What is the single best thing we can do for our health?

Quality of life is a critical consideration in healthy ageing, this video from Dr. Mike Evans is interesting viewing.

Creativity and innovation spike for many in later life

"Later entrepreneurship often crosses paths with yet a third later-life trend — the urge to give back. Research shows that half of those who want to become midlife entrepreneurs — more than 12 million people ages 44 to 70 — also want to meet community needs or solve a critical social problem at the same time." Marc Freedman "Why Older Entrepreneurs Have an Edge" Harvard Business Review

What sort of resources and programs would older entrepreneurs want from their public library?

How well equipped is the library to provide information for small business (start-up, legal, financial, networking, etc.)?

Images of older women in the media

Description: Images of older women in the media are frequently stereotyped or left out altogether. The 'Look at me! Images of Women and Ageing' project, led by Dr Lorna Warren at the University of Sheffield, encouraged women to create their own, alternative images - showing their experiences of ageing. A transcript of this video can be found at www.esrc.ac.uk/publications/multimedia/seven-days/transcript-image-identity.aspx

It is important to consider the stereotypes that might influence library marketing to older adults, perhaps it is men who might be missing from images used ... or older adults from diverse backgrounds? Are there stereotypes influencing the choice of programming for older adults at the library?

Latter years - decisions

Legal Aid NSW and the Benevolent Society have published a guide for seniors on planning their future. It's called Speaking for myself. It includes information about powers of attorney, enduring guardianship issues and making wills, among other issues.

Why we should embrace our age

A wonderful post by Loretta Laroche. This article first appeared in Huffington Post. Loretta is full of joy and practical wisdom, including practical tips on aging well by:

• making each day feel like a new beginning
• reinventing yourself on some level so that you don’t become your own “Groundhog Day”
• spend time in community with others
• become more involved in the pursuit of altruism
• find the bless in the mess
• laugh as often as possible
• keep a positive outlook: “if you think the worst and get the worst, you suffer twice; if you think the best and get the worst, you only suffer once.”

Loretta has a PBS special about "juicy living, juicy aging" -

How will local government cope with ageing communities?

The purpose of the Local Government and Ageing Project was "to identify the magnitude of costs for Local Government of an ageing population, including the size of any financial impact, the range of council services affected, and potential impacts on council's revenue raising capacity as a result of population ageing.  The study also documented the growing social and economic contribution older people are making to their local communities. "

A tool kit is available.

Older Australians vulnerable to fraud

A recent survey by the Australian Institute of Criminology (AIC) has indicated that older people are more vulnerable to fraud than the general population. See the full report on the AIC website.