The Silver Generation — the 3Ds of Discomforts, De-socialised, and Disengaged

joelfirenze
Aug 27, 2017 · 2 min read

There are three buckets of issues that the silver generation faces, and are inter-related.

Discomfort

The first is physical Discomforts. What to do with the niggling joint pains, or the decreasing smoothness in everyday mobility? At what point do these discomforts become debilitating? And yet, some of these discomforts are not yet at the ability to draw serious medical attention. What to do about them?

De-socialisation

The second D is de-socialisation. This comes from them being retired or semi-retired, and there is no longer a workplace for them to be part of. They might have old khakis from long-time-back, but not sufficient to form genuine social ties. Meanwhile, the community centre might be too far away to walk and inconvenient to bus (see physical discomfort). Even if there might be activities nearby, they might not be willing to meet new friends. How can they form deep friendships that can last their remaining years?

Disengagement

The last D is disengagement. How can they engage with the world meaningfully? Some members of the silver generation might not have gotten basic education, and so find it difficult to engage with a textual-visual culture as they were brought up in a hearing-listening culture. Multiple textual languages are not a panacea; for them a person speaking in dialect with them is still the best — but that means that they cannot engage with the technologies before them.

We need to talk about all these, so that the silver generation can have years full of life.

)

joelfirenze

Written by

Looking at trends, systems, organizations, politics, industries and how they interact. Contribute to my efforts at www.patreon.com/scalable_analysis.

Welcome to a place where words matter. On Medium, smart voices and original ideas take center stage - with no ads in sight. Watch
Follow all the topics you care about, and we’ll deliver the best stories for you to your homepage and inbox. Explore
Get unlimited access to the best stories on Medium — and support writers while you’re at it. Just $5/month. Upgrade