their research is that ageism in our society erodes support for policies that are age friendly so for policies that might support caregivers for example And even though our demographics are changing as you're probably aware Less than two percent of private philanthropic funding goes to fund programs that serve older adults The Yale school of public health also did a study that calculated that ageism in healthcare context cost us as a country annually 63 billion dollars and I would emphasize that This calculation was attributed to ageism. So not underlying conditions, but directly to ageism And here again is a place where I would emphasize that People can be marginalized in multiple ways. So some of you are probably aware There was a news story gosh six seven eight months ago About a black physician who complained about racism in her treatment who had covet She later died of covet and she was also an older adult So we know that the research is that ageism is very much alive in healthcare So then you have a person in a healthcare context Who can be experiencing racism as well as ageism? And then the aarp calculated that in a recent study that workplace age discrimination cost the economy 850 million dollars annually In terms of loss productivity So again, it's measurable. It's It's real. Unfortunately. A lot of the data is pretty negative That it's there and and what it does to us But as I mentioned The converse of that is when we think more positively about older adults and about our own aging process We benefit we live seven and a half times seven and a half years longer Our health is better. We're less likely to have dementia But It can be hard in our society to have those more positive beliefs Because in ways that we've talked about We're surrounded by all of these messaging That to get to age is bad and the older adults are somehow less than So i'm not going to read all the examples on the slide And one or two we've already talked about But one that I do like to pick on is that phrase she's young at heart Or he's young at heart and What that seems to Mean is well what we seen to mean by that as a person is vibrant and energetic and enthusiastic The implication being that Well, old people don't have those things. So you're young. You're young at heart If you have those things So it's one of those many instances in which our language masks some underlying Really negative assumptions about getting older and older adults that we don't necessarily even recognize because they're just so around us Or Referring talking to older adults as though they're they're children. So like, okay, young man that sort of thing What can I do for you today? Any comments about Any of this so far or questions We're going to get to solutions. So I know we go through a lot of bad stuff. Okay. Go ahead, marcia um, I would just like to uh, observe That um, there have been so many cultural changes since we were young in body that um Being sensitive to some of these things is very unnatural, you know, um We all grew up, but you know young at heart was a popular song and it had nothing but positive connotations. Yeah and so You know, it it's kind of hard to to absorb the idea that you're being insulted by being called that Yeah, and I think essentially by a young person who's really trying to say I think of you as a peer Right, I think that's a great. That's a great point. And I think we can separate what a person intends And what if you look at the language is underlying the actual the actual sentiment being expressed So young at heart, we mean that in a complementary way But it seems to be working on the assumption that um to be young is to be these positive things Ergo to be older is not to be those things, but you're right people would have the best of intentions. Absolutely The one that gets me carry is 60 is the new 40 because you know what I don't hear 80 year olds going 80 is you know, the new hundred. Uh, you know, it's like That's a fear one for me that when folks are saying 50 is the new 30 or whatever It's their own fear Emerging and I don't know that that That is Ageist about older adults as much as it is their own fear of aging if that makes sense You know, so it's like, so what are you afraid of about being 60 or 70 or 80, you know, it's so that one I just find Yeah, that's a very personal thing. I think for folks Yeah, thanks for bringing that up Right, and I think that fear is like well, there must be something wrong with 60 So we're not going to say it at 60. It's the new 40. It's like we're 40 because we don't want to be 60 because 60 is bad I think is what I'm saying and so right that fear of being 60 um other comments So I think also you know I was just with two of my colleagues recently um on the advisory council and one of the things I said was that um We ourselves as seniors sometimes um Say things like you gave an example before senior moment I know when I first got here And and one of my colleagues said, oh, I didn't want to go there either the term senior center Or AARP The retired person Making the assumption That once you reach a certain age You're not working anymore. So even within the senior community there is a messaging That is constant that you're a senior you're a senior you're a senior So I wish that would stop to be quite frank about it And I don't want to be you know, I don't want it I know I think it was either lewisville or lafayette. It could have been lafayette Who renamed their senior center the silver center? Well, do we we name thing like multi-hair bed color center? Multi-colored air bed center, you know, you don't name it that um, so some of it is also um How We portray ourselves I think it's a it's a really good point and for another project that I've been working on that has to do with ageism and healthcare we've been talking to older adults and healthcare professionals and One of the themes that has come out is You know, it's it's hard in the society not to be ages because we're surrounded by it So we internalize it. It's hard not to do those things and so some of the work is At least I I certainly find this with myself is internal. Um, no, I think I think that's a great point Oh Go ahead. One of the things I want to say is that When we look at You know going I'm going to go way back here with that covid situation That there were so many of our children and grandchildren that were so protective of us And they were you know, they weren't be if this was not been a negative way. They just wanted to keep it safe and so many of us Including myself I couldn't go out for about three weeks because my oh, no, it's the culture of six weeks I think because my kids wouldn't let me out. They brought groceries for me You know, we want to keep you safe, etc So we got to keep that in mind also some you know, some things like this the other thing that you're talking about with uh, You know the cultures people of color is that uh, I can tell you for the Latino culture that we are so close and You know, many of us even when that was here We Wouldn't wear a mask when all our family was here, you know, and that was It could be six seven of us together none of us were wearing masks Because we felt so confident that everybody else would say but anyway, that that's something that I want to say but the other thing that I wanted to say is that uh Some people can take this negative, but I wish they would I wish restaurants would ask if you're if you're a senior when they have senior discounts uh, you know a lot of places they won't ask you and then Uh, you you you hear somebody and they say jeez. Do you wait at that place? You get the senior discount? Well, I didn't know about it, but I just say there's there's some positives too on On the Yeah, and I appreciate the comment about right different cultures as as well and What I what I hear different things about I think some people want to be asked About about are you a senior and some people don't but I think that's a great point There's there's room for an individual variation and there are positives So I definitely want to acknowledge with kovat I think a lot of what was coming out not all of it. I'm going to be honest We did have good intentions And I think it raises that question now to take us down a rabbit hole of that balance between respecting people's autonomy as Adults who can make their own decisions and trying to keep people safe So it's so that there's that I think tension that we saw throughout especially in long-term care context So just in terms of time I'm going to move us on a little bit So if you're surrounded by all of these These anti-older adult anti-age using anti-age messages. Why