July 8, 2025 • 30 mins
In this episode, welcome Arielle Galinsky, Harvard Kennedy School MPP candidate, CEO and co‑founder of The Legacy Project Inc., and Teen Vogue contributor, to discuss the power of intergenerational advocacy.
Arielle shares her personal journey, from her passion for aging policy to co‑founding The Legacy Project at Tufts, where college students interview and build friendships with older adults to preserve their life stories. She explains how these connections combat isolation, foster empathy, and spark policy engagement.
Whether you're a Gen Z changemaker, a caregiver, or simply care about making aging policy more equitable, this episode highlights how intergenerational connection leads to civic action and systems change.
Resources:
The Trump Administration Is Going After Your Grandma, Teen Vogue Article
Aging Unfiltered: The Era of Elders – with Dana Griffin
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Gretchen (00:05):
Hello and welcome to The Age Guide Podcast,
perspectives on the Aging Journey.
Today we are joined by Arielle Galinsky,writer advocate, and co-founder of
the Legacy Project to talk about thepower of intergenerational advocacy.
Arielle recently made waves witha Teen Vogue article calling on
(00:29):
young people to stand up for olderadults and protect vital programs
like the Older Americans Act.
Her message hits especially close tohome right now here in Illinois, we just
held an advocacy day to mark the 60thanniversary of the Older Americans Act,
and older adults caregivers advocatescame to gather to March, write letters
(00:55):
and speak out against proposed cutsand harmful restructuring to the bill.
Arielle is helping to build a newgeneration of voices who understand
that aging is everyone's issue and thatcombating ageism starts with showing up.
So welcome.
Thank you so much forbeing here with us today.
(01:18):
Thanks for having me, Gretchen.
Wonderful.
So your recent Teen Vogue article makessuch a compelling case for why young
people should advocate for older adults.
What sparked your passion for thistopic and why did you choose Teen Vogue
as the platform to share that message?
I thought that was so interesting.
Arielle (01:38):
Yeah, no, I'm, I'm happy to talk about that.
So, I, I've always been passionate,personally about aging policy.
That's my area of study.
It's my North star.
Um, and it's what I planto pursue my career doing.
I do realize that aging policyis not the sexiest of topics and
for a lot of young people, that'snot the key area of interest.
(01:59):
Um, and I will also say that.
The federal administration, there'sa lot happening, you know, with
crackdowns on immigration withhigher education, um, being attacked.
There are a lot of things and policyareas that I know a lot of young people
are worried about in this currentmoment, and I think that is critical
that there's advocacy in that realm.
(02:20):
Mm-hmm.
And I will say with aging policy,while I always believe that it should
be an intergenerational movement,I. Specifically and felt very
strongly at this current moment,especially with everything going
on, as there as it, um, relates toACL potentially being eliminated,
(02:41):
restructured, however you wanna put it.
Gretchen (02:43):
Right.
The federal agency, the administrationand community living that oversees
the funding that goes out forOlder Americans Act services.
Yes.
They were talking aboutrestructuring that.
Arielle (02:53):
Yes.
And the, the potential cuts withthis one big, beautiful bill to
Medicaid and Medicare and how thatwill affect older populations.
Mm-hmm.
That wasn't even in the radar when Iwrote this article, but all of it Right.
Has such a great impact on agingpopulations and I think what often
goes by the radar is that this affectsyounger people as well, both in the
current moment and in the future moment.
(03:14):
And my hope was to draw attention to that.
And I will say that.
You know, this doesn't get a lot ofattention in magazines like Teen Vogue.
I was a very avid reader of Teen Vogue,and I would read about celebrities
and pop culture and sometimes policyareas of interest, but not about aging.
Yeah.
And I knew that the readershipis, tends to be younger.
(03:35):
It tends to be, you know,teens, 20 somethings who, uh.
Care and are interested in what theyhave to put out, and so I felt like
it was a fitting placement to beable to bring attention to something
that might not be on the normalsocial media cycle for a younger.
Mm-hmm.
To bring attention to the, thecritical areas of interest and why
(03:56):
people should care and get involved.
Gretch (03:58):
I'm so glad that you did that, that you thought about that
connection and, and Teen Vogue did turnout to be a great placement for it.
Right.
And like you said, I think a lotof people see these issues and.
And even the issue of ageism, which is thetopic of our podcast series right now, is
an issue that only affects older people.
Right.
(04:18):
And so how do you think it shows upin the lives of younger people too?
How can younger generations benefitfrom being a part of this fight?
Arielle (04:27):
Absolutely.
I mean, I, I'll start with more broadly.
I think combating ageism is creatinga more socially acceptable society
that doesn't discriminate basedon different characteristics.
And I think that goes with ageas it goes with, uh, many other
characteristics and factors as a person.
So I think that's one reasonwhy people should care.
(04:47):
But I also think it'sa misconception that.
Solely older adults face ageism.
I mean mm-hmm.
Really, it's very prevalent, whetheryou see it in the media about the 2024
election or, uh, within the workplace.
Ageism is, is a real thing as itrelates to older Americans, but
it on the other spectrum, it alsoaffects younger people as well.
There's been so many times that as ayounger person, uh, who's passionate
(05:10):
about health policy and politics andall these things, I've been told by.
Individuals older than myself who've beenin this field, that it's not my place.
That it, this is, you know, I should paymy dues before I go into the advocacy
circle, before I go to lawmakers and talkabout why these areas are so critical.
Or my message comes off as cutesy, right?
(05:31):
Because I'm.
23 years old, and I care so deeplyabout these policy issues, but
I've started doing this workmany, many, you know, years ago.
And when you're in your teens,you're not taken as seriously.
And so I think that is a directimpact of ageism being too young to
be effective or being perceived to notbe effective, or that you don't have
something to contribute, whether that'sin the workplace, whether that's in
(05:53):
the advocacy realm, or whether that's.
In many other areas, I think what'scritical is that there's a recognition
that people of all ages can contributethat intergenerational perspective
is important, and that countingsomeone out merely due to their age is
inherently ageist and mm-hmm must besomething that employers, lawmakers,
(06:14):
uh, media must take into account.
So,
yes, I totally agree with that.
And I think all generations need tosupport each other in this, in this fight.
So like you said, it takes awayyour voice, whether you're a younger
person or an older person, when you'renot taken seriously, when you're
not allowed a seat at the table.
That affects all of us, becausewe're missing that perspective.
(06:35):
So, mm-hmm.
I, I totally agree with you, andwe've talked to a number of advocates
who have said that they thinkageism goes across the age spectrum.
But it's really good to hear froma younger person, you know, how
it has affected you personally.
'cause that really hits home.
Now let's switch gears a little bit.
You've co-founded the Legacy project,and I understand that that is to
(06:58):
build connections between generations.
Tell us more about that.
What does the project aim to do, andhow does it serve as a tool to challenge
this ageism that we're talking about?
Ariel (07:10):
Yeah.
Well thank you for asking about TLP.
