I’d Rather Risk Aging in Place

Taking risks doesn’t mean shirking responsibility, but embracing possibilities.

~ Vick Hope

Aging in Place

Years ago, Dr. Bill Thomas introduced a concept related to aging in general, and aging-in-place specifically, that forever changed my thinking. It was one of those ideas that is a game changer, and I’ve not only embraced it, but applied it. I would like to share it with new readers who may not have heard of it. The idea may just expand your thought process into the realm of possibility aging as it did mine.

RISK

Those of us in the business of aging in place are all too aware of the downside of RISKs associated with the concept. Isolation and falls are the big ones, followed by a long list of others. Bill Thomas, as a Geriatrician and environmental gerontologist, is also aware of the potential perils of growing older at home. And yet he was so bold as to ask us to rethink the concept of risk in relation to older adults living where they want to.

I will paraphrase Dr. Thomas here concerning RISK and older adults. When we think of RISK and the elderly, the tendency is to think immediately of the danger, or something bad will happen. But when you consider the definition of RISK as an outcome that’s different than expected—then there are two sides to consider.

The Two Sides of RISK

• What’s the probability that things are going to turn out worse than expected? That’s the downside of RISK.
• The other side is what’s the probability that things are going to turn out better than expected? That’s the Upside of RISK.

Dr. Thomas reminds us that lives should include a balance of Downside RISKs and Upside RISKs—because RISKs are a part of a NORMAL healthy life.

Perhaps it’s time we begin (and plan) to equate aging in place with the Upside of RISKs without denying or focusing solely on the downside.

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Dr. Bill Thomas is a physician, professor, entrepreneur, playwright, and performer whose wide-ranging work explores the terrain of human aging. His dedication to culture change and innovations for well-being led the Wall Street Journal to highlight Dr. Thomas as one of the nation’s “top 10 innovators” changing the future of retirement in America and US News and World Report named him to its list of “America’s best leaders.”

People hear that a doctor is coming to town to talk about aging, and they expect me to show up wearing a white coat with PowerPoint slides. I show up with a guitar, a faculty of musicians and performers, a theater set with costumes, music, art, mythology, storytelling, and neuroscience all mixed up. It’s kind of like a TED Talk on steroids.

~ Bill Thomas MD / drbillthomas.org