is that? And so frameworks institute. They are the the think tank I mentioned earlier What they researched among other things was what does the general public think about aging in the united states? and And then also, how do we communicate effectively given what the general public thinks about aging? So what's on this slide now are those themes that? Frameworks pulled out from what people think So a couple things about them. These are patterns of thinking throughout the united states It's not to say that everybody thinks the same way, but it is to say that These patterns are largely often unquestioned assumptions that we all have access to even if We ourselves might not actually think that and so for me learning about these themes like oh, yeah That sounds really familiar to me even though as someone who works in this field. They're not necessarily things that I believe But they are patterns that the general public believes broadly speaking so one of those themes is There's a sense of ideal aging versus What in the public's mind is actual aging and ideal aging Think of those commercials that show Folks who are retired who are living life of leisure and you know, they're on a beach. They're sitting cocktails. They're going on cruises Or they're moving away from commercials. They're volunteering around the world Precoded and they're trying things. They never had time to do before and having a great time So that's the ideal but in the public mind what actually happens when we age Is decline and dependency and loss things just go downhill And we get we lose our independence There's also in the general public's mind a very strong us versus them So we saw this come out during the pandemic a lot that you know, we have to protect those people Those older adults. So we have to sacrifice to make people safe So there's also we see that us versus them and some of the comments that people have made about Well, I don't want to go there. That's where old people go because you know, old is always someone else It's never us There's also in the public mind a sense of individualism Meaning that if you're struggling with things as you age for example with transportation or nutrition or social isolation That in the public's mind is not because of the context, but it's because of choices that individuals made So if you can't afford Rent in boulder county or mortgage in boulder county or property taxes Well, you should have saved more or you need to move somewhere else if you can't afford this If you're struggling nutrition, well, we need to educate you more and you need to make better choices as opposed to thinking about things like access to food and Is there nutritious food that's available that's nearby that people can get to and instead of thinking about things like About social isolation like well, you know, are things accessible in terms of transportation resources or walkability Instead people think in terms of you need to get out there And make friends and that sort of thing so not context but individualism And then in the public mind another pattern is a sense of nostalgia and threat of modernity And by this has meant there's this idea that in the good old days, you know, people didn't have these struggles You know, social security was solvent people had pensions families cared for each other And that's just not the case in the modern world But the problem with that thinking of course is we all know one that's oversimplified about those good old days And two those good old days were not actually good for everybody as we know really very well When the public thinks about solutions that folks might have If they're struggling with things as older adults as you would expect they're thinking in terms of individual solutions Like, you know, we need to make sure people have more education and tell people more about resources and How to save money and this sort of thing And then finally sometimes when the public thinks about solutions They're not thinking about solutions except to say that well, there isn't a solution So there's that sense of fatalism That sense that well in the modern world Social security is doing there's nothing we can do about it And the modern world families move they don't stay together and and there's nothing we can do to help people age well so This is what the general public thinks again These are patterns of thinking that largely function as assumptions that people don't even necessarily know that they have And again, it's not say everybody thinks these things, but we all have access to these things I know again learning about this like oh all this seems really familiar to me Even though I don't necessarily buy into these things as someone who works in this field So I would like to hear from you We might just pick one of these just because in the interest of time But when you think about those patterns of thinking, let's go with that second statement And what patterns of thinking do you think are reflected in in the in this message? So the message is and this is paraphrased from a website. So again, not something I made up This is about colorado state budget Our state budget pays for services that define our quality of life But due to our aging population the fiscal conflict threatens that quality What patterns of thinking do you think are reflected in that and so those patterns again are things like fatalism us versus them Ideal aging versus the perceived real aging. What do you think? For me When I read that last sentence due to our aging population a fiscal conflict threatens that quality That sounds very othering very us versus them. In other words, those older people are going to threaten our quality of life because There are so many of them There's also a sense of fatalism. So not in solutions, but for feed. This is awful Population's aging. What are we going to do about it? All these old people are quality of life who are going to suffer um, so not solutions Not inclusivity but more those people in a sense of doom So carry when I see these statements, I think there is some The first one certainly has A value some values to it around the economy being primary The second one just feels like they were trying to Yeah, shortcut a reality. You know, I mean, I think Most of us are aware of the medicare budget and the challenge that um care and and the cost of care embedded in that is So much that to try and make a one sentence or two sentences to describe that Yeah, is really just not not fair. I mean, you know what? I mean, there's just so much complexity in that one um That that's an that's unfortunate. I don't know what the context was for that but um They've missed some key points and opportunities yep, so great great points and I think one thing that I want to piggyback on there is A lot of the messaging excuse me that we're going to see Excuse me about older adults and aging I think as someone said earlier might come from the very best of places with the very best of intentions That said It still might be reflecting Negative assumptions that in the end are going to be unhelpful So that first one targeted lockdowns for the elderly could help our economy A lot of others to resume more normal life can protect the most vulnerable So again, this is paraphrased from an actual something to fit it onto the slide And clearly it seems like the intent here was hey, we need to keep people safe We also need to make sure that our economy can do as well as it can under the circumstances And we want people to live a more normal life But when you look at these things Some of the things that jump out at me now that based on My brief my working with changing the narrative and understanding of the framework's recommendations is It's very othering. So again, let's just lock down the elderly Everyone else can go on and live a more normal life as opposed to a sense of We're all in this together. How can we figure out something that that helps everybody that helps keep people safe That does something for the economy And then when I see the sentence protect that clause protect the most vulnerable In the context here, the most vulnerable is clearly older people and to me There's a couple of things wrong with that one is that It sort of suggests that older adults are this monolithic same group That are all uniformly vulnerable Which you know, is that is that necessarily true? The others that even though being older and age was a higher risk factor and is for covid We also know there are a lot of other risk factors for covid Such as being overweight or being diabetic or being immunocompromised And we don't see those groups singled out Instead what we