So the legacy project, or TLPby its nickname is, uh, now
growing to be across the nation.
It started in Massachusetts andTuf at Tufts University where,
where myself and my fellowco-founders all went to undergrad.
We started it there as anorganization that stopped to.
Bring together college students with olderadults in our local host communities.
(07:34):
And something that is really criticaland unique about our project in terms
of intergenerational programming is thatit's really reliant on storytelling.
So older adults sharetheir life histories with.
Their younger matches andlikewise, your their younger
matches share about their stories.
And the bidirectionalcomponent is really critical.
It's something that we believe that agedivide friendships, age gap friendships.
(07:58):
Something that makes it reallyworthwhile is that you can learn
from one another and that both.
Both the older and the youngerbring something to the table.
And that's what TLP really tries todo through our storytelling lens.
So over the course of an academic year,the younger and older match meet every
week during the fall semester to learnabout one another, to conduct interviews.
And in the spring semester, thoseinterviews in those stories are
(08:21):
then taken into the form of.
Prose into a chapter of a book thatthen gets published as a collective.
The whole chapter publishes a bookwith all the life histories of
the older adults and some snippetsof the younger person as well.
And so it's a really wonderful way touplift legacy, of course, also to create
these intergenerational friendships,which we believe is a tool to combat
(08:43):
social isolation and loneliness, giventhat younger and older adults are some
of the most heavily affected by this.
Epidemic of social isolation andloneliness, but also to better understand
one another, to realize that even thoughthere might be 50, 60, 70 years that
divide, that that friendship, thatthere's still commonalities, there's still
shared passions, um, that allow for thatfriendship to really bloom and blossom.
(09:06):
And so.
We believe that through this processthere's a better understanding
about different generationsthrough getting to know the older,
younger, and it goes both ways.
And through that these, these ideas,these pervasive ideas of ageism against
the, an older generation or against theyounger generation, lessen because you
better understand that person, better,understand where they're coming from,
(09:29):
and realize that you actually have morein common that you might have thought.
Prior.
Gretchen (09:32):
Yes.
Those relationships, they'rejust critical, right?
Mm-hmm.
So how do people get involvedin the legacy project?
Are they students or not necessarily?
Arielle (09:41):
Yeah, so we have students who, um, start chapters
at their college or university.
Oh, okay.
We have, um, 25, uh, that willbe at, uh, active this fall,
which is really exciting.
And yeah, around the country.
Around the country?
Yes.
Wow.
We have some in Massachusettsand now some in California.
So really spanning the coast tocoast, which is really exciting.
(10:03):
I will, it's students who find us or wefind them if, if we're able, it's often
students who are passionate about, youknow, maybe they're pre-med, maybe they're
interested in studying sociology andwanna better understand older adults.
Oftentimes they are, uh, passionateabout journalism and want to better
understand how they can use their, uh,storytelling talents to act actively
(10:27):
and authentically convey the storiesof people in their communities and.
I think the shared through line is it'speople who care about wanting to better
understand people that they might not getto interact with on a day-to-day basis.
And so we've had these chapter leaderswho are real stars in their college or
university communities and who start achapter of TLP and they're an affiliate
(10:48):
of us and we work one-on-one withthem to help them grow their chapter,
really build uh, other students who arepassionate about this work into their,
into their work on their college campus.
And then.
We find a senior community in thatarea that they can pair one-on-one
with for the academic year.
Gretchen (11:03):
Oh, perfect.
That's really interesting.
We had a similar project onthe podcast a few episodes ago.
It was ra, have you heard of Aldera?
That's a intergenerational mentorship,um, online virtual project.
I feel like there's, there would be alot of synergy, um, between your two,
um, groups kind of working on this,breaking down the barriers and forming
(11:28):
those relationships and, and talking andsharing story and that kind of thing.
Arielle (11:33):
Yeah.
And that's wonderful.
I I've definitely heard of their workand the virtual components impactful
because there's so many older adultsthat might not live close to a college
or university campus, but stillwanna purchase this type of work.
And so, mm-hmm.
Definitely looking, TOP is looking,how can we expand, um, remotely as well
to really capture those, those oldersand youngers who wanna partake Yes.
(11:54):
Be based in a college or university town.
Gre (11:57):
All right, Arielle, can you tell us a little bit about advocacy
efforts that you've been involved withor that you're currently involved with
that are addressing issues of age equityor general advocacy around legislation?
Arielle (12:13):
Yeah, absolutely.
So I am very passionate about all thingsrelated to long-term care financing.
I really believe that the UScan have a better model that.
Isn't reliant on individuals spendingon their assets to qualify for
Medicaid or uh, having enough financialwherewithal to be able to private
(12:34):
pay for a nursing home facility.
I think there's a happy mediumthat isn't so reliant on familial
caregivers having to give up theirjobs to cover long-term care.
And I say all because other countriesare doing it better, and I believe
that we can find a federal and state.
Based models that could betterpay for long-term care in the us.
And
Gretc (12:53):
so that sounds wonderful.
Let's hear what you've got.
Ariell (12:56):
Um, so Washington State, as you might know, is one of, is
the only current state currentlythat has, has a, a state-based
long-term care insurance program.
Um, it is, you pay into thesystem for about 10 years and.
You are able to get a payout of, ofaround $30,000 after you've qualified,
and it's wonderful that they were ableto politically get that through because
(13:19):
no other state has been able to replicatethat to date on the federal level.
There is a bill, uh, called the WISH Act.
Um, it was sponsored by representativeTom Swazi from New York.
Bill seeks to kind of revolutionizewhat long-term care financing in
the US can look like, and it doesso by providing a catastrophic
(13:41):
financing mechanism or proposing a ficatastrophic financing mechanism that
would basically kick in, uh, dependingon your income between the years of.
One to five years of whenyou might be eligible.
And in that gap time you wouldlikely get private long-term care
insurance or you would rely onfamilial supports as people do today.
(14:02):
And really what this would do is itwould provide a federal catastrophic
model for long-term care and it wouldincentivize private long-term care
insurance companies to come into themarket, provide more affordable plans so
people can have coverage and not worryabout not being able to afford their care.
Now it.
A perfect model, maybe not.
I think there's a lot of criticismback and forth, but there's also a lot
(14:23):
of praise that there is some focus onlong-term care financing and wanting to
reinitiate something on the federal level.
After the Class Act, which was a partof the Affordable Care Act, was, you
know, it never really went anywhere.
Um, and so that was the last time thatwas that there was federal attention
on a long-term care financing program.
(14:43):
And so all of this isto say is the Wish Act.
It is currently in Congress.
It's bipartisan.
There's a Republican co-sponsor and itdoesn't have a ton of attention right now.
Maybe it's not the political moment, butit is something I believe very deeply in.
There's a number of different co-sponsorson the bill, um, a number of different
organizations that support it, and Ibelieve strongly in trying to bring more
(15:05):
young people into this conversation,getting them to support the bill, or
at least speak to their legislatorsabout the importance of moving forward
a long-term care financing option.
