Myth #1 To be old is to be sick.

Common illnesses among the elderly are: arthritis (about 50%), hypertension and heart disease (about 30%), diabetes (11%), hearing impairment (32%), cataracts (17%) and visual impairment (9%). It’s not so much what conditions you have, but whether or not they impact your ability to function or maintain independence. Disability results from several factors:

  • The consequences of disease
  • Lifestyle factors, such as diet and exercise
  • Biological changes in the body over time

Given the constraints of your genetics, lifestyle can have a powerful effect on health in old age. Certainly the sooner one implements healthy habits the better, but there are still benefits to smoking cessation, a healthy diet, exercise and emotional support at any stage in life.

Myth #2 The secret to successful aging is to choose your parents wisely.

Various cancers and familial high cholesterol syndromes (related to heart disease) strongly track with genetics. But lifestyle can greatly influence whether you will actually develop the disease or not, and at what stage of life. Diet, exercise and medication can cut the influence of genetics substantially. In terms of mental and physical function, heredity accounts for less than half the influence of environment and lifestyle. With age, heredity becomes less important and lifestyle more important. Whether or not you reach old age overweight, having high blood lipids and difficulty breathing is likely not inherited. The same goes for your engagement with life, the bonds you maintain with others.  

Myth #3 You can't teach an old dog new tricks.

In regard to mental function, research confirms that the elderly can learn new things. Only 10% of those 65 to 100 years have Alzheimer’s disease. The key to maintaining mental function is:

  • Regular exercise
  • A strong support system
  • Confidence in one’s ability to handle any life event

Each of the above factors is not genetically linked. Short-term memory which declines with age can be improved through training. The key to teaching seniors is to allow them to work at their own pace and provide them time to practice new skills. 

Myth #4 The elderly don't pull their own weight.

In order to consider the contribution of the elderly to society, one must first define productivity. In America, productivity is defined as the amount of a good one produces and the amount of money one makes. The problem with this definition is that there are no qualifiers on the "good," whether useful or not. This definition also assumes that if one is not paid for a service, the service is of no importance. All the hours of volunteer service the elderly and others perform for family members, churches, hospitals and other organizations, therefore, would not count. Considering work in its traditional sense, the elderly may be excluded from the work force through mandatory retirement or age discrimination.  When the precursor to Social Security was enacted, most of the population did not live to the mandatory retirement age of 65. If they did, the assumption was that they would not be able to work due to disability. Life expectancy has changed but the retirement age hasn't.

Apart from the tangibles that the elderly contribute to society as care takers of sick family members, baby sitters for their grandchildren and volunteers in charitable organizations, we can also consider the intangibles of the wisdom and knowledge that they can impart from their years of experience in the world. There is a movement to formalize the legacy of this wisdom and knowledge in much the same way as the tangible goods of a person are bequeathed. An Ethical Will is simply a letter to family, friends and community containing one's thoughts on the values and beliefs that are important and how one's life reflected a commitment to these values and beliefs. Many want to write about lessons learned from life experiences. It is common to include hopes for the future for one's family, friends and community. The Will can end with a blessing for loved ones and or a statement of forgiveness for any unresolved grievance.

These myths are found in the book, Successful Aging, a review of the MacArthur Foundation Study on aging in America.

Student Activity

In order to bring home the message that the elderly person contribute tangibles as well as intangibles to society, have your students write their own Ethical Wills using the web site http://www.ethicalwill.com  as a reference. The students can use one of the three approaches presented under the link, "How to write an ethical will." If the students feel that this assignment has little value for them considering they are only in their 20s and 30s, point out that this exercise can assist them in choosing a life partner with common values. Expectant parents can determine a mutual approach to child rearing based on their beliefs. Even parents going through divorce can give tangible evidence to their children of their importance. Allow the students four to eight weeks to complete this assignment. Encourage the students to write a rough draft that will be edited every two to three weeks. This activity can also be used in a workshop setting to kick start the discussion of the elderly and their role in society.