singled out is reinforcing that notion that to be older is to be frail is to be vulnerable is to be dependent And it's not to say that things don't change as we get older But it is to say that's a stereotype. Okay, go ahead, jenny. You have your hand up I do because And I just need to say this I really disagree with you especially about especially about the covid Because older adults were at greater risk that wasn't because they were older adults and they were being You know singled out. It was because it was a reality And that they did need to have more And that you know, my family was extremely protective of me like you are And I didn't see that As them thinking I was old I you know, I just think you can take A sentence and you can look at it and you can take from that Whatever negative connotation About older adults that you want But the fact is is that we are older and I spend a whole lot of time Looking at and working on committees that address issues that do affect People that are older adults. It's not a label It's it's it's a reality. I don't find it offensive. I really don't And that's all I got to say No, and I really appreciate your comment and You know part of these workshops is having these discussions and I want to say that I absolutely agree with you That it was the reality that being over a certain age, which you put you at higher risk And that that was absolutely a legitimate legitimate concern The the issue that I would have is I think that The narrative that we were seeing over and over and over again throughout the pandemic is Older adults are somehow uniquely vulnerable Everyone else needs to sacrifice for them Whereas I think the reality was a lot more nuanced I think the reality was that We all needed to take precautions because it protected everybody because By stopping us spread no matter to whom it spread We were for example protecting the availability of care that really all of us depended on and so During the pandemic one of the things that I did was coordinate medical volunteers and twice during the pandemic I was recruiting people to work At a local hospital because of a surge in patients and those were cases where it's like All of us need to do our part Because so we don't get to that point where we're having to Put in triage standards So to me it was more Yeah, we need to protect people but this isn't about one group that's uniquely vulnerable because There are other people with risk factors apart from aid that are also vulnerable and the reality is All of us are vulnerable. We're all in this together Um, go ahead prudence. Um Marsha was before me. Go ahead Marsha. Oh, sorry. I can't see everybody. Yeah Sorry about that Thank you prudence So I think that I mean I I agree with Janine very strongly. I also Think that there's a lot to what you're saying Carrie, but what The the solutions that you are proposing Um obscure the truth. I mean whatever you think about how clumsily they are phrased Both of the statements that you've got up there are absolutely dead on true um, they may have Connotative problems, but they are denotatedly true. So my question for you is how would you rephrase these to be more acceptable Without obscuring the central truth that that elderly do need special care I think I think that if you used The message the messaging From the leader of the country at the time Was not that we are all in this together Americans infrequently Have been all in this together because even during world war two Which we supposedly we were all in this together People when there were people who protested us getting into the war and once again from the top during that time It was only after the bombing of an american Thing that suddenly we were all in this together so We are all in this together Is probably the goal of a democratic society However, the messaging from the top Is not that I think The word vulnerable I mean you could I agree with janine. You can chop it down a little bit and say those most at risk because They are at risk and I think risk um people of color were at risk People who lived in communal situations Such as nursing homes long term credit center were at risk so You know every country Has to put in with the fact that they have an aging population China Japan and You know people say oh they respect the elderly. Well, you know that may not be true that that's the american dream that they respect the elderly um so It's true. What marcia said is that the I think it could be phrased better The quality of life is compromised Yes, I think it's the phrasing is really The issue Because I didn't see when I saw the first sentence those who are vulnerable. I immediately thought oh, it's those people who are at risk So I didn't think of vulnerability. I thought a risk Yeah, same thing with the second one is that There is a falling birth rate all over the world Yeah, and that is going to threaten the social safety net for folks who rely On social security Yeah So Thanks for these great comments and I think Those of you and a couple of you have said it and who have said you know what? The messaging in yours is correct, but but Maybe it's not framed the best way. I think that's that's there's a lot There's so much to that we all know I think because you it's you and your work with a long lot senior center Our demographics are changing. We do need to figure things out. That's real But the question is how do we frame that in a way that is helpful? How do we frame that and communicate about that In a way that doesn't perpetuate negative stereotypes in a way that focuses on solutions that are going to benefit everybody and Similarly, it's true older people age is age is a risk factor for covid How do we talk about covid in a way that's going to promote? That togetherness and safety for everybody because again it affects everybody So this isn't necessarily about this is this slide is not about necessarily facts This line is about what's effective communication about some of these realities So that's really the takeaway here And I have another training another workshop that changes the narrative does that goes into those communication strategies In a lot more detail they were going to go now But we are going to hit on some of those solutions because frameworks institute. They not just looked at What are these patterns of thinking they also looked at given these patterns of thinking How do we communicate in a way that's effective and by effective? I mean measurably promote measurably decrease us versus them thinking measurably decrease implicit bias Um, and that's really what what reframing aging is about So we are going to get so just the interest of time. I'm going to move us forward And we are going to touch on some of those things that said There's another workshop that's going to go into those in more detail and afterwards. I can share that information with Michelle if you're interested ever in attending one of those and going a little deeper into the recommendations Okay, great discussion. Thank you so much For everyone who's brought up questions or concerns. That's why we have these workshops so we can talk about it okay so we've talked I think a lot about how these patterns have played out in the pandemic so Changing demographics another reason to fight ageism remember we went over research that showed that It harms us individually. It harms our communities Another reason to end ageism is because it's going to benefit all of us again. There is that sense of We are all in this together so The graphic on the left is from the u.s. Census Bureau And it's showing the population from 1960 broken out by age to the projected population in 2060 broken out by age and by gender And I don't think it's going to be surprised to this group That we're changing from that pyramid to the column. We're getting older Here in boulder county and here I have to refer to my notes because I'm never sure I'm going to get the numbers right between 2020 and 2050 Boulder county's population is projected to increase 33 percent in that same time period The population of people 60 plus is projected to increase 58 percent And in that same time period the population in the county of folks who are 80 plus Is projecting to increase 244 percent We're getting we're getting older Across across the country and and I think as prudence mentioned I think across the world and many in many parts of the world anyway, and so when we're five ages of now We're doing it for everybody. It's not just folks who might be 60 plus now, but this is the trend. We're all are all aging Okay, so solutions. What do we do? So we talked a little bit about How do we read? How