For our parents and for ourselvesto be able to afford care
when we, um, reach that age.
So
yes, and that affects all of us,even before we're at the age where we need
(15:27):
to start thinking about long-term care.
Right, because if you end up as ayoung person needing to care for a
family member, a loved one, correct.
That affects your income.
Your ability to stay full-time inyour job and to care for your children
or you know, other family members.
So it really impacts each one of us indifferent ways throughout the lifespan.
(15:49):
So I think that sounds really important
Arielle (15:51):
and there's so many youth caregivers and I think
that's often overlooked there.
The an estimate recently, I believe,by a Hopkins study that showed that.
There's 3.6 estimated youth caregivers,3.6 million, excuse me, 3.6 million.
6 million youth caregiversin the United States.
You don't hear those stories veryoften and those individuals, right?
(16:12):
I, I saw what, you know, asmy, uh, grandmother was going
through, um, in need of long-termcare and supporting that effort.
There's a lot of work that goes into beinga caregiver, especially for the school.
Caregiver.
Right.
And so you have to make decisionsabout whether to you go to
school, go to extracurriculars, dothings that normal, you know, you
(16:34):
associate to a normal childhood.
Mm-hmm.
And not that those attention and resourcesare being diverted to being a caregiver.
And so there can be more state andfederal supports to ensure that youth
caregivers are provided with otheroptions to, to, uh, make sure that care
can still be received while also beingable to experience a normal youth.
Gretchen (16:52):
Yes.
So any kind of solutionsthat we could come up with.
Even like you said, just startingthe dialogue around what can we do
about this and making sure that weelevate that so that legislators
start thinking about this.
And even if it's not, like you said,the perfect Bill, we should be having
these conversations at a national level.
Arielle (17:10):
I will say like the conversations is such a critical piece
that I think is often overlooked.
Think about the publiceducation around long-term care.
There's a very high percentageof Americans that believe
Medicare covers long-term care.
It doesn't.
It covers, yeah.
They're shocked
Gr (17:25):
when they find out that yes.
Right.
Arielle (17:27):
That's a public education failure.
Right.
If we're not provide the, you know,if the federal government does
not provide the system of care.
At least we must make surethat people are aware of that.
So when that they turn the age of six,five and they're in need of long-term
care, that they're keen on the factthat they should have, you know, that
saving would all those years while theywere working would've been of benefit.
(17:48):
Mm-hmm.
Medicare is not tocover that cost of care.
Mm-hmm.
Um, that I think is a, afailure on the part of.
Everyone involved in this work, right?
Yeah.
Like we need to do more to ensurethat this is in the mainstream
of the fact of the gaps in thelong-term care financing system.
Gretchen (18:06):
Yes.
And I wonder if part of it, I meanthis is just conjecture on my part,
but part of it is that none of us, I.
Think that we're gonnaend up in long-term care.
Nobody's plan for their olderyears is to be in long-term care.
We ask that question all thetime when we're doing, um,
symposiums and workshops and stuff.
How many in your this room, raiseyour hand if you have a plan to
(18:26):
go into long-term care someday?
Nobody.
That is, nobody's planfor how they wanna age.
Right.
It's not something thatwe look forward to.
There's a real stigma around it, and partof that is because we need to change.
Long-term care and makeit a better place to live.
But part of it is also that we need to beinvesting more in home and community-based
services so that we have the option tonot go into long-term care if we want to.
(18:49):
And it sounds like that's, you know, thebill is looking at supporting caregivers.
That's how we're gonna stay at home.
Ariel (18:56):
Yeah.
And it provides you, I mean, the WalkCares program in Washington state, right?
It provides that payout,that 30,000 payout.
So you can choose the way youwanna spend that money, right?
And I think that's the critical piece.
The, the, the ability to choosehow you wanna age and how
you wanna age with dignity.
And if that's in a nursing home,then that's, that's your choice.
But if that's in your, if that'sin your home environment, then you
(19:18):
should also be provided with thefinancial means to be able to do that.
Gretchen (19:21):
Yes.
Yes.
And it ends up saving the statetons of money in Medicaid anyway,
as Medicaid has to step in once youspend down all your funds and it,
I'm sure it costs less to give that$30,000 payout than to have somebody
in long-term care for a few years even.
It'll work with.
Right,
Arielle (19:39):
right.
And I will say it's a partial system.
A lot.
There's probably, there's a bigpercentage of people that will need more
than that funding, but for some yeah.
That also does fall back, atleast for the first few needing
Gretchen (19:50):
care.
Right.
At least it's something mm-hmm.
To, to help with the, the out-of-pocketcosts, the caregivers pay, all of that.
Yeah.
Arielle (19:58):
Yeah.
Gretchen (19:59):
Absolutely.
Wonderful.
Is there a way for peopleto get involved directly?
Do you have any kind of like actionalert or advocacy campaign, a letter
writing campaign, or anything?
Yeah, so it's funny you ask thatthere's actually currently in motion
the coalition is putting together, um,uh, an advocacy page and as well as a
(20:19):
amplification toolkit for individualswhen they go speak to their legislators,
whether that's on the state or federalside, to talk about long-term care
financing and specifically aboutthe WISH Act if they're meeting with
members of Congress or their staff.
Um, and so, uh, if you reach out tome, uh, Gretchen, maybe you can put
my email, I can, I can text yes.
Yes, we'll definitely put it in the show notes.
(20:39):
That would be great.
And we can also put that, um, we can linkto it from our webpage and we have an
action alert, um, page at age guide too.
And this is something we'd like to lookinto connecting and linking to yours.
That sounds great.
That's.
So what else can young peopledo to make a difference?
Maybe they don't reallyknow where to start.
(21:00):
I think the wish act might be onegood place to start supporting that.
But what would you say to young peoplewho are, you know, maybe even teenagers,
those in their twenties and thirtiesand they, they wanna become an ally
in this fight against ageism and theywanna try to champion older adults.
Where, where should they start?
Ari (21:17):
I mean, I would say getting involved in an intergenerational
program is a wonderful way to do that.
Um, whether that's somethinglike the Legacy Project, which.
Reach out to us.
We're, we're happy to have you join us.
Um, or another one of the numerousintergenerational, awesome
organizations operating on thenational and in local levels.
(21:38):
Getting involved in work thatdirectly, um, you know, engages with
older adults in your community is awonderful way to, um, change the way
you might think about older populations.
Change your own perceptions and allowyou to be, uh, a better advocate.
I will also say that.
Something I believe in strongly is, uh,the sharing of co generational power.
(22:00):
And what we spoke about before is thatoften it's viewed that young people
can't be as effective a leader becauseyou haven't had x numbers of years of
experience or whatever it might be.
But actively seek out places andopportunities where you can share
that power, whether that's sittingon local boards, um, within your
community, in your college or universityor hometown, which is something
that I do in my own community.
(22:22):
Um, and I might be the youngestperson involved, but I. That's okay,
because that's part of being the cogenerational power sharing, right?
