Why do we need Seniors Serving Seniors?
At the time of Christ, the average lifespan was only 40 years. In 1900 it was still just 45 years. Now it's over 75: that's good news! So, what's the problem? As our population ages due to improved medical care and young adults having fewer children due to the Pill and abortion, we now have an acute shortage of doctors, nurses, and home healthcare workers for this growing group of senior citizens. And younger people tend to ignore seniors and the fact that we all (including the young) are growing older. But "young seniors" (55 to 75 years old) still have enough strengh to help "old seniors" (76+ years old). We all need to learn how to do this!
The Economist, the oracle of politicians and economists the world over, has turned bearish on the future of humanity. The Economist article declares: "in much of the world the patter of tiny feet is being drowned out by the clatter of walking sticks. The prime examples of ageing countries are no longer just Japan and Italy but also include Brazil, Mexico and Thailand." The focus of The Economist's concerns is old folks' creativity: an ageing population will not be as innovative. Not only has fertility decreased, but creativity has also! [read more...]
Where does the concept of "philanthropy" come from? Where did we get the idea of erecting hospitals, orphanages, homes for the elderly and infirm? Today we might think that these institutions were created by billionaires who made their money off railroads, steel mills or the stock market, or perhaps the government dreamed them up. But the historical fact is that these institutions for the public well-being were created during the one-thousand-year-long Byzantine Christian Empire. Only later did these ideas take root in Western Europe, and from there to the rest of the world. [read more...]
What is Home-Based Primary Care (HBPC)? "HBPC programs provide appropriate care (primary, urgent, or palliative) to high-risk, medically vulnerable patients, often suffering multiple chronic conditions, when and where they need it. This patient-centric, continuous care model delivers clinical, economic, and human benefits such as:
* facilitating timely interventions when chronic conditions worsen
* alleviating social stressors that contribute to poor health
* comforting patients by giving them loving care and letting them know they’re not alone."
Some states recognize that home health care is far less expensive than nursing home care. [read more...]
How can we create Agape Restoration Communities where Christian people really care about each other and support one another... especially people we tend to ignore – people with disabilities and the elderly? 61 Million adults in the United States live with a disability – that's 26%, or over 1 in every 4 adults. The disability types are: 13.7% - mobility, 10.8% - cognition, 6.8% - independent living, 5.9% - hearing, 4.6% - vision, and 3.7% - self-care. These often overlap, but mobility issues make up over half of all disabilities. Why don't we know about disabilities? It's because we literally don't see most of them: people with mobility problems can't get out easily. [read more...]
Notice how the likelihood of disability increases with age, as shown in this graphic. How Many Disabled People Attend Your Church? How does your church compare to society at large? Does your church welcome and accommodate people with disabilities, or are there psychological and architectural barriers? How can we more effectively minister to these people in our church and society at large? The 75 million "Baby Boomers" born in the twenty years from 1946 through 1965 are now retiring, and nearly half of them need serious health care. [read more...]
Maybe there's a shortage of young healthcare workers, but there are plenty of healthy seniors who realize that we are all growing older and our lives are limited. What can you do about it?
Take our *FREE* 1-year, 6-course training program to learn how Christians SENiors can SERVe other SENiors who are older and more often disabled. Then you'll be ready to build an ARC to provide them affordable, accessible homes!
Check out our *free* courses and enroll here: www.agape-restoration-society.org/enroll.
Thanks for visiting and taking a look at these web pages! Go to Agape-Restoration-Society.org/ARC/ and Subscribe for more free info on how to serve, or Write Us.
Yours sincerely,
"Dr. Bob"
Robert D. Hosken,
M.Min., M.Th.S., D.Min.