Older Americans Month: History and How to Celebrate

Celebrate Our Beloved Older Americans

You may know that February is African-American History Month and October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, but did you know that May is Older Americans Month? Sadly, like many older Americans, Older Americans Month is often ignored, even though it has been around since 1963! Here’s what you need to know about the history of Older Americans Month and how to celebrate it.

America is getting older. Older Americans Month is an opportune time to recognize and celebrate the contributions of our nation’s older people. You can recognize the contributions of older Americans in many ways. The simplest is to thank any older American for their service to America, especially those who have served in the US military.

What Is Older Americans Month?

President John F. Kennedy created Older Americans Month in 1963 in response to a meeting with the National Council of Senior Citizens. Originally called “Senior Citizens Month,” Older Americans Month was established as a way to celebrate the contributions of older people to America.

How Do We Observe Older Americans Month?

Presidents have long issued a formal proclamation that we as a country pay tribute to our older citizens in May. Each year has its own theme. One past theme, “Make Your Mark,” captures the spirit of the month well.

The goal of that theme was first, to celebrate the many ways in which older Americans have made their mark on society over the course of their lives, and second, for communities, individuals and organizations to take the initiative and make their mark by offering support to older people, their caregivers and the communities in which they live.

What You Can Do to Celebrate Your Senior Loved Ones

What can you do personally? Think about what challenges the older members of your community may be facing and what they have done for the community. Think of ways that you can personally (or with other members of the community) help those people with some of their challenges or recognize the good work they have done.

When it comes to the older Americans in your own life, be they parents, grandparents, aunts or uncles or just good friends, May offers a great opportunity to catch up and let them know that you are still thinking of them. Remind them of the importance they have had and continue to have in your life. Just spending time with the older people that you care for can mean the world.

Understanding the Psychological Needs of Older Adults

It is important to realize how you can support the independence of older adults and recognize the value of older adults to our great nation. Some say that the four basic psychological needs of older Americans are:

• Purpose: maintaining a sense of purpose through hobbies, interests, community activities, mentoring, and setting goals
• Mental stimulation: keeping the brain engaged to reduce the risk of cognitive decline
• Safety and security: feeling emotionally safe and secure
• Expression of thoughts and feelings: being able to express their thoughts and feelings

Generally, everyone has emotional needs. We all must have meaningful relationships and experiences. This helps our feeling of being loved and accepted by others, and of belonging through involvement in community clubs or family. Emotional support is a medical necessity and is important for the mental health of older people. Many older adults in the community lack emotional support, which can increase the risk of loneliness, depression, anxiety, and premature death.

Some of the ways we can address the emotional needs of our elderly loved ones include:

• Actively listening
• Prioritizing safety and security
• Respecting their wishes
• Finding meaningful activities
• Socializing
• Assisting with self-care
• Watching for signs of depression
• Helping them feel safe
• Surrounding them with familiar faces
• Looking out for mood alterations

Help for Our Older Adults Can Start With You

It can be you, and it starts with a conversation. A huge part of an older American’s needs fall into areas such as family and community support, home safety, medical needs, cognitive health, mobility, personal hygiene, meal preparation, and social interaction. Older adults may need help with many tasks that we all may be able to offer, including:

• Transportation: Our older loved ones may need help getting around, especially if they don’t drive.
• Housework: Senior loved ones may need help with chores like cleaning and running errands.
• Cooking: Older folks may need help preparing meals.
• Personal care: Our senior loved ones may need help with hygiene and other activities of daily living, like eating, walking, and using the bathroom.
• Medical care: Elders may need help with medical attention.
• Legal services: Elder law lawyers are here for our older family members, who may need help with legal issues like guardianship, elder abuse, Medicaid, and debt collection.
• Health insurance: Older adults may need help understanding their Medicare benefits and options.

All things considered, our first step is exploring the ideas above with any older American to discover a need, no matter how great or small.

Honor Older Loved Ones With a Great Place to Live

Another thing you may want to take this opportunity to do is make sure those older loved ones you care about are well taken care of themselves. One of the ways you can do that involves their living arrangements.

Wonderful advances in health have been made over the last several decades, and many people are living longer and healthier than ever before. That doesn’t change the fact that older Americans may have daily needs that their children or other loved ones may be unable to provide on a regular basis.

For those in the Portland metro area who need to find the right situation for their older loved one and have no idea how to get started, there’s Golden Placement Services. We specialize in matching older individuals with the ideal living situation, whether they need a low, moderate or advanced level of care. We specialize in asking the right questions in order to create optimal matches with the assisted living communities, retirement communities and other senior placements in our vast network.

More Resources

• Long term care planning with our friends at ACL
• Oregon defines and describes ADLs here: Long Term Care
• Golden Placements resources to find care services
• Senior Living Near Me: Adult Home Placement
• Explore residential care homes for older loved ones

Golden Placement Services helps you manage resources and takes care of the leg work for finding the best living situation for your parent, sibling or loved one, at no cost to families. To learn more or set up an appointment, call 503-723-7145 or contact Golden Placement Services now.