Jack Broaddus came to our class on February 1 to discuss some of the current issues pertaining to caring for the aging population in the United States. While there are many important matters that are plaguing the United States’ healthcare system, the issues concerning how to handle the ever-increasing elderly population are far from being resolved. Jack Broaddus is the president and CEO of Sunnyside Communities, a nonprofit retired living home here in Harrisonburg that contains approximately one thousand residents. After briefly providing us with some background information about how his path led him to switching to careers and caring for the elderly, he transitions into providing our class with some staggering statistics. Amongst many of these statistics, the following captured my attention. One, the senior citizen population is growing at a significantly faster rate than the rest of the population. Two, the amount of people who are 65 and older is projected to double from 46 million to over 98 million by the year 2060. Three, older adults are working longer, which is significant because this does not enable family members to stay at home to take care of their aging parents or spouse. Four, the average life expectancy has increased to approximately 79 years old. Five, many elderly individuals have chronic health problems, which creates difficulties in terms of obtaining the necessary financial resources to continue treating these health problems.

So what does this mean exactly? Essentially, the geriatric population is increasing and our current healthcare health care system is having issues coping with the problems that arise from this. Broaddus delves into more detail about how Sunnyside Communities is making valiant effort to combat may of these issues. For example, this retirement facility accepts elderly individuals from all backgrounds and is willing to provide financial assistance to those who are in need. A supportive staff is an essential aspect of running a successful retirement home and thus, hiring staff who exercise intrinsic values such as compassion, patience and loyalty is a top priority. Patience is an important characteristic for staff members to possess, because many of the residents at Sunnyside (as well as other retired living homes) have medical history that often includes dementia or Alzheimer’s. Those who have these medical problems often switch their moods at any moment-instantly transitioning from a state of calm to an extremely agitated disposition. Although Broaddus shared many narratives and anecdotes concerning his experiences at Sunnyside Communities, two things stood out the most to me. First, he mentioned how many of the residents have dementia or Alzheimer’s, therefore staff members try to incorporate a variety of therapies in order to return the resident to their baseline. Some of these therapies include multicolored lights, comforting sounds and other various objects that are able to decrease agitation and anxiety. Broaddus mentioned a woman with Alzheimer’s who began speaking to herself in the mirror after experiencing an episode of agitation. Speaking to herself in the mirror was able to calm her down and initially, the staff members were stumped as to why this method was working so effectively for her. In the end, the staff members learned that the woman use to have a twin sister and thus, when she spoke to herself in the mirror, she believed that she was speaking with her twin sister in some way. I found this story extremely touching, because it conveys 1) how important it is to incorporate the use of social therapies when taking care of the elderly and 2) that medicine has its own set of limitations. The other significant point that Broaddus made relates to the alarming rate of depression amongst the elderly. Many family members often leave their aging parents at retirement facilities like Sunnyside and do not make ongoing efforts to visit or communicate with them. Other times, an elderly individual’s spouse has passed away and there is a sense of loss that does not dissipate. Ultimately, scenarios such as these cause many elderly individuals to fall into a state of depression due to lack of social interaction. This often leads to many residents deciding to succumb to their current state of depression and yearn for the next stage.

I truly appreciated the information that Jack Broaddus was sharing about the geriatric demographic. Following his talk, I remember walking away wondering, “why on Earth is nothing being done about this? This is a really huge issue!” Not only did his speech make me think about how I will approach helping care for my parents as they age, but also how I will bring solutions to this problem in the future when I begin practicing as a physician assistant. At the moment, I do not have any concrete solutions, because this is a topic that needs careful consideration and brainstorming. However, I realize that the first step is to exercise compassion and understanding when dealing with the elderly. I often think that many people view the elderly as individuals who were just born old-almost as if they did not live and partake in an entire lifetime of experiences. Further, I think many people do not immediately consider that EVERYONE ages and we will all have our time. Therefore, I think that solutions to the issues amongst the geriatric population will only begin to surface when people treat elderly individuals the same way they themselves would like to be treated when they reach that age.