Midlands Voices: Prepping for the coming aging boom – Omaha World-Herald

Hogan is chairman of the department of gerontology advisory board at the University of Nebraska at Omaha and founder of Home Instead Senior Care. Masters is a professor and the Terry Haney Chair of UNO’s department of gerontology.

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The year 2020 will be the start of the aging boom in the United States. The same people who made up the baby boom from 1946-64 are making headlines again, this time with their own aging process. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, in just 15 months, 77 million people will be 60 or older in the United States. Strikingly, by 2033, there will be more people over the age of 65 than under the age of 18 in the country. This aging phenomenon has already emerged in Europe and Asia. We now have more people 65 or older than under the age of 5 worldwide. In 2035, there will be more people aged 60 or older in China than the entire population of the United States. The aging boom is upon us.

This sizable demographic shift is already creating changes. We are seeing an impact on our workforce, in health care and in the economy as a whole. The aging boom’s many impacts require thoughtful planning and purposive action at a national scale.

As gerontology professionals and educators, we have known of this development for some time. Through research and practice, we have contributed to best practices in such important areas as caregiving; cognitive and physical health; and age-friendly communities. Together we are transforming our view of aging. Of course, there is more to do.

Our workforce needs more professionals who understand and appreciate aging. Staff trained in gerontology can help businesses and public sector agencies transform their operations from a 20th- to a 21st-century model that sees aging as an opportunity rather than a challenge.

Nebraska is fortunate to have robust educational programs working to serve our aging population. Whether securing a gerontology degree through UNO, a minor at UNO or the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, or a certificate at any of the four major NU campuses, our students are gaining the necessary knowledge to meet the needs of the aging boom. Graduates are making a difference in the public and private sectors, in areas such as elder law, home care and supportive housing.

This subject could not be more relevant to Nebraskans. Our need to prepare for an aging population is pressing. Projections from UNO’s Center for Public Affairs Research show 448,000 people over the age of 60 by 2020, roughly a quarter of our current population.

As faculty at a state-funded university, home care professionals and public servants, we are dedicated to preparing for the future needs of Nebraska’s aging population. We hope others will join us in that shared commitment.

As we near 2020, we’re ready for the aging boom. Are you?