Making Chicago an Ideal Place to Grow Old
Americans are living longer lives. Some view this as a gift, others – not so much. Why?
Experts from a diverse range of fields came together to discuss this question and other issues related to aging and longevity at the Chicago Consortium on Longevity's inaugural summit on Northwestern University’s Evanston campus.
The event marked the launch of the Chicago Consortium on Longevity, a multidisciplinary collective of researchers and professionals dedicated to enriching the experience of aging for people in the greater Chicagoland area and beyond.
Co-founded by Northwestern University’s Claudia Haase and DePaul University’s Joe Mikels, the consortium connects life-span developmental scientists and practitioners to make Chicago the “best place to grow old in America.”
One of the group’s first projects involves identifying the hopes and needs of older Chicagoans and the barriers they face as they age. This includes thinking about both healthy aging and what it means to grow older with disabilities and other mental or physical ailments, Haase said.
“Whether we are 9 or 99, we want to be of value and be valued,” said Haase, associate professor of human development and social policy at Northwestern’s School of Education and Social Policy and director of the Life-Span Development Lab. “Our Consortium is an invitation for everyone to re-imagine how we can live long, meaningful, and joyous lives.”
“The Summit underscored the need to establish the field of Longevity Science.” added Mikels, a professor of psychology in DePaul’s College of Science and Health, who studies aging and longevity.
“To advance the field, we must come together and integrate science and practice toward healthy life-long development. The vitality, inspiration, and energy of interdisciplinary discourse around longevity is necessary, and the time is now.”
Elder care for aging immigrants
The summit focused on themes of inclusion, empowerment, shared needs, and finding peace and meaning. Following lightening talks by leading experts from academia and industry, participants broke into smaller groups to brainstorm.
Key takeaways included the importance of intergenerational connections, nourishing well-being in late life, open conversations about death, and learning from people from marginalized communities.
SESP’s Sneha Kumar, assistant professor of human development and social policy, shared insights from her research on elder care for aging immigrants, highlighting the challenges faced by undocumented people transitioning into old age.
“They’ve been socially excluded throughout their lives and often lack access to critical safety nets like Social Security,” said Kumar, a social demographer. “They’re a particularly vulnerable group in our local community.”
Language proficiency also plays a vital role, Kumar noted. “English is important for accessing services, maintaining relationships with grandchildren, and reducing isolation in the U.S.,” she said.
Let’s talk about death
Tamar Kushnir, a psychology and neuroscience professor at Duke University, emphasized the value of talking about death with children as they “are the smartest among us,” she noted.
Kushnir also advocated for programs that connect children with older adults. “This fosters a culture of caregiving across generations,” she said. “We need to honor caregiving as one of the most important roles in society.”
It's also important to get doctors comfortable with conversations about death and dying, said Catherine Durkin Robinson, an end-of-life doula, educator and activist
“Most of us don't want to die in the hospital, but we will,” Robinson said. “If we can get medical professionals to be more educated about what end of life looks like, it can bring about a peaceful, calm, sometimes even joyful death.”
In addition to Haase and Kumar, participating Northwestern faculty included professor Dan P. McAdams, one of the nation's foremost researchers in the field of narrative psychology; associate professor Yang Qu, a founder of the field of cultural developmental neuroscience; and undergraduate Lillian Fu, who works in Haase’s Life-Span Development lab.
Other participants included Northwestern’s Sylvia Perry, associate professor of psychology; attorney Bob Constantino; Susan Charles, professor of psychological science and nursing science at the University of California Irvine; Kuan-Hua Chen, assistant professor of social and affective neuroscience at the University of Nebraska Medical Center; Joe deGutis, associate professor at Harvard Medical School; Angela Gutchess, professor of psychology at Brandeis University; Andrew Reed, head of investor behavior research at Vanguard; Patricia Reuter-Lorenz, the Michael I. Posner Collegiate Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience at the University of Michigan; Sydney Thai, an epidemiologist at GSK; and Stan Treger, behavioral insights advisor at Northern Trust.
The event was supported by the Russell & Josephine Kott Memorial Charitable Trust, DePaul University, Northwestern’s School of Education and Social Policy, and its Institute for Policy Research.
For more details, visit the Chicago Consortium on Longevity website.