Recognizing Older Americans Month – Aging Unbound

Join Keeping It REAL Caregiving for the return of Sunday Coffee Chat! To recognize Older Americans Month, KIRC will host a one-hour story sharing virtual gathering and we hope you’ll join us!

It has been a bit since we all gathered, so I thought this would be a great opportunity to reconnect, reintroduce myself to our newest KIRC family members, and catch up. I would also like to provide a platform where many of you can share your stories and any ‘lessons learned’ in your caregiving role you believe can help others.

Courtesy: Administration for Community Living

So, what is Older Americans Month? Keep reading to learn more!

Established in 1963, Older Americans Month (OAM) is celebrated every May. Led by the Administration for Community Living (ACL), OAM is a time for us to acknowledge the contributions and achievements of older Americans, highlight important trends, and strengthen our commitment to honoring our older citizens.

This year’s theme, Aging Unbound, offers an opportunity to explore a wide range of aging experiences and to promote the importance of enjoying independence and fulfillment by paving our own paths as we age.

This May, join us as we recognize the 60th anniversary of OAM and challenge the narrative on aging. Here are some ways we can all participate in Aging Unbound:

Embrace the opportunity to change. Find a new passion, go on an adventure, and push boundaries by not letting age define your limits. Invite creativity and purpose into your life by trying new activities in your community to bring in more growth, joy, and energy.

Explore the rewards of growing older. With age comes knowledge, which provides insight and confidence to understand and experience the world more deeply. Continue to grow that knowledge through reading, listening, classes, and creative activities.

Stay engaged in your community. Everyone benefits when everyone is connected and involved. Stay active by volunteering, working, mentoring, participating in social clubs, and taking part in activities at your local senior center or elsewhere in the community.

Form relationships. As an essential ingredient of well-being, relationships can enhance your quality of life by introducing new ideas and unique perspectives. Invest time with people to discover deeper connections with family, friends, and community members.

CALL TO ACTION

Your Keeping It REAL Call to Action? Think about the four bullet points above and be ready to share how you plan to put these concepts into place for yourself and your loved ones!

Remember – KIRC is a one-woman effort to help connect the dots between high-level policy and administrative matters impacting caregivers to those of us who are the ‘boots on the ground’ REAL caregivers.

So far this year, KIRC has accomplished the following:

And… we continue growing our newsletter family – we are now at 6k strong! Remember, our voices can become a powerful advocacy block when we work together.

I invite you to help support the ongoing efforts by upgrading to a paid subscription to the KIRC newsletter. You can also lift your voice. Consider contributing as a guest essayist in the In Your Own Words feature. Look for our latest edition coming up this week!

About KIRC: New family member to KIRC? Visit our website at KeepingItREALCaregiving.com to learn more about my story, the motivation and mission in creating this platform, and listen to a selection of podcasts from REAL caregivers. Thank you for the continued support!

About OAM: For more information, visit the official OAM website, follow ACL on Twitter and Facebook, and join the conversation using #OlderAmericansMonth.

See you Sunday for the May, 2023 edition of Sunday Coffee Chat!

Until next time~
Julia