do we frame things if some of that framing we looked at was not effective? What is how do we do it? Well, so we'll talk a little bit about that strategy We'll talk about intergenerational connections implicit bias And go through some of those frameworks institute recommendations on changing language So how do we frame things? Okay, so this is a bid one One of the big ideas behind frameworks and student recommendations was talking about older adults as resources So this was just an example Using our ingenuity to reimagine how we can use the talents of older adults to help us address the pandemic What I would emphasize here is that This is not spin So it's a fact that being a greater age is a risk factor for covet It's also a fact that older adults are resources that help Our community is in all kinds of ways and that's been true in the pandemic. So as I mentioned I've been working with medical volunteers during covet And I can tell you that a lot of our older a lot of our volunteers who came out to do things like volunteer at the hospital During surge scenarios that I mentioned to give vaccines at our clinics to help at testing sites To help at the covet recovery center, which is a place for people who are unsheltered to quarantine A lot of those people were older adults. So this is this is also reality This isn't the reality that we see necessarily in the media But but this is the reality That we are in Here's another example And this has to do with A Denver councilwoman who happened to be older who because of all of her experience and connections early in the pandemic She was able to create the colorado sewing coalition Which not only helped create masks to help save people's lives Or making safer, but have also gave jobs to people who Are who had lost work during the pandemic So again, we're talking about older adults as resources. That's the big idea here. And as I said It's not spin. It's just real. These are actionable examples We want to tell stories about aging that are more nuanced and more accurate Than the stories that we so often hear in the media that really do focus on decline and dependency another really effective way of addressing ageism Is intergenerational positive intergenerational connections So one of the programs that changing the narrative has is called on the same page And it's what it sounds like it brings people from different generations together to have a conversation so Again changing the narrative is based in colorado But they had a toolkit online for participants. So people could just run with it So they have people participating around the world and over 600 people doing this and They're also doing this now. So I think again, they have a toolkit available On their website and again after the training I can share with michelle various resources But it's something that you can do now and the research is that those intergenerational connections again One of the most effective ways to reduce ageism I think the research that I saw was specifically about reducing ageism with respect to older results But I would also guess that it also reduces ageism toward younger people too because of that contact Okay another solution is addressing implicit bias so Bias that we don't even necessarily know that we have so we've talked already about All of these phrasing and imagery and stories that we hear that really do seem to have in an anti-age bias And how we can internalize that again without necessarily even knowing that we're doing it So what frameworks found and probably a lot of you are already aware of some of these implicit bias tests is if you are aware of implicit bias You're less likely to act on it to be swayed by it so harvard has On their website various implicit bias tests that you can take to see How biased are you or not about different groups and one of them is based on age And so that's another way that people can do themselves something to address ageism So we've already talked about the work might come from ourselves and have we internalized ageism? How ageist are we one thing that we can do is start by examining our own beliefs our own our own thoughts and with the help of one of the implicit bias tests and I think they asked you to register, but they're free and they don't take very long all right, so frameworks institute As I mentioned has given a number of recommendations and Just to underscore Their communications recommendations are based on research that shows When we frame things in these certain ways it Build support for age friendly policies It decreases implicit bias And it decreases us versus them thinking it decreases other ring So again, this is all measurable So as we go through these recommendations there might be things that you think I don't agree with that. I don't like it and And that and that's fine. It's always people's choice How they want to communicate This is just to say This is what the research says is effective So if our goal is to build an age friendly society to build support for age friendly policies To promote age friendly attitudes here are some ways we can do that as simple as changing our language So one of those recommendations is when we're talking about ageism to frame it in terms of confronting injustice and What we're appealing to here is that ideal and it is only an ideal But that ideal that we have in this country that everyone should be treated fairly so No matter your race, no matter your age, no matter your sexual orientation All of those things So this is aspirational Obviously, we know that there are lots of ways in which people in our society are not treated fairly Nonetheless, it's what we want to work towards So what frameworks found is when we're talking about ageism, it's effective to frame it in terms of justice People should be treated fairly no matter their age We also need to define Ageism so I did that at the beginning of this workshop One reason I do that is one. It's just good practice, but two frameworks found that I think this is changing but The very concept isn't even necessarily in people's minds When you talk about ageism, they might not know they might never have heard the word Might not know what you're talking about Let alone be able to have an example of it. So we needed to find it when we're talking to people outside This aging services world Frameworks also found that it's a really effective example to use workplace discrimination And again, that's sort of what I start with. It's really specific It's concrete and a lot of us either have experienced it to ourselves or know someone who has We can also explain implicit bias And so it's really important when we're talking about ageism and giving those examples to explain Why it might even happen because if we don't explain it and tell that story about what might cause this People might not necessarily They will fill in their own explanation and that explanation might or might not be accurate So in this case the explanation is The one that we've been talking about there's all this anti-ageism messaging We can internalize it And then act accordingly on the basis of negative stereotypes. We don't even necessarily Know that we have or have ever thought to examine And then finally we want to provide solutions So even if you don't have like the best solution ever when we start talking about solutions It starts people thinking about their own solutions So it moves people away from that sense of fatalism we talked earlier about that sense of there's nothing we can do about this This is awful. But you know, that's just how the world is So here are some of the solutions that to be clear Change the narrative has suggested. So these aren't Boulder County AAA solutions necessarily But things that change the narratives like, you know, here are some possibilities. So one is Pretty obvious train hiring managers on plus advice another is Not allowing employers to ask for high school graduation dates So you can't on an application in this country ask how old you are But you can ask legally when did you graduate from high school? And that's a pretty good indicator and usually of how old people are Which can give people a tool to Think well to make those negative assumptions that we've talked about You know, if all you ask is haven't you graduated from high school? You still getting Job-related information arguably, but you're not getting that information about someone's age that should not be relevant So just a couple examples of solutions All right, now we're going to do some talk about some more specifics about those communication strategies that frameworks institute talked about so reframing so again