Embracing Elderhood: Interview with Dr. Bill Thomas

Several months ago, I wrote about the "Greening of Aging" describing what Dr. Bill Thomas is doing to change the "landscape" of elderhood. He founded the Eden Alternative to reform nursing home care in the U.S. and has planned new communities for elder living.

Dr. Thomas was is Portland last week and was interviewed by Don Colburn of The Oregonian. Here's a link to the interview:

"Embrace elderhood, doctor tells boomers"

I especially enjoyed the way Dr. Thomas differentiates between "adulthood" and "elderhood" when he says:

"So when does elderhood begin? When you stop acting like an adult and start acting like an elder. Elders begin to look at the world and live their lives with a much greater emphasis on being rather than doing. They're much more concerned about relationship, emotion, intrinsic satisfaction. They're no longer obsessed with doing and getting and having. Therefore, they can be a voice in our culture and our society that can help us find our way. You can even argue that one of our major problems that we're facing in America is that we have a society that's run by adults without elder supervision. Historically and around the world, that's a rare and dangerous circumstance."

I encourage you to read the interview and invite your comments. You may also want to read his new book, "What Are Old People For? How Elders Will Save the World".