Or whether that's, uh, findingopportunities to launch a civic engagement
project with, with an older adult and.
Your own community.
That can also be a powerful way.
Try to find opportunities or createthem yourself that will allow you to,
to see and, and do firsthand that,that co generational power sharing.
(22:47):
I'll also say like on the advocacylevel, there are a number of
wonderful organizations doing thiswork that you can, uh, do your part
in sharing with your community.
I think a lot of people justdon't have aging policy.
Issues on their radar, or even if they areaware, it's not the fight that they choose
to invest their resources and time into.
And so start a conversationon your college campus.
(23:09):
Imagine you had on college campusesand universities across the country
talking about these issues of socialsecurity or Medicare in a positive
way, in a way that's trying to buildup the, the potential, finding a
solution rather than just continuouslytalking about the negative doom
and gloom of what our future, yeah.
Might look like, right?
Like bringing those conversationsto, to the surface is so critical and
(23:33):
joining external advocacy organizations,whether that's the American Society on
Aging, whether that's A A RP, justicein Aging, national Council on Aging.
There's so many wonderfulorganizations that are doing
this work on a day-to-day basis.
They're, they all volunteer opportunitiesin ways that you can either engage via
internship or engage in their volunteercircles or in some of their public
policy committees that allow you toreally be invested in in this work.
(23:57):
I might also add, if you're a youngperson that cares about aging, I.
There's not many of us, so you canreach out to me and I would love
to talk to you and we can figureout how to do this work together.
Gretchen (24:07):
Excellent.
I'm so glad you're availablefor that kind of thing.
I, and I would love it ifyou will share this podcast
afterwards once we release it too.
Absolutely.
Yes.
We get a broader listening, um, groupbecause that's part of what this podcast
is trying to do is create awarenessand if we can have more younger people
hearing the stories and the opportunities.
(24:30):
That's just gonna help everybody.
Arielle (24:33):
I totally agree.
I will also say one thing that has reallybenefited me is going to conferences,
going to, um, I love going to AmericanSociety on Aging Conference, and I
learned so much by just hearing abouthow, how much breadth there is within
the aging policy, aging services world.
I think oftentimes it's,it's seen as, you know.
Aging is very niche, but there's actuallyso much happening in this work for
(24:57):
you to potentially get involved in.
I think conferences area great way to do that.
And then also I'm, one more thingthat came to mind that I did during
my time when I was an undergrad isyou can train to become an ombudsman.
An ombudsman is an advocatewithin, um, uh, you know, within
a community, within a state.
It's in every state.
Every program operates alittle bit differently and.
(25:18):
The different strengths and weaknesses,but you can train to become an advocate
for local nursing home residents.
And you served directly as a bridgebetween the nursing home communities
and the state, ensuring thatindividuals living in, uh, nursing
home institutions have, um, someoneadvocating for them for, uh, better
dignified conditions and and whatnot.
So that's an awesome way to tto tap into the work directly.
Gretchen (25:41):
A really good volunteer opportunity.
Yes.
Yeah.
Thank you for those suggestions and ideas.
Lots of great ideas.
You're just full of good ideas.
Arielle.
Um, looking ahead, what is your hopefor the future of aging in our society,
for your loved ones and for yourself?
Arielle (26:02):
Yeah, so not to talk about long-term care again, but I
think that's my, that's my issuerthat I care so deeply about.
There's everything in aging I'm keen on.
Mm-hmm.
You know, I'm in, invested in seeingsuccess, but I think in long-term
care specifically, I would love tosee within my lifetime, Massachusetts.
Pass a state-based long-termcare financing insurance program
(26:24):
like Washington State did.
Mm-hmm.
And I think there's potential,because there was a bill passed last
year to fund an actuarial study on along-term care financing mechanism.
The study just came out this past week.
You could Oh, that's exciting.
It was by Milliman who conducted theanalysis, and I'm hoping this serves
as a perpetuating force for theElder Affairs Committee and for other
(26:46):
advocates to see through a plan inMassachusetts, which is where I grew up.
And then I hope.
This becomes a model and aframework for a national model.
I would love for the United States.
It is my life's dream to see theUnited States put forth a federal
long-term care insurance program.
It might not be the wish act exactly.
It might be.
Mm-hmm.
(27:06):
Completely different.
A lot of countries have models that wecan look to to see how successful and what
were the advantages and the drawbacks,but I truly believe that there is a way
that we can do it better, that peopledon't have to worry when they hit the
age of 65, if they need long-term care,whether they will be able to afford that
care, whether they will have to havetheir child stop working so that they can
(27:27):
care for them, whether they have to, uh,give away basically all of their wealth.
That they wanted to see if to passon through an intergenerational
transfer, um, to pay for their careor to be able to qualify for Medicaid
long-term care, we can do it better.
And there's some states that have pilotinitiatives that are really trying to
work towards this, but that's my goal.
(27:47):
And also to uplift the stories.
Of caregivers and direct care workersand to address that healthcare workforce
shortage and really demonstrate how muchthat is benefiting all of us to have
these individuals really caring for olderadults and people with disabilities.
Um, and so I think that work oftengoes under the radar and we need
to do more to bring it to surface.
Gr (28:09):
Those are some great dreams.
We're right there with you.
We'll, we'll just need to keepworking on this and build a
better future for all of us.
I love your ideas.
Ariel (28:17):
Maria, I hope that it all comes to, comes to be through an
intergenerational advocacy movement.
That's my my goal, right?
I hope that young people.
And older people are able to workcollectively in moving and shepherding
forward a lot of these policy initiatives.
I really believe that that is the wayof the future and that no one generation
(28:38):
should hold this burden on their own.
It's a collective movement to, tosee a better world for, for people,
for older adults, and for peoplewith disabilities and ensuring that
they can receive care with dignity.
Gretchen (28:49):
Mm-hmm.
Right.
I love the way you see the bigpicture through all of this and how
each of us has a, a role to play.
Arielle (28:55):
Yeah.
G (28:56):
Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts and your passion with us.
It was a joy to have you.
Ar (29:03):
Thank you so much, Gretchen.
It was such a pleasure.
Val (29:15):
Hello, and welcome to your Medicare Minutes.
My name is Val Guzman and I'mthe benefit Access specialist.
Here at Age Guide.
On this episode, we are going to talkabout Medicare supplement plans, Medicare
supplement plans, also known as Medigap.
Plans are extra coverage thatyou can purchase to cover the
costs that Medicare doesn't pay.
This includes deductibles and copaysthat you normally pay out of pocket.
(29:39):
Coming from employer provided plans,it often surprises people how much
you pay with just Medicare, and thefact that there is no limit to how
much you pay per year with Medicare.
Medigap plans give you a peace ofmind of knowing that you're more fully
covered when you go to the doctoror hospital, but a ship counselor
can give you more details about howthese plans work and help you find a
(30:02):
Medigap plan that works best for you.
Gretchen (30:05):
Thank you for listening to the Age Guide
Perspectives on the Aging Journey.
