HuffPost blog on aging features interview with Kaye
A HuffPost blog titled “Age is just a number” featured an interview with Len Kaye, director of the University of Maine Center on Aging. Kaye is an expert on issues related to aging, including home health care, productive aging, rural practice, family caregiving, controversial issues in aging, and men’s aging, the article states. The author wrote she sat down with Kaye to “take a deep dive into some of the issues around protecting, supporting and empowering older Americans.” Some of the attitudes about aging are leading to neglect, exclusion, and discrimination on a societal level, the blog states. “We don’t encourage or build in opportunities for older adults to remain a part of the hustle and bustle of daily life,” Kaye said, emphasizing the need for a “productive aging perspective.” With this perspective, instead of viewing aging as a downhill decline, we would view it as a phase in life in which there’s room for growth and development and a sense of hopefulness about the future, according to the post. Under this philosophy, individuals can contribute to society at any age, and it emphasizes the “strengths, abilities and assets” of older individuals, Kaye said.