Older adults are living longer than ever before. The average life expectancy for men and women is 74.4 years and 79.8 years, respectively. The baby boomers, the 76 million people born between 1946 and 1964, are also aging.
Check out these compelling statistics about the changing U.S. population:
- As of July 2001, there were 35.3 million Americans
over the age of 65.
- By 2011, the first wave of the baby boomers will
begin to turn 65, which will bump the total of Americans 65 and over
to 40.5 million.
- By 2030, all of the baby boomers are at least 65. The number of Americans that are 65 years old will be 70.3 million.
Turning Gray Into Green
Successful job seekers research society's needs for skilled workers in specific areas and then target those industries and positions. The aging population statistics foreshadow new opportunities in the job market for people trained to work with older adults in a variety of current and emerging roles.How can you maximize these opportunities? Now is the perfect time to investigate opportunities within gerontology, the study of the various biological, psychological, and social aspects of aging.
What Kinds of Jobs are Needed?
Traditional career tracks such as healthcare, medicine, and social work are good bets. Given the future numbers of older Americans, gerontology is also a natural complement to the following disciplines:- Finance
- Public health and administration
- Marketing
- Library science
- Accounting
- Recreation and leisure
- Education
- Industrial studies
- Engineering
- Law
- Hospitality management
Required Skill Sets
According to the Association for Gerontology in Higher Education (AGHE), professionals with the following skill sets will be needed to work with older adults:- Developing programs such as health promotion, senior
theater groups, or intergenerational activities in senior centers, community
agencies, or retirement communities
- Providing direct care to frail, ill, or impaired
people in hospitals, clinics, nursing homes, or through adult day care
or home care programs
- Counseling older adults and their families about
issues of care giving, employment, death and dying, or mental health
- Advising older clients about estate planning and investments, financing long-term care, or housing options
- Conducting research on the aging processes and diseases
associated with aging such as Alzheimer's disease or osteoporosis
- Analyzing issues such as retirement opportunities,
income maintenance, the health care system, and housing alternatives
- Planning, administering, and evaluating community-based
services and service delivery systems for older adults
- Teaching courses on aging to college and university
students, health care professionals, and older adults
- Advocating with or on behalf of older adults before
legislative bodies or in institutional settings
- Designing products to meet the special interests
and needs of older adults
- Advising business, industry, and labor regarding older workers and consumers
Financial Planning and Older Adults
Thousands of college students major in finance. Consider that the 76 million baby boomers may be one of the most affluent groups of older Americans ever. If you're considering a career in financial services, a minor in gerontology could help you better understand your potential clients. You'd have more insight into older clients' needs and concerns than someone who didn't have specialized knowledge.In fact, the American Institute of Financial Gerontology (AIFG), established in January 2003 as a partnership between the American Society of Aging and Widener University in Delaware, provides unparalleled continuing education and offers the Certified Financial Gerontologist (CFG) designation to professionals who advise older consumers and their families. People are living longer after they retire and need financial experts to help extend their retirement savings to continue to enjoy a good quality of life.
Able Elderly Services
Jim Connor and George Chow, former hardware engineers who were laid off from jobs in the dotcom and telecom sectors, started Able Elderly Services in 2002. Able Elderly Services provides computer-troubleshooting services to older adults. "We do everything from helping people install a computer to training them how to operate it to teaching them how to maintain it," said Jim Connor.Connor describes the work he does as a cross between technical and conceptual, the high-touch house call. "There are people who have a great deal of hand shake and they don't know how to desensitize the mouse," he said, while other clients have problems with "setting up an ISP."
Able Elderly Services also performs household repairs for older adults. The handyman part of their business includes installing safety bars in showers and changing light bulbs or batteries in smoke alarms. "Somebody gets a hip replacement and the therapist says they need to have a grab bar in the shower so they don't slip and fall. They don't want to call a $100 an hour plumber or a big construction company to do the work for them."
Gerontology at SJSU
Interested in learning about how you can work with older adults? Your first stop should be SJSU's gerontology program. It offers the following academic programs:- Bachelor of health science with a gerontology concentration
- Minor in gerontology
- Certificate in applied social gerontology
www2.sjsu.edu/gerontology or call (408) 924-2938.
The College of Social Work's Masters in Social Work Program offers a gerontology concentration and a certificate in gerontology in collaboration with the SJSU Gerontology Program. Go to www2.sjsu.edu/swarc or call (408) 924-5842 to find out more.
