Elder Readiness Forum Slated for Thursday: Meeting Will Address Strains on Society Due to Aging Population

By David Blackburn, Messenger-Inquirer, Owensboro, Ky.

Aug. 15–A second forum to address the demands on communities caused by a baby-boomer-fueled aging of the population also will include preparations to meet those demands.

The Green River Area Development District will host a Kentucky Elder Readiness Initiative forum from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Thursday at its office at 3860 U.S. 60 West.

The gathering of community leaders, elected officials and state legislators comes nearly 14 months after a similar forum done as part of Gov. Ernie Fletcher’s statewide initiative.

Then, attendees said the public and baby boomers themselves weren’t aware of potential problems caused by more than 83 million people being born between 1946 and 1964.

This forum will look at results of a statewide survey of 9,600 homes, including 640 in area counties, in June and July on readiness, said Beth Humphrey, GRADD’s manager of Aging Services.

It will also include a discussion about forming a task force to address the issues, such as the likelihood of people working past the typical retirement age of 65, Humphrey said Tuesday.

“I think we’re going to have to rethink older workers in the work force,” she said. “I think some of them haven’t planned well for their retirement.”

Some will return to the work force because they are healthier and more active than past generations and would become bored with retirement, Humphrey said.

The 2000 census showed there were 37,377 people age 60 and older in the Green River Area, said Amy Moore, with the state Department for Aging and Independent Living in Frankfort.

They accounted for 18 percent of the area’s population, said Moore, an internal policy analyst.

By 2030, there will be an estimated 63,646 residents 60 or older, comprising 28 percent of the population, Moore said.

“That group is growing,” she said of the 70 percent increase.

“A significant portion of that will be baby boomers,” said Graham Rowles, professor and director of the University of Kentucky Graduate Center for Gerontology.

In 2000, baby boomers were 35 to 54 years old and made up 30 percent of the GRADD population, said Rowles, a boomer himself at 61 who will return to moderate the forum.

The forum will be sponsored by the state Cabinet for Health and Family Services; the University of Kentucky’s Kentucky Aging Research and Information Service; and the Area Agencies on Aging and Independent Living.

For more information, call the GRADD office at 926-4433.

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