Age guide coordinates andadministers many services for older
adults in northeastern Illinois.
Our specially trained professionalsare available to answer questions
and connect you with localservice providers and resources.
If you are interested in theseservices or want to learn more,
(30:28):
go to our website@ageguide.org orcall our offices at (630) 293-5990.
Please follow our podcast so you canbe notified in your streaming account.
Thank you, and we will see younext time on The Age Guide Podcast.
Hello and welcome to The Age Guide Podcast,
perspectives on the Aging Journey.
Today we are joined by Arielle Galinsky,writer advocate, and co-founder of
the Legacy Project to talk about thepower of intergenerational advocacy.
Arielle recently made waves witha Teen Vogue article calling on
(00:29):
young people to stand up for olderadults and protect vital programs
like the Older Americans Act.
Her message hits especially close tohome right now here in Illinois, we just
held an advocacy day to mark the 60thanniversary of the Older Americans Act,
and older adults caregivers advocatescame to gather to March, write letters
(00:55):
and speak out against proposed cutsand harmful restructuring to the bill.
Arielle is helping to build a newgeneration of voices who understand
that aging is everyone's issue and thatcombating ageism starts with showing up.
So welcome.
Thank you so much forbeing here with us today.
(01:18):
Thanks for having me, Gretchen.
Wonderful.
So your recent Teen Vogue article makessuch a compelling case for why young
people should advocate for older adults.
What sparked your passion for thistopic and why did you choose Teen Vogue
as the platform to share that message?
I thought that was so interesting.
Arielle (01:38):
Yeah, no, I'm, I'm happy to talk about that.
So, I, I've always been passionate,personally about aging policy.
That's my area of study.
It's my North star.
Um, and it's what I planto pursue my career doing.
I do realize that aging policyis not the sexiest of topics and
for a lot of young people, that'snot the key area of interest.
(01:59):
Um, and I will also say that.
The federal administration, there'sa lot happening, you know, with
crackdowns on immigration withhigher education, um, being attacked.
There are a lot of things and policyareas that I know a lot of young people
are worried about in this currentmoment, and I think that is critical
that there's advocacy in that realm.
(02:20):
Mm-hmm.
And I will say with aging policy,while I always believe that it should
be an intergenerational movement,I. Specifically and felt very
strongly at this current moment,especially with everything going
on, as there as it, um, relates toACL potentially being eliminated,
(02:41):
restructured, however you wanna put it.
Gretchen (02:43):
Right.
The federal agency, the administrationand community living that oversees
the funding that goes out forOlder Americans Act services.
Yes.
They were talking aboutrestructuring that.
Arielle (02:53):
Yes.
And the, the potential cuts withthis one big, beautiful bill to
Medicaid and Medicare and how thatwill affect older populations.
Mm-hmm.
That wasn't even in the radar when Iwrote this article, but all of it Right.
Has such a great impact on agingpopulations and I think what often
goes by the radar is that this affectsyounger people as well, both in the
current moment and in the future moment.
(03:14):
And my hope was to draw attention to that.
And I will say that.
You know, this doesn't get a lot ofattention in magazines like Teen Vogue.
I was a very avid reader of Teen Vogue,and I would read about celebrities
and pop culture and sometimes policyareas of interest, but not about aging.
Yeah.
And I knew that the readershipis, tends to be younger.
(03:35):
It tends to be, you know,teens, 20 somethings who, uh.
Care and are interested in what theyhave to put out, and so I felt like
it was a fitting placement to beable to bring attention to something
that might not be on the normalsocial media cycle for a younger.
Mm-hmm.
To bring attention to the, thecritical areas of interest and why
(03:56):
people should care and get involved.
Gretch (03:58):
I'm so glad that you did that, that you thought about that
connection and, and Teen Vogue did turnout to be a great placement for it.
Right.
And like you said, I think a lotof people see these issues and.
And even the issue of ageism, which is thetopic of our podcast series right now, is
an issue that only affects older people.
Right.
(04:18):
And so how do you think it shows upin the lives of younger people too?
How can younger generations benefitfrom being a part of this fight?
Arielle (04:27):
Absolutely.
I mean, I, I'll start with more broadly.
I think combating ageism is creatinga more socially acceptable society
that doesn't discriminate basedon different characteristics.
And I think that goes with ageas it goes with, uh, many other
characteristics and factors as a person.
So I think that's one reasonwhy people should care.
(04:47):
But I also think it'sa misconception that.
Solely older adults face ageism.
I mean mm-hmm.
Really, it's very prevalent, whetheryou see it in the media about the 2024
election or, uh, within the workplace.
Ageism is, is a real thing as itrelates to older Americans, but
it on the other spectrum, it alsoaffects younger people as well.
There's been so many times that as ayounger person, uh, who's passionate
(05:10):
about health policy and politics andall these things, I've been told by.
Individuals older than myself who've beenin this field, that it's not my place.
That it, this is, you know, I should paymy dues before I go into the advocacy
circle, before I go to lawmakers and talkabout why these areas are so critical.
Or my message comes off as cutesy, right?
(05:31):
Because I'm.
23 years old, and I care so deeplyabout these policy issues, but
I've started doing this workmany, many, you know, years ago.
And when you're in your teens,you're not taken as seriously.
And so I think that is a directimpact of ageism being too young to
be effective or being perceived to notbe effective, or that you don't have
something to contribute, whether that'sin the workplace, whether that's in
(05:53):
the advocacy realm, or whether that's.
In many other areas, I think what'scritical is that there's a recognition
that people of all ages can contributethat intergenerational perspective
is important, and that countingsomeone out merely due to their age is
inherently ageist and mm-hmm must besomething that employers, lawmakers,
(06:14):
uh, media must take into account.
So,
yes, I totally agree with that.
And I think all generations need tosupport each other in this, in this fight.
So like you said, it takes awayyour voice, whether you're a younger
person or an older person, when you'renot taken seriously, when you're
not allowed a seat at the table.
That affects all of us, becausewe're missing that perspective.
(06:35):
So, mm-hmm.
I, I totally agree with you, andwe've talked to a number of advocates
who have said that they thinkageism goes across the age spectrum.
But it's really good to hear froma younger person, you know, how
it has affected you personally.
'cause that really hits home.
Now let's switch gears a little bit.
You've co-founded the Legacy project,and I understand that that is to
(06:58):
build connections between generations.
Tell us more about that.
What does the project aim to do, andhow does it serve as a tool to challenge
this ageism that we're talking about?
Ariel (07:10):
Yeah.
Well thank you for asking about TLP.
So the legacy project, or TLPby its nickname is, uh, now
growing to be across the nation.
It started in Massachusetts andTuf at Tufts University where,
where myself and my fellowco-founders all went to undergrad.
We started it there as anorganization that stopped to.
Bring together college students with olderadults in our local host communities.
(07:34):
And something that is really criticaland unique about our project in terms
of intergenerational programming is thatit's really reliant on storytelling.
So older adults sharetheir life histories with.
