Move over bingo and bridge.
The next generation of senior citizens might be trading daubers and aces for pickleball and Zumba.
The challenge of serving the younger senior citizens as well as the very old, is something senior citizen centers are facing as baby boomers begin to retire. For that reason, local providers are looking at ways to better serve people whose ages span a half century -- from 50-plus to more than 99.
The seniors of today aren't what our parents were," says Dotti Ward, agency support director at Homestead-based LifeSpan Inc., which runs 12 senior citizen centers. "They're not content to sit at home and go play bingo out a few nights a week."
LifeSpan, which serves southwest Allegheny County, has plans for a new senior center that will be attractive to the just retired, yet continue to serve the older population. Finding ways to reach that younger population is an issue shared by area senior citizen centers.
The numbers inside local senior centers are dropping in some areas, in part due to their stereotypical image, says Patty Oehm, LifeSpan community services director.
Women and men who have spent their lives in the working world are looking for physical activity, intellectual stimulation, travel groups and classes that range from pottery and jewelry making to yoga and lapidary (stone-finishing) techniques.
Virginia Jurofcik, Life-Span executive director, has had the vision for the center for a decade. LifeSpan is just one of the providers under the umbrella of the Allegheny County Area Agency on Aging that run local senior citizen centers.
"The vision is shared by many providers," Oehm says.
The proposed center would be open to any senior citizen able to get there, regardless of residency. ACCESS and Older Persons Transportation, a shared-ride service sponsored by the Area Agency on Aging, now are required to transport seniors to any center in the county where they can receive desired services.
After a usability and feasibility study of about 1,000 people in the region, GSP Consulting Corp., a Pittsburgh- based consulting firm contracted by LifeSpan, found that people are willing to drive between nine and 15 miles to use a center that provides a variety of activities.
"We really engaged the older adult so they have a voice in the center," Oehm says.
The survey found: 43 percent would like a coffee shop, cafeteria and buffet in addition to regular meals; 38 percent, deli service; 44 percent, sit-down meals; 44 percent, home service; 48 percent, health clinic; 68 percent, health screenings and shots; 53 percent, outdoor facilities; 43 percent, bingo, cards, darts; 68 percent, trips; 31 percent book clubs; and 56 percent, parties and socials.
LifeSpan is looking for "donated or cheap" land in the airport corridor region, where there is a large population of younger senior citizens, as the location for the proposed center, Ward says. Oehm says it could become reality within the next five years.
"It's so exciting to think of what the possibilities are," Ward says.
A steering committee has chosen a design and is in the process of seeking corporate and foundation funding. An architect has designed the building so that it can be constructed in phases, based on funding.
Some of the priorities would be a health and wellness center, full-size gym and walking track. Other features would be a satellite library, activities area, greenhouse, cafes, food service and adult day care.
"We're looking to make this a green building," Ward says.
A group of LifeSpan representatives along with Nina Segelson, director of the Plum Community Senior Center, traveled to visit the Older Persons Commission in Rochester, Mich., a facility that offers two pools, an indoor walking track, health and wellness center, a cafe, an art room, a computer lab, adult day care and a gift shop with items made by members.
Pickleball, a tennis-like game played with a large paddle, is among the popular exercise activities.
Marye Miller, the facility's director, says the idea was born after talking with athletes from the Michigan Senior Olympics.
"They didn't go to the senior centers because there was nothing there for them," she says. "Card playing, bingo, crafts, lunch -- there's got to be more to life than that."
Miller says the health and wellness programs are most popular.
"I think we'd spend a lot less money in this country if seniors were healthy," Miller says. "People want to live longer and healthier."
Plum senior center officials had plans for a new center that fell through and now hope to expand the existing building. It is becoming harder to schedule activities because space is at a premium in the current center.
"We're finding active, older adult programming is what's needed or wanted," administrative assistant Linda Boyer says. "That's why we want to expand."
Plum's center is one of the few places that offers Zumba Gold, a lower-intensity exercise program based on Latin music and dance.
That type of activity is what is driving the need for a senior center that "is not your father's Oldsmobile," Oehm says.
"It's a whole different mindset and mentality toward the aging process. I see it only growing and becoming bigger and better.
"That's the way to age -- to go out kicking."