Here's the swamp. I will share this presentation with michelle afterwards I know there's a lot of information on this graphic And by say when I say the swamp that's frameworks institutes term for what the public thinks about aging So it's not a political commentary. It's just meant to say Hey, here are these patterns of thinking and it's complicated just like a swamp is like an ecosystem. That's complicated So is how we think about aging and older adults is complicated so the reason that this is important is because When we talk about aging and older adults What we're saying is being filtered through these patterns and what that means is Whether or not we intend it what we say can go terribly awry Because we're accidentally activating negative assumptions So I think we talked about the covid example. We talked about changing demographic example. Here's another one And then we'll start to move into some specific recommendations early in the pandemic I went to my optometrist and As we were chatting she wanted to know So what do you do? And I talked about the respite and companion volunteer program Which pairs volunteers to connect socially with older adults who might be lonely or experiencing isolation So I told her about this program And what she said to me was a very nice person Was oh those poor people. They must be so scared and what I intended to talk about was There's this great program. The pandemic is hard on everybody. A lot of us are feeling a degree of isolation Here's this program that lets people connect And help ease that sense of isolation and loneliness. That's what I intended for her to understand What she understood instead was all older adults are Really lonely and isolated and they're not leaving their homes and they're really frightened And that's not to say that there were not people who for really excellent reasons were not leaving their homes and we were all scared But in her mind, it was only about older adults Who were experiencing that isolation that fear that loss? And so that was an example where what I said Accidentally activated these negative assumptions about older adults being uniquely vulnerable and dependent when that's not what I intended So it becomes really important when we're talking about aging and older adults to use language that's not going to activate those assumptions, but instead Framed things more positively. So the question was well about those changing demographics gets true in the sense that things are changing and we need to change with them because policies are based on that pyramid Instead of that column of demographics. So what frameworks recommending is framing those changing demographics in terms of We're living longer healthier lives The reason those demographics are changing is because we are living longer in healthier lives And that's a good thing. And so then we need to figure out creative solutions to ensure that we can all thrive as we age So, yes, we can absolutely talk about changing demographics. And yes, we can absolutely talk about We need to do something about this because we're not prepared as a community or as a society But how do we frame that effectively? And this is what frameworks was found as effective So we want to avoid talking about those changing demographics In terms of disasters because what that does is it makes people think Huh that fatalism thing. There's nothing we can do. This is awful, but here we are But instead we want people to start thinking about solutions and again Emphasize that this helps everybody which it does this isn't about an us versus them. This is about helping everybody So one of those recommendations as you would expect is to use those inclusive terms Um as we all age So yes, you can talk about similarly Covid and higher risk factors including age including diabetes including weight including being immunocompromised But we can do that in a way that emphasizes how what we do affects everybody else That when we're all working together it protects everybody Including protects everybody as I said in a way that helps make sure that There are still enough healthcare resources to care for everybody for a disease that has killed people of all ages So, yeah, we can talk about those things, but are there better and worse ways to talk about things and then finally We don't necessarily want to frame aging in terms of a struggle Battling aging Fighting aging. So if you think about that Have you ever battled something that was positive like I'm gonna battle This best day that I've ever had probably not so if you're fighting something it's probably because it's a bad thing Whereas if we frame aging it's just another normal process of human development Which it is That's a lot more positive and again I would argue also more accurate and it goes back to talking about framing older adults as resources where We continue to learn we still have community connections And it's not to say that things like social isolation doesn't occur or that there aren't struggles But it is just another process of human development and we do still continue to To matter and we still continue to be connected to communities Um one thing I didn't mention which I showed at the top and I'm hoping that Well, we can talk as long as you want about this is another Point another a small part of the research from frameworks is To avoid the term senior and instead use older adults older person or just talk about the population that you have in mind So people 60 plus as an example This is a small part of the research The reason that this recommendation is here at all Is because what frameworks found is that terms Senior elderly senior citizen In the public's mind are associated with higher degrees Of incompetence what that means is when we use those words we can inadvertently Not intentionally Be reinforcing those negative stereotypes So a couple things about that. It's a small piece of the research So I think of a person continues to use the word senior and I know some older adults That's their preferred term and there's nothing wrong with that As long as you are using some of these other recommendations those big picture recommendations like Talking about our changing demographics in positive ways using inclusive terms such as we and us Framing older adults as resources That's going to be a lot more important than whether or not you get hung up on using senior versus older person And then the last thing I would say about senior versus other terms for people who are older Is that usually someone asks what about the term elder as a cultural term that's used as an honorific And there is nothing in the frameworks research that says that there's anything wrong with that So this isn't about using elder as a cultural term as an honorific. That's completely fine Okay, I'm going to stop there and see if people have questions People usually have questions at this point and you've been an awesomely engaged group So I'm going to pause a little longer So carry You know I have been in this business 40 years And we have generally Move towards older adult or older person or 60 plus sort of that descriptor And yet we have never found a new and better name for the Longmont Senior Center and I think Janine made some comments earlier that sort of resonated with me so On one hand, we want to talk about older adults as a unique group with unique needs And we also don't want to Create stereotypes and opportunities for discrimination and it is It is a challenge To to do both and sometimes and so I think I think back to when I first started here in 1981 And we had customers who still wanted to be Known as mrs. John Smith Right, not hazel. They wanted to be mrs. John Smith. And if you called them Or wrote on a letter hazel smith They would call me and be angry with me You know, they were mrs. John Smith And and I was 21 and I was ms. You know, I was ms. Michelle Kennedy, you know And so Taking cues from people Regardless of their age. I think is really important and So how folks want to be Known is Is a challenge and we have members of this advisory board who are perfectly have stated in board meetings They're perfectly comfortable being senior seniors and it's it's a good thing And so I appreciated that you sort of opened with And it's okay But I think the cue is Being aware and following people's Leads, right I no longer let use the term silver tsunami though. I've had colleagues who use it. I prefer not For the same sort of the disaster The disaster implications and like I said earlier, we we have to face the realities of care for a growing number of older Older persons and what that costs In terms of financially