Their younger matches andlikewise, your their younger
matches share about their stories.
And the bidirectionalcomponent is really critical.
It's something that we believe that agedivide friendships, age gap friendships.
(07:58):
Something that makes it reallyworthwhile is that you can learn
from one another and that both.
Both the older and the youngerbring something to the table.
And that's what TLP really tries todo through our storytelling lens.
So over the course of an academic year,the younger and older match meet every
week during the fall semester to learnabout one another, to conduct interviews.
And in the spring semester, thoseinterviews in those stories are
(08:21):
then taken into the form of.
Prose into a chapter of a book thatthen gets published as a collective.
The whole chapter publishes a bookwith all the life histories of
the older adults and some snippetsof the younger person as well.
And so it's a really wonderful way touplift legacy, of course, also to create
these intergenerational friendships,which we believe is a tool to combat
(08:43):
social isolation and loneliness, giventhat younger and older adults are some
of the most heavily affected by this.
Epidemic of social isolation andloneliness, but also to better understand
one another, to realize that even thoughthere might be 50, 60, 70 years that
divide, that that friendship, thatthere's still commonalities, there's still
shared passions, um, that allow for thatfriendship to really bloom and blossom.
(09:06):
And so.
We believe that through this processthere's a better understanding
about different generationsthrough getting to know the older,
younger, and it goes both ways.
And through that these, these ideas,these pervasive ideas of ageism against
the, an older generation or against theyounger generation, lessen because you
better understand that person, better,understand where they're coming from,
(09:29):
and realize that you actually have morein common that you might have thought.
Prior.
Gretchen (09:32):
Yes.
Those relationships, they'rejust critical, right?
Mm-hmm.
So how do people get involvedin the legacy project?
Are they students or not necessarily?
Arielle (09:41):
Yeah, so we have students who, um, start chapters
at their college or university.
Oh, okay.
We have, um, 25, uh, that willbe at, uh, active this fall,
which is really exciting.
And yeah, around the country.
Around the country?
Yes.
Wow.
We have some in Massachusettsand now some in California.
So really spanning the coast tocoast, which is really exciting.
(10:03):
I will, it's students who find us or wefind them if, if we're able, it's often
students who are passionate about, youknow, maybe they're pre-med, maybe they're
interested in studying sociology andwanna better understand older adults.
Oftentimes they are, uh, passionateabout journalism and want to better
understand how they can use their, uh,storytelling talents to act actively
(10:27):
and authentically convey the storiesof people in their communities and.
I think the shared through line is it'speople who care about wanting to better
understand people that they might not getto interact with on a day-to-day basis.
And so we've had these chapter leaderswho are real stars in their college or
university communities and who start achapter of TLP and they're an affiliate
(10:48):
of us and we work one-on-one withthem to help them grow their chapter,
really build uh, other students who arepassionate about this work into their,
into their work on their college campus.
And then.
We find a senior community in thatarea that they can pair one-on-one
with for the academic year.
Gretchen (11:03):
Oh, perfect.
That's really interesting.
We had a similar project onthe podcast a few episodes ago.
It was ra, have you heard of Aldera?
That's a intergenerational mentorship,um, online virtual project.
I feel like there's, there would be alot of synergy, um, between your two,
um, groups kind of working on this,breaking down the barriers and forming
(11:28):
those relationships and, and talking andsharing story and that kind of thing.
Arielle (11:33):
Yeah.
And that's wonderful.
I I've definitely heard of their workand the virtual components impactful
because there's so many older adultsthat might not live close to a college
or university campus, but stillwanna purchase this type of work.
And so, mm-hmm.
Definitely looking, TOP is looking,how can we expand, um, remotely as well
to really capture those, those oldersand youngers who wanna partake Yes.
(11:54):
Be based in a college or university town.
Gre (11:57):
All right, Arielle, can you tell us a little bit about advocacy
efforts that you've been involved withor that you're currently involved with
that are addressing issues of age equityor general advocacy around legislation?
Arielle (12:13):
Yeah, absolutely.
So I am very passionate about all thingsrelated to long-term care financing.
I really believe that the UScan have a better model that.
Isn't reliant on individuals spendingon their assets to qualify for
Medicaid or uh, having enough financialwherewithal to be able to private
(12:34):
pay for a nursing home facility.
I think there's a happy mediumthat isn't so reliant on familial
caregivers having to give up theirjobs to cover long-term care.
And I say all because other countriesare doing it better, and I believe
that we can find a federal and state.
Based models that could betterpay for long-term care in the us.
And
Gretc (12:53):
so that sounds wonderful.
Let's hear what you've got.
Ariell (12:56):
Um, so Washington State, as you might know, is one of, is
the only current state currentlythat has, has a, a state-based
long-term care insurance program.
Um, it is, you pay into thesystem for about 10 years and.
You are able to get a payout of, ofaround $30,000 after you've qualified,
and it's wonderful that they were ableto politically get that through because
(13:19):
no other state has been able to replicatethat to date on the federal level.
There is a bill, uh, called the WISH Act.
Um, it was sponsored by representativeTom Swazi from New York.
Bill seeks to kind of revolutionizewhat long-term care financing in
the US can look like, and it doesso by providing a catastrophic
(13:41):
financing mechanism or proposing a ficatastrophic financing mechanism that
would basically kick in, uh, dependingon your income between the years of.
One to five years of whenyou might be eligible.
And in that gap time you wouldlikely get private long-term care
insurance or you would rely onfamilial supports as people do today.
(14:02):
And really what this would do is itwould provide a federal catastrophic
model for long-term care and it wouldincentivize private long-term care
insurance companies to come into themarket, provide more affordable plans so
people can have coverage and not worryabout not being able to afford their care.
Now it.
A perfect model, maybe not.
I think there's a lot of criticismback and forth, but there's also a lot
(14:23):
of praise that there is some focus onlong-term care financing and wanting to
reinitiate something on the federal level.
After the Class Act, which was a partof the Affordable Care Act, was, you
know, it never really went anywhere.
Um, and so that was the last time thatwas that there was federal attention
on a long-term care financing program.
(14:43):
And so all of this isto say is the Wish Act.
It is currently in Congress.
It's bipartisan.
There's a Republican co-sponsor and itdoesn't have a ton of attention right now.
Maybe it's not the political moment, butit is something I believe very deeply in.
There's a number of different co-sponsorson the bill, um, a number of different
organizations that support it, and Ibelieve strongly in trying to bring more
(15:05):
young people into this conversation,getting them to support the bill, or
at least speak to their legislatorsabout the importance of moving forward
a long-term care financing option.
For our parents and for ourselvesto be able to afford care
when we, um, reach that age.
So
yes, and that affects all of us,even before we're at the age where we need
(15:27):
to start thinking about long-term care.
Right, because if you end up as ayoung person needing to care for a
family member, a loved one, correct.
That affects your income.
Your ability to stay full-time inyour job and to care for your children
or you know, other family members.
So it really impacts each one of us indifferent ways throughout the lifespan.
