Hot Topics: The Battle Against Rampant Ageism

The United States has 6,000 doctors who specialize in taking care of older people for a population of 300 million. The reason for the discrepancy, says geriatrician and aging expert Dr. Bill Thomas, is rampant ageism in our society.

If you make jokes about someone's sex or race you'd be accused of sexism or racism. But if you make jokes about someone's age, "it's situation comedy," Thomas says in a at a TEDx conference in San Francisco this week.

Why else would all the supposed aging experts you read or see on TV actually be anti-aging experts, Thomas asks in his talk. "Even though aging is hard-wired into our DNA we persist in thinking of aging as if it was a technical problem."

It's not going to stay that way, predicts Thomas, a University of Maryland professor of geriatric medicine and self-proclaimed "nursing-home abolitionist." Just as the huge demographic bubble known as baby boomers have changed every other phase of life they've encountered, this group born between 1946 and 1964 will change the transition from adulthood to what he terms "elderhood," Thomas says. "Grab the popcorn, because we haven't seen anything like this since the first crucible years when the boomers entered adulthood."

Contrary to popular belief, elderhood is a rich, deep, meaningful life stage, and the key to happiness is rebalancing the life cycle to recognize that, Thomas says. Because when all's said and done, "we're all elders in the making."

Health Care Older Adults' No. 1 Concern: Speaking of getting older, four in 10 people 50 and older say health care issues are the top challenge facing mid-life or older adults, according to a new AARP survey (PDF). More than nine in 10 say that staying healthy, mentally sharp and having adequate health insurance are extremely or very important to them, according to the survey, a phone poll of 29,000 people conducted earlier this year. However, only a third of those polled said they had everything they needed to "stay sharp, stay healthy and have adequate health insurance." Aside from health care, people surveyed say that vacations, travel, hobbies and spending time with their children and grandchildren are what they'd like to do next in their lives.

Father's Day Gift Ideas: Got a husband, dad or uncle who's hard to shop for (and who doesn't)? Eldergadget came up with a list of 10 nifty and age-neutral tech items that beat a tie any day. Heading the list is Apple's iPad 2, which improves upon the original by adding front- and rear-facing cameras so your favorite guy can videoconference with you using Skype or Apple's Facetime network. The new model also shoots HD photos and video, is lighter and thinner than the first iPad, and works with more than 300,000 apps. Also on Eldergadget's list of must-have Father's Day gifts: non-Apple tablet computers, including the Motorola Atrix, which converts from a tablet to a smartphone and vice versa; a cup-at-a-time coffee and espresso maker; Sony's Bloggie 3D HD camera and automobile rearview backup camera systems.

Your Life in Six Words. If you only had six words to describe yourself, what would they be? For author Marc Freedman, founder of Civic Ventures in San Francisco, those words would be: "AARP discount and two cribs, please!" Civic Ventures encourages people facing their own big shifts to write about their lives in six words. Enter by June 15 on Civic Ventures' Encore Careers Facebook page.

Last Word: "We don't have to necessarily wear padded shoulders that make us look like men or be serious 24 hours a day about everything. She can both kick ass more than anyone as a news person and make a great salad dressing. That's the ultimate liberation." -- Writer Jane Mayer in the New York Observer on friend Jill Abramson taking over as the New York Times' executive editor.