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Cross-generational Collaboration
Excerpt from an article by Maggi White in the Northwest Senior and Boomer News, June 2009.
Jenny Sasser believes in interaction between the generations, a topic she’ll address at the Aug. 7 annual meeting of the Oregon Gerontological Association.
Sasser’s presentation will not be a lecture. She doesn’t believe in "talking at" people; she seeks interaction. "Legacies go in all directions, not in a narrow category," she said.
Her interest is in how the aging experience is shaped in the context of life experiences and how happiness is impacted by where a person lives, their economics, ethnicity, educational level, healthcare, early life situations and other factors.
"We should not wait until people are older but be mindful now that the generations should support and flourish now. It should be a cross-generational collaboration to create a society that supports everybody, recognizing we all have a meaningful role to play," said Sasser.
She believes other fields besides gerontology should acknowledge the important aspects of the human experience that need to be studied. "The political landscape sees aging as problems, be we should see generational changes as having potential," said Sasser. "We lack a public discourse that includes older people in the process. We need more sustained conversation with the generation of elders telling us what they need. We need to change from the idea of ‘research on’ to ‘research with’."
Read the full article in the June 2009 Northwest Senior and Boomer News, Portland Metro/Vancouver edition.