but also emotionally So I think again, it's being more clear about what is the issue behind the term In some of these realities. So those are my closing thoughts I I appreciate you saying all of them and I agree completely. I think it's really important to respect What people want to be called So I sometimes find when I give these workshops people get really upset about Not using the word senior or but I'm really attached to that word is the aim of organization and again It's a small part of the research I think we do need to respect people's preferences and I think there's a lot of the other stuff in the recommendations that Are going to help help us a lot more like framing older adults as resources Okay, so I know we're just about on time. So I'm going to move this forward so a little bit more about the pandemic and We've talked about this a little bit. Yes, the recommendation not weak and vulnerable that creates a stigma It others people but people's greater risk factors We've already talked about elderly and someone brought this up before it might have been prudence Instead of talking about nursing home residents. It's more accurate to talk about people on congregate living um, we know that While nursing homes long term care was hard hit. That's reality We also know that issue was not is not unique to that We saw outbreaks in prisons and in college dorms and in meat packing plants It has to do with people in close quarters So I think it's again, it's not accurate to only talk about coven in terms of oh just those nursing home residents Um people in close quarters for long periods of time Okay, a couple examples of how to respond when people are saying ages things um, as I mentioned earlier one of my favorites is well What do you mean by that and to me that just opens up a conversation? It's not accusing us just tell me more about that and then we can have a conversation um Some other things are like if people are calling you honey You're sweetie or you prefer not to be called the senior just saying what you do prefer to be called Including if you prefer to be called a senior Um, and then if people aren't giving full explanations asking for the explanation So Here are things that Change the narrative has Always that people can be involved in this movement and again I will share the power point and a couple of the resources of michelle To share with everybody if that sounds good But as I said, I know we're at time So I'm just going to stop there and see if there are any Any last questions or comments and the question that I would have for you The comment I have for you is thanks for being here. Thanks for having that conversation Including the people who are like, I don't agree with that because this is how we as a community get better as we have those conversations um And the question I have for you is if any of this has spoken to you if ageism you think yeah, this is a problem My question would be What do you want to do about it? What what is your adventure? What might you do even if it's as simple as Changing one thing that you might say or not Okay, now I'll be quiet. Any questions or comments from the group? Well, thanks for this presentation um one of the things um I just want to comment on what michelle has said You know in the beginning michelle said, you know people are saying 60 is the new 40 So that is a social cue saying People who are 60 May not want to be seen as seniors They may want to be seen as a person And are probably much more they probably have worked outside of the home So they have a totally different perspective Um on what their age is Yeah Think you're right. Good point Yep Anything else, but thank you for the presentation now So carry I had attended a Changing the narrative workshop a while ago through cultivate And it just makes me stop And think before I speak and use the uh can phrases Yeah, I appreciate that and Again, it's kind of a no shame role of rule with all of this. I mean I'm continuing to You know, I've given Probably a dozen of these workshops and I continue to learn and deepen my understanding and I think it's just going to be lifelong like with really all kinds of deep, you know, understanding about equity Getting better. I agree Yeah, and cultivate is a great name just to let you know That was a great exchange From senior helpers or whatever they were to cultivate Agreed cultivates good Um, and I've also started to think after listening to this that I also have implicit biases against the young And it's not a one-way street So I really have to think about that and work on that So that's my job from now on Me too, agree Yeah You know, I think um The complexity of aging really Is what I Going to try to kind of wrap my head around a little bit more. I mean, I've often said Aging is at least five generations of people with all of the generational and social and other Elements of diversity within that not to mention all the other kinds. So I think really starting to To think about it in its complexity is something i'm gonna sort of play in my own brain Yeah I love that michelle. I Think complexity is a good word and I also loved a comment earlier that people just wanting to be seen as people And I think that's really what probably all of us want is Not to be put into a box, but To be treated as a person. Yeah All right. Well, thank you so much again for your time and I really appreciate the discussion as well So, thank you, kerry. All right Thanks so much kerry. Take care. You too. Have a great rest of your day. We'll be talking. Okay. That was great I will need to Okay Robin do her magic, right Good job, robin So july meeting Can we will we meet in july because we haven't in the past? And will we be in person? Otherwise, you might not have anybody showing up So what what was the um past did the senior advisory council not meet in july in august Usually conflicted with the july fourth holiday This year it's not as big a conflict because the holiday will be monday The fifth and the board meeting is the seventh You're you're wide open to do whatever you prefer Oh, I vote for in person anybody else for in person Whoa looks kind of unanimous to me So we'll have a room to meet in Yay So I will um I can move that forward and I will need to talk with the city clerk and sheila maybe You are kind of my go-to because remember we were going to start recording our board meetings before covet And I don't know where that landed with um long speak media So I will do some behind the scenes. Maybe get with sheila. Maybe get with a city clerk Or marsha may have already they're grappling with this as city council, but The recording piece will still I assume continue, but I will definitely check that out Yeah, michelle. Did you mean long not public media lpm? Yeah, what did I say? Which is fine. It's kind of a good name Yes, that is correct marsha You know, right? I'll actually be over there this afternoon. So I will mention it um Because uh, you know for a couple of them, um, I think sheila and I both did this. We just checked out a mevo um From lpm and and brought it to the face-to-face Thanks marsha and just let me know and and I'll get with dawn also Susan should we ask people because we just finished this presentation what um if they found the presentation of value and what people's thinking Sure comments Yes, marsha Well, I have what first of all, I I really love things in general that come out of the frameworks institute um, uh, I Actually encountered them for the first time at an area agency on aging meeting and uh, so they do do good work. Um, I do think I uh, you know with janine that that uh, in in this case, they were a little heavier on avoiding triggering than they needed to be uh Versa, you know to the point where it could obscure the factual message and And I I hope we don't have to go that far to stay civilized I agree marsha. I I have to think a little bit. Um About my response to this meeting um, because I You know, I have some different point of views and before Uh, I expressed that I've always found what works best for me is to um, take a look at what I'm not responding to but reacting to And I don't have the same Uh thought process in and around age So I might share that with all of you Maybe at the next meeting but not at this meeting because I need time To process I really do Thank you I thought um, I have to agree with marsha. I I think Um How can I say this that coaching on what language to use is never a permanent It is a fleeting Um thing that happened It's a fleeting moment. It's just like all those things you went through of sexual discreet, you know workplace harassment and all of that