(15:49):
So I think that sounds really important
Arielle (15:51):
and there's so many youth caregivers and I think
that's often overlooked there.
The an estimate recently, I believe,by a Hopkins study that showed that.
There's 3.6 estimated youth caregivers,3.6 million, excuse me, 3.6 million.
6 million youth caregiversin the United States.
You don't hear those stories veryoften and those individuals, right?
(16:12):
I, I saw what, you know, asmy, uh, grandmother was going
through, um, in need of long-termcare and supporting that effort.
There's a lot of work that goes into beinga caregiver, especially for the school.
Caregiver.
Right.
And so you have to make decisionsabout whether to you go to
school, go to extracurriculars, dothings that normal, you know, you
(16:34):
associate to a normal childhood.
Mm-hmm.
And not that those attention and resourcesare being diverted to being a caregiver.
And so there can be more state andfederal supports to ensure that youth
caregivers are provided with otheroptions to, to, uh, make sure that care
can still be received while also beingable to experience a normal youth.
Gretchen (16:52):
Yes.
So any kind of solutionsthat we could come up with.
Even like you said, just startingthe dialogue around what can we do
about this and making sure that weelevate that so that legislators
start thinking about this.
And even if it's not, like you said,the perfect Bill, we should be having
these conversations at a national level.
Arielle (17:10):
I will say like the conversations is such a critical piece
that I think is often overlooked.
Think about the publiceducation around long-term care.
There's a very high percentageof Americans that believe
Medicare covers long-term care.
It doesn't.
It covers, yeah.
They're shocked
Gr (17:25):
when they find out that yes.
Right.
Arielle (17:27):
That's a public education failure.
Right.
If we're not provide the, you know,if the federal government does
not provide the system of care.
At least we must make surethat people are aware of that.
So when that they turn the age of six,five and they're in need of long-term
care, that they're keen on the factthat they should have, you know, that
saving would all those years while theywere working would've been of benefit.
(17:48):
Mm-hmm.
Medicare is not tocover that cost of care.
Mm-hmm.
Um, that I think is a, afailure on the part of.
Everyone involved in this work, right?
Yeah.
Like we need to do more to ensurethat this is in the mainstream
of the fact of the gaps in thelong-term care financing system.
Gretchen (18:06):
Yes.
And I wonder if part of it, I meanthis is just conjecture on my part,
but part of it is that none of us, I.
Think that we're gonnaend up in long-term care.
Nobody's plan for their olderyears is to be in long-term care.
We ask that question all thetime when we're doing, um,
symposiums and workshops and stuff.
How many in your this room, raiseyour hand if you have a plan to
(18:26):
go into long-term care someday?
Nobody.
That is, nobody's planfor how they wanna age.
Right.
It's not something thatwe look forward to.
There's a real stigma around it, and partof that is because we need to change.
Long-term care and makeit a better place to live.
But part of it is also that we need to beinvesting more in home and community-based
services so that we have the option tonot go into long-term care if we want to.
(18:49):
And it sounds like that's, you know, thebill is looking at supporting caregivers.
That's how we're gonna stay at home.
Ariel (18:56):
Yeah.
And it provides you, I mean, the WalkCares program in Washington state, right?
It provides that payout,that 30,000 payout.
So you can choose the way youwanna spend that money, right?
And I think that's the critical piece.
The, the, the ability to choosehow you wanna age and how
you wanna age with dignity.
And if that's in a nursing home,then that's, that's your choice.
But if that's in your, if that'sin your home environment, then you
(19:18):
should also be provided with thefinancial means to be able to do that.
Gretchen (19:21):
Yes.
Yes.
And it ends up saving the statetons of money in Medicaid anyway,
as Medicaid has to step in once youspend down all your funds and it,
I'm sure it costs less to give that$30,000 payout than to have somebody
in long-term care for a few years even.
It'll work with.
Right,
Arielle (19:39):
right.
And I will say it's a partial system.
A lot.
There's probably, there's a bigpercentage of people that will need more
than that funding, but for some yeah.
That also does fall back, atleast for the first few needing
Gretchen (19:50):
care.
Right.
At least it's something mm-hmm.
To, to help with the, the out-of-pocketcosts, the caregivers pay, all of that.
Yeah.
Arielle (19:58):
Yeah.
Gretchen (19:59):
Absolutely.
Wonderful.
Is there a way for peopleto get involved directly?
Do you have any kind of like actionalert or advocacy campaign, a letter
writing campaign, or anything?
Yeah, so it's funny you ask thatthere's actually currently in motion
the coalition is putting together, um,uh, an advocacy page and as well as a
(20:19):
amplification toolkit for individualswhen they go speak to their legislators,
whether that's on the state or federalside, to talk about long-term care
financing and specifically aboutthe WISH Act if they're meeting with
members of Congress or their staff.
Um, and so, uh, if you reach out tome, uh, Gretchen, maybe you can put
my email, I can, I can text yes.
Yes, we'll definitely put it in the show notes.
(20:39):
That would be great.
And we can also put that, um, we can linkto it from our webpage and we have an
action alert, um, page at age guide too.
And this is something we'd like to lookinto connecting and linking to yours.
That sounds great.
That's.
So what else can young peopledo to make a difference?
Maybe they don't reallyknow where to start.
(21:00):
I think the wish act might be onegood place to start supporting that.
But what would you say to young peoplewho are, you know, maybe even teenagers,
those in their twenties and thirtiesand they, they wanna become an ally
in this fight against ageism and theywanna try to champion older adults.
Where, where should they start?
Ari (21:17):
I mean, I would say getting involved in an intergenerational
program is a wonderful way to do that.
Um, whether that's somethinglike the Legacy Project, which.
Reach out to us.
We're, we're happy to have you join us.
Um, or another one of the numerousintergenerational, awesome
organizations operating on thenational and in local levels.
(21:38):
Getting involved in work thatdirectly, um, you know, engages with
older adults in your community is awonderful way to, um, change the way
you might think about older populations.
Change your own perceptions and allowyou to be, uh, a better advocate.
I will also say that.
Something I believe in strongly is, uh,the sharing of co generational power.
(22:00):
And what we spoke about before is thatoften it's viewed that young people
can't be as effective a leader becauseyou haven't had x numbers of years of
experience or whatever it might be.
But actively seek out places andopportunities where you can share
that power, whether that's sittingon local boards, um, within your
community, in your college or universityor hometown, which is something
that I do in my own community.
(22:22):
Um, and I might be the youngestperson involved, but I. That's okay,
because that's part of being the cogenerational power sharing, right?
Or whether that's, uh, findingopportunities to launch a civic engagement
project with, with an older adult and.
Your own community.
That can also be a powerful way.
Try to find opportunities or createthem yourself that will allow you to,
to see and, and do firsthand that,that co generational power sharing.
(22:47):
I'll also say like on the advocacylevel, there are a number of
wonderful organizations doing thiswork that you can, uh, do your part
in sharing with your community.
