FEATURE ARTICLE:
Treasuring Our Seniors

As the Covid Pandemic took hold of the country, tracking of death rates began. It was no surprise that older Americans, those above 65 comprised the highest percentage of these deaths. In our youth obsessed culture, losing older people to a dreadful disease was not unexpected …. After All, they were OLD. Living in nursing homes or senior living facilities, “It’s not as if young people were dying”.

We beg to differ. These people are OUR people. Our clients, their families, Our Pet therapy beneficiaries, Our friends, since it is a rare client who does not become a friend.

The media focus is on the enormous financial burden seniors create for those younger people “supporting them”, that seniors will bankrupt the health care system or the social security system will collapse under the burden of a growing senior population.

What we don’t hear in the midst of all of these doomsday stories — which are not based in evidence, and are simply wrong — is how seniors contribute to society.

The fact that people live longer than ever should be celebrated as one of the biggest success stories in history.