You go to a meeting you stay an hour and you maybe you pick up one thing from that but most likely um It goes Whoever let's say the harasser is it goes right out of their head Okay, so I think we have to be careful I think some of the points were were valid um I Found for me at least and this is only for me. I found it a little bit too preachy so That was my first response is that You know Yes, it is the goal that everyone treats each other with respect regardless of Your poc whatever you are that that respect and I think I would have wanted the Presentation To focus on respect for all groups because I hear A lot of folks say Oh those millennials. Well, you know, you have to remember you were 22 once too, babe You know hate to say that but you know it's it's not You know, we have a tendency as a society to divide people And I think that's the bigger issue than Ageism is just another division. So I would have liked to have to see A presentation on kind of divisiveness At all levels. So that's just my comment. However, I thought she you know Carrie did a good job You know, she accomplished what She was sent out to do I felt rather that We were being expected as older people seniors elderly people or whatever To do the work to make changes Really everybody else That needs to make changes just the same as I said earlier. I have I have Could I say some negative thoughts about the young? I don't expect the young people to be told Well, you've got to change you've got to do this to make other people respect you the same so I think the audience was I hate to say it the rest of them As opposed to us. I know we weren't supposed to divide between us and them but It's them that has to make the change Was ironic was that When she was saying, you know tap the resources of the elderly and everyone on this call is Modeling that for heaven's sake Already Yeah, I'd like to share something with you and I guess it comes It means something to me because of my Attitude about being my age or a senior or whatever I am. I just see myself as jenine Um, but someone asked robert redford one time Why he didn't get work done on his face because he used to be so beautiful and now he's Got all these wrinkles and he said because My face is the roadmap of my life And I hold that deer And I guess I'm oblivious to a lot of things because I think of myself as a person not An age or what I did or what I do other than being a grandma. I'm pretty set on that title, but It it just uh, it's just your point of view. I guess and uh And I'm amazed at all this research that shows that I'm being so discriminated against That's what I have to think about. I don't I don't see that or feel that right now So that's what I got to be aware of And there's too much woke in this world right now I am I really appreciate the honesty And I love it that there is differences of opinion around this and that it was an environment that we could talk about differences and thought and use it The provocativeness of it to just really sort of think for ourselves but also think As older adults in the community and I'm including myself in that and as leaders around services for older adults and What does that mean? Um, and so Uh, I think kary has great grace And she did a she did a good job and um I just hope that we keep thinking about this. Um, and what that means and when Language or behavior or choice or strategic planning Does not serve people um And and and does not work with people that for me is like, where is that? Barrier, where is that? Um I want to make sure we're not putting barriers up for people or discouragement. So I appreciate prudence, you know, you you Comments about the word senior and when is that a barrier? Oh, yeah You know, I so I think it just it's provocative and I I'm one of those folks who loved philosophy classes, especially the ones that I Didn't know what I was getting into because of the conversation and the learning and so Um, this was kind of that for me provocative. Thank you. Thank you all Julie, will you say something? Well, um So I think you know The for me personally, there's a lot to think about right Because I am 54 And so I'm starting in that path of like, you know, I have clients and they're absolutely adorable They call me their real estate mom, right because I could be their mother, right? And so I'm starting to At this age starting to feel some of those Um, some of those terms or here's some of those terms Or so so it's an interesting thing to think about in terms of like how How do I change my language around getting older And my mindset That can can educate the people that are younger than me Right, so I do in a way feel like it it has to start with me Um, and then it also has to start with with my Outlook towards my getting older and the people that I communicate with that are older than me Right, so so I think I'm kind of in this really interesting spot in this whole conversation Um, because there are certain things that I've said in my you know in in my lifetime Of course, I've I've said, um, oh wow, she looks great or he looks great for his age. I've said that about myself right, so So it's it's an interesting process, you know, do we do I think that in the presentation? There was some language, you know, maybe revolving around the covid situation that could have been the language could have been More appropriate to be more inclusive of course that were vulnerable. Yes, I do Um, and I think that some some people did a really poor job, you know at that um So the other part is too is that Sheila had mentioned that you know, she has her own bias against younger people I will tell you I do too. And so I think there's there's really a lot of work that needs to go in across all generations, right and and How do we get how do we create? a system that That addresses that across all ages right yes Yeah, I think it's working towards a just You know democracy is a goal and working towards a A a just an equal society is the work regardless whether you're a person of color whether you're You're male female gay straight is that you know age young old it to treat People respectfully And sometimes when people say things I was just on a call a couple of weeks ago at work And it it was with the CEO and a couple other people and one of the things One of the directors said well, I don't see color. You know, I almost said oh really? Like that is old school. I mean, I couldn't believe it. It's like That's an odd thing to say um You know so acknowledging and respecting people is I think the The key regardless of age or anything else Yeah, great. So you had a comment. Okay. Well, I was just going to say Um, I thought it was a great presentation. I'm glad I tuned in although I was I'm working in the background So I've had some distractions um, but it is an eye opener and I am involved with people on multiple levels um As an aging professional I go on tours extended travel tours with people And uh, I think reading the room is a really important thing I will visit with somebody And they I'll say hey, how are you doing and they're like hey, I'm upright and I'm above ground. I'm really happy and You know, it hits me hard. It's like Okay, well good. I'm glad you're glad you're here And I wish you had a little better outlook, you know, but I can't correct everybody So I think it's really smart. Let's meet them where they are And if I can throw out a couple of morsels every now and then to um Help reframe things. I try to do that But I don't feel like I can fall on my sword every time I hear something Somebody says because I'm really active in pickleball And it's a it's a competitive sport And I hear people saying things And I want to hit them with a pickleball sometimes, you know, I just want to whack them but um again I think we all have Opportunities to move the dial a little bit forward and when we take them with grace It will be helpful And just as a side note I'm watching a Netflix series called atypical And it's about a young person With who's on the spectrum Going through high school and learning life skills and how people around him Figure out where to meet him where he is his parents his friends and all this stuff. It's really a sweet charming series With a lot of messages in it. So if you're looking for something fun to watch It's called atypical. It's on netflix. It's got like three seasons And you could equate what this guy is going through with ageism in that There's a lot of people around us that have a lot of different viewpoints and how do you walk through this world recognizing people where they are and helping move the dial forward without becoming The red flag wherever you