I think a lot of people justdon't have aging policy.
Issues on their radar, or even if they areaware, it's not the fight that they choose
to invest their resources and time into.
And so start a conversationon your college campus.
(23:09):
Imagine you had on college campusesand universities across the country
talking about these issues of socialsecurity or Medicare in a positive
way, in a way that's trying to buildup the, the potential, finding a
solution rather than just continuouslytalking about the negative doom
and gloom of what our future, yeah.
Might look like, right?
Like bringing those conversationsto, to the surface is so critical and
(23:33):
joining external advocacy organizations,whether that's the American Society on
Aging, whether that's A A RP, justicein Aging, national Council on Aging.
There's so many wonderfulorganizations that are doing
this work on a day-to-day basis.
They're, they all volunteer opportunitiesin ways that you can either engage via
internship or engage in their volunteercircles or in some of their public
policy committees that allow you toreally be invested in in this work.
(23:57):
I might also add, if you're a youngperson that cares about aging, I.
There's not many of us, so you canreach out to me and I would love
to talk to you and we can figureout how to do this work together.
Gretchen (24:07):
Excellent.
I'm so glad you're availablefor that kind of thing.
I, and I would love it ifyou will share this podcast
afterwards once we release it too.
Absolutely.
Yes.
We get a broader listening, um, groupbecause that's part of what this podcast
is trying to do is create awarenessand if we can have more younger people
hearing the stories and the opportunities.
(24:30):
That's just gonna help everybody.
Arielle (24:33):
I totally agree.
I will also say one thing that has reallybenefited me is going to conferences,
going to, um, I love going to AmericanSociety on Aging Conference, and I
learned so much by just hearing abouthow, how much breadth there is within
the aging policy, aging services world.
I think oftentimes it's,it's seen as, you know.
Aging is very niche, but there's actuallyso much happening in this work for
(24:57):
you to potentially get involved in.
I think conferences area great way to do that.
And then also I'm, one more thingthat came to mind that I did during
my time when I was an undergrad isyou can train to become an ombudsman.
An ombudsman is an advocatewithin, um, uh, you know, within
a community, within a state.
It's in every state.
Every program operates alittle bit differently and.
(25:18):
The different strengths and weaknesses,but you can train to become an advocate
for local nursing home residents.
And you served directly as a bridgebetween the nursing home communities
and the state, ensuring thatindividuals living in, uh, nursing
home institutions have, um, someoneadvocating for them for, uh, better
dignified conditions and and whatnot.
So that's an awesome way to tto tap into the work directly.
Gretchen (25:41):
A really good volunteer opportunity.
Yes.
Yeah.
Thank you for those suggestions and ideas.
Lots of great ideas.
You're just full of good ideas.
Arielle.
Um, looking ahead, what is your hopefor the future of aging in our society,
for your loved ones and for yourself?
Arielle (26:02):
Yeah, so not to talk about long-term care again, but I
think that's my, that's my issuerthat I care so deeply about.
There's everything in aging I'm keen on.
Mm-hmm.
You know, I'm in, invested in seeingsuccess, but I think in long-term
care specifically, I would love tosee within my lifetime, Massachusetts.
Pass a state-based long-termcare financing insurance program
(26:24):
like Washington State did.
Mm-hmm.
And I think there's potential,because there was a bill passed last
year to fund an actuarial study on along-term care financing mechanism.
The study just came out this past week.
You could Oh, that's exciting.
It was by Milliman who conducted theanalysis, and I'm hoping this serves
as a perpetuating force for theElder Affairs Committee and for other
(26:46):
advocates to see through a plan inMassachusetts, which is where I grew up.
And then I hope.
This becomes a model and aframework for a national model.
I would love for the United States.
It is my life's dream to see theUnited States put forth a federal
long-term care insurance program.
It might not be the wish act exactly.
It might be.
Mm-hmm.
(27:06):
Completely different.
A lot of countries have models that wecan look to to see how successful and what
were the advantages and the drawbacks,but I truly believe that there is a way
that we can do it better, that peopledon't have to worry when they hit the
age of 65, if they need long-term care,whether they will be able to afford that
care, whether they will have to havetheir child stop working so that they can
(27:27):
care for them, whether they have to, uh,give away basically all of their wealth.
That they wanted to see if to passon through an intergenerational
transfer, um, to pay for their careor to be able to qualify for Medicaid
long-term care, we can do it better.
And there's some states that have pilotinitiatives that are really trying to
work towards this, but that's my goal.
(27:47):
And also to uplift the stories.
Of caregivers and direct care workersand to address that healthcare workforce
shortage and really demonstrate how muchthat is benefiting all of us to have
these individuals really caring for olderadults and people with disabilities.
Um, and so I think that work oftengoes under the radar and we need
to do more to bring it to surface.
Gr (28:09):
Those are some great dreams.
We're right there with you.
We'll, we'll just need to keepworking on this and build a
better future for all of us.
I love your ideas.
Ariel (28:17):
Maria, I hope that it all comes to, comes to be through an
intergenerational advocacy movement.
That's my my goal, right?
I hope that young people.
And older people are able to workcollectively in moving and shepherding
forward a lot of these policy initiatives.
I really believe that that is the wayof the future and that no one generation
(28:38):
should hold this burden on their own.
It's a collective movement to, tosee a better world for, for people,
for older adults, and for peoplewith disabilities and ensuring that
they can receive care with dignity.
Gretchen (28:49):
Mm-hmm.
Right.
I love the way you see the bigpicture through all of this and how
each of us has a, a role to play.
Arielle (28:55):
Yeah.
G (28:56):
Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts and your passion with us.
It was a joy to have you.
Ar (29:03):
Thank you so much, Gretchen.
It was such a pleasure.
Val (29:15):
Hello, and welcome to your Medicare Minutes.
My name is Val Guzman and I'mthe benefit Access specialist.
Here at Age Guide.
On this episode, we are going to talkabout Medicare supplement plans, Medicare
supplement plans, also known as Medigap.
Plans are extra coverage thatyou can purchase to cover the
costs that Medicare doesn't pay.
This includes deductibles and copaysthat you normally pay out of pocket.
(29:39):
Coming from employer provided plans,it often surprises people how much
you pay with just Medicare, and thefact that there is no limit to how
much you pay per year with Medicare.
Medigap plans give you a peace ofmind of knowing that you're more fully
covered when you go to the doctoror hospital, but a ship counselor
can give you more details about howthese plans work and help you find a
(30:02):
Medigap plan that works best for you.
Gretchen (30:05):
Thank you for listening to the Age Guide
Perspectives on the Aging Journey.
Age guide coordinates andadministers many services for older
adults in northeastern Illinois.
Our specially trained professionalsare available to answer questions
and connect you with localservice providers and resources.
If you are interested in theseservices or want to learn more,
(30:28):
go to our website@ageguide.org orcall our offices at (630) 293-5990.
Please follow our podcast so you canbe notified in your streaming account.
Thank you, and we will see younext time on The Age Guide Podcast.
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