Did You Feel It?

You know.

When things shifted away from the older generations to focus on younger ones.

I missed it too but it seems to have coincided with the COVID-19 pandemic. Or at least society’s exaggerated response to the presence of the new virus.

This post-COVID shift of attention and resources away from seniors is, from where I am sitting, firmly established new rules for daily life. Sorry, there is no grandfather clause for outdated skills or new needs.

Caregiving Continues

I started this blog while my experiences of helping my father at the end of his life were ongoing. Like many caregivers, becoming a caregiver is not a one-and-done sort of experience. I continue to use and develop my caregiving skills in both limited and sometimes larger challenges.

Suffice to say, I am speaking to this observation of a support change for vulnerable seniors from the front lines.

I cannot say if this experience is unique to just our time in history, but in growing up around many of the Greatest Generation (those of the Depression and World War II era), I do not recall them being concerned about the rug being pulled out from under their retirement plans.

Then again, they were not a particularly whiny group to begin with. Wish the same could be said of some of our current societal groups.

Research

Photo by Andrea Piacquadio on Pexels.com

Not to rely on my own limited life experiences, and a little suspicion that this new exclusion of the older folks may be more common, I did some Internet reading and found that something quantifiably happened in recent years. The Boomers have been bailing.

The “Great Retirement”, as some have been calling it, started towards the beginning of the pandemic. Senior members of industry gathered their toys and headed for the exits. The difference this time was that as the brain-trust left, there was not the transition of knowledge to the younger group coming up.

That and a characteristically entitled independence of the younger ones combined to create a new world in which adopted technology rules.

The mixture of two entitled groups competing did not offer choice to those not educated in the new ways.

Technology Rules

Which brings us to this pivot point of technology and the senior. The my-way-or-the-highway approach to implementing tech into daily transactions sounds terribly like a corporate solution to a people problem.

As social isolation is brought about by technology requirements placed upon an untrained senior population, I am unsure of the treatment theory that higher tech solutions are needed to solve existing tech/people problems.

In fact, as I have not seen many meaningful solutions presented, I suspect a callous corporate passive-aggressive solution of allowing the passing of this tech unhip generation to naturally occur without investing resources towards grandfathering the group.

Sad.

Now What?

So the 7th cavalry is not coming and we are on our own without any solid support services. In other words, just another normal caregiver situation. (Remember: caregiving is a superpower.)

Let’s work the problem, folks.

If we are not already, we can become competent in these new technologies and act as a proxy for our loved ones. Arm yourself with a power-of-attorney (POA) and get out there virtually representing the interests of your senior. Depending on the transaction, this may be easier that you think.

A few years ago, I played middleman for my Mom as she purchased a home. (If you have not purchased a home recently, gone are the days of signing reams of paper. Most of the process is now electronic.) She signed the title transfer in person but everything else was through my email address and the agents’ corporate website.

There may also be an ombudsman or similar services available in an elders’ vicinity. Many municipalities offer support through senior centers. Some are free, some are nominal charges, but most work on addressing senior needs.

Attitude Check

Remember that just because younger leaders of companies are currently willing to abandon a vulnerable population of seniors, the corporate preoccupation with technology will bring its own outcomes. Caregivers may be around when they need them, or perhaps not.

We can only wish them luck with their choices.