People have been talking about "The Positive Aging Movement" for more than a dozen years, particularly since the first conference in 2007, when the oldest Boomers were turning 61 and approaching the "traditional" retirement age. With a longer life expectancy, notions about aging have been shifting. This year the oldest Boomers are turning 76, and the youngest is now turning 58. We're witnessing the "graying" of our population. In this interview, we'll focus on a broad view of the Positive Aging Movement: How it started, how it's been changing, what it's accomplished, and where it's going.
From this episode, you will:
- Get an overview of the Positive Aging Movement over the past 10+ years - its intellectual underpinnings, development, and accomplishments to date.
- Understand the central concepts of positive aging/holistic thriving in the second half of life.
- Explore what's next. Has the movement outlived its usefulness? What are the current issues? Where might it or should it be heading?
- Consider: What would you add? What facet draws you most?
About Jan Hively and Meg Newhouse:
Jan Hively describes herself as an "Encore Entrepreneur." In Minnesota, after a city planning and administration career, Jan Hively earned her Ph.D. in 2001 at age 69 with a dissertation on "Productive Aging in Rural Communities." Since then, she has focused on transforming expectations for aging -- realizing the potential for positive aging based on twenty-first-century trends and research.
Jan has co-founded several thriving networks that support positive aging, including the Vital Aging Network, the SHIFT Network, and a global program exchange, the Pass It On Network. As a Purpose Prize Fellow, she is an internationally known presenter and consultant for programs that engage older adult leadership and support "meaningful work, paid or unpaid, through the last breath." Jan's academic degrees were earned at Harvard University and the University of Minnesota.
Meg Newhouse has sought to call out "passion and purpose" in her students, coaching clients, and even friends/colleagues in her professional and personal life. For nearly 25 years, she has been centrally involved in what could be called the Positive Aging movement as a post-mid-life coach, workshop facilitator, consultant, and author.
In 2002 she founded and co-led the Life Planning Network, a national community of professionals committed to a holistic model for helping people thrive in the second half of life; more recently, she has been engaged with the Conscious Elders Network from its early stages. Meg has helped plan five Positive Aging conferences, written three how-to books, and co-edited LPN's Live Smart After 50. In the past few years, she has focused on later life and legacy, represented by her book, Legacies of the Heart: Living a Life That Matters. She lives in the Boston area with her husband of 50 years.
Get in touch with Jan Lively and Meg Newhouse:
Visit Jan's website: https://www.passitonnetwork.org/
Visit Meg's website: https://www.megnewhouse.com/
Download Jan and Meg's Handout: ht
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