walk in the room and everybody groans because you are now present And they know what you're gonna say So um, that was a great presentation. I miss some of it. I'm gonna go back and watch it and I appreciate All of you for participating and being on a board Where we can make a difference in the community in a lot of different ways Yeah Marcia Thanks, I just want to put in a plug for the Harvard implicit bias exercises because um Let's just say they're a better use of your time than doing the crossword puzzle because they really You know, you don't you don't want to take them as holy writ or anything But they really open your eyes about your own reactions And and I tend to take a couple of them repeat a couple of them every six months or so just to see how I'm doing Yeah a good suggestion So I did, you know prudence mentioned The naming of the senior center And I thought maybe it would be nice to have it be called the thrive community right Right or something Cultivated was a great name. I mean that had to be one of the best ways What was the name? I didn't hear what Julie said. I'm sorry Oh, I said thrive community You know road scholar the tour company used to be called elder hostel and then they found out that people From 50 and above did not want to be called elder And they changed it to road road scholar So it balanced being on the road and having wisdom Or being a scholar um So it's it's interesting. I I would never have gone on a trip. It was called elder hostel. I'll be honest I would have been like are you kidding Let me just say Michelle and I have debated this for over 20 years What we call the senior center and it is really hard finding the right landing spot and um I hear other senior centers that have changed their name to active older adult community center And I just say you're just you're just masking Yeah, you're trying You know, what is the flavor? I I'm I'm a big community center person. I refer to this as a community center Yeah, quite often You probably need to hire someone from the outside Um to be quite frank foot cold and build and maybe but you know someone Some kind of communication person outside Of longman to get a new name because I think that's what cultivated and I know that road scholar did that um Because you you you know when you're in it you have your own bias And I think you get a fresh look and you get a look That's more universal so We can ask the uh City council people to cough up a few bucks You know This may be very simplistic, but um if I wanted to ask Uh What the name should be I think it would be to ask the people that That attend it That are part of I don't even know what to call them anymore older adult seniors whatever we are the You know But ask Ask them what they'd like The center to Be called because that probably would be more um You know more significant to me. I I find um The people that come there to be Very proud and protective of the fact that it's their place And I don't know that uh, you could call it charlie for all they care, but It's the place that they come as a group for support companionship food Uh inclusiveness and I don't want I don't want to lose that specialness. I don't That's what the consultant will do focus groups Prudence prudence quick back story I didn't know That there was any Consultant involved in that name change and I'm like where the heck did they get that name? Wasn't so sure. I liked it It would there was actually an interview done it was something that I said I think they swiped it from the interview Yeah So michelle I have a question for you Um, do we have a number of candidates and do we have an interview date? Yes, and yes, so we have two vacancies. We have two candidates. Thank you. Janine did some recruitment So that was good and um the interview is um Scat said and I think counsel will make decisions on the 20 Night does that sound right? um Yes To make decisions and appointments on the council meeting on the 29th. So By july uh meeting we should have two new board members great Any other things you want to share with us including another man? So Talk about the person Might be thrilled about that um, so I um Just one quickie before we close. Uh, I think I told you all larry Holt grew has resigned his last day in the office is friday june 11th The position is posted to fill It closes on friday june 25th If there is a board member who is interested in being a part of that hiring interview team Larry's position is recreation coordinator. He works directly for the recreation supervisor megan And megan had the position tressa held for many years. So um If there's somebody the interviews would likely take place sometime the second or third week of july If anyone's interested in being a part of that, um, please let me know Um either now or email me susan you'd like to okay? Um, and I will follow up with you about that interview process We are also probably going to be hiring. Um, it's not open yet But another resource specialist who will be focused on the longmont housing authority properties and so, um I will know more probably at the july meeting or later this month about the Hiring time frame for that position. So that should be coming up as well We are opening or open We have proposed that starting july 6th We will be open till 5 p.m And starting september 6th. We will go back to our pre covet hours in the evening And so we are starting to reach out to groups. We are dealing with, you know, no masks We are not ready to take rentals yet, but we're trying to work with some other city Events including city council retreat if they are in need of space on july 9th So we're trying to work with those kinds of things Opening is going well the fitness students are thrilled to be able to To be back as the knitters were here today. It is I just cried last wednesday when I talked to the knitters. I mean to have voices and laughter in the building And uh, it's just it's just fabulous. So I think that's my quick update susan thank you um, I just have have one thing uh, julie schiller and I took a uh tour of the Three of the senior housing places Two on homestead, which are really quite beautiful and janine. I saw all the apartments being built But you know, I just read a study nationwide Which I said that for each new apartment, there'll be either point six or point nine parking spaces so just I don't know where you get a hair for call, but I guess you do um, we also visited airspin meadows um And so that was kind of funny. I think we met some of the residents there um, and everyone people we met not everyone people we met Um, really liked where they live You know, and it was impressive Um, the homestead ones I understand are new but those were absolutely gorgeous you know Yeah, and we were very impressed with them all And people were the people that we spoke with as prudence said really enjoyed living there and said do you want to see my apartment? Yeah Very happy I'd like to acknowledge to the extreme extreme hard work That the senior center uh Did to participate in the renovations Of that senior housing getting people out getting them alternative Housing getting their stuff moved out getting them all moved back in I mean I I am touched and proud Michelle of all the work that everyone did there in order to facilitate Everyone being able to have that done for them. It was extraordinary Just extraordinary I'm really glad Teresa's uh on the call. Hopefully she heard that because she and Amy kicked that off last fall Teresa and Amy set a very high standard for that and then a couple of our recreation colleagues picked it up in january and They recently did a debrief of that rehab and they have put A lot of ideas in place So that when the next lha property undergoes rehab next year Um, they've got some good good plans for that. Teresa. I don't know if you were going to say anything I see you popped in and out there So one of the things when we when we were touring around was The comment from some of the folks that we had met at aspen meadows That you know, they were grateful and how how nice of a job It was that they had a place to go to that they had everything take taking care They moved out moved in all of those things. So I think you know, it sounded like it was a You know, even though it was a disruption to their life, right? It it was made fairly smooth Right. Yeah So are we calling this as we're going over time? Is someone we want to make a motion? to adjourn You look seconded by duly You bet Thank you, everybody. I look forward to seeing you all in person. Oh, yeah Absolutely. Absolutely everybody. Thank you all. Thank you. Thank you. Take good care. Thank you Bye