Baby Boomer Insights

How hearing loss is costing you real money: boomers are losing income, thanks to vanity

What's it going to take to get boomers to have their hearing checked? That's a question more and more audiologists are trying to answer. Mine seems to a have hit on a possible solution.

My visit to my audiologist today turned out to be quite educational to me, both as a boomer and as a client. Dr. Lori McCorry is part of  the Audiological Consultants of Atlanta practice and works out of the Marietta, GA office. She is a boomer who has spent over 25 years helping people hear better.

Recently, the practice moved to a small strip shopping center next to Walgreens. The strip also contains a Starbucks (don't they all?), a nail salon and a dry cleaner. In other words, it's just another storefront office people pass as they go about their daily business of living. Turns out, it's the perfect place to put a hearing aid center. A significant number of ACA clients are boomers who happen to notice the office while running errands. Going  to an appointment there is not only convenient, it seems less like going to the doctor than when  walking into a medical facility filled only with doctors' offices.

We boomers can be pretty vain (we are, after all, the "Me Generation"), so many of us have put off hearing tests for years for fear of being told we'll need to wear hearing aids. Thankfully, the perception of wearing hearing aids is starting to change too, Dr. McCorry noted, thanks to technological advances and efforts to make them smaller and "cooler" looking.

She asked a great question: "Why is the same people  who walk around wearing a Bluetooth device on their ear are concerned about others' perception of them wearing a hearing aid you can't even see?" Great point.  Her take was that people are turned off by the term "aid" because it implies they need assistance and only "old" people and the infirmed need aid.

It was a casual comment she made that really caught my attention, though. She told me about a recent study by the Better Hearing Institute that revealed "the average amount of income lost by working people who don't get hearing aids ranges from $1,000 a year - for those with mild hearing loss - to $12,000 a year for those with profound hearing loss." 

It makes perfect sense when you think about it. Being able to hear better reduces misunderstandings and enables you to communicate more effectively in the workplace.  Ironically, people who think wearing a hearing aid will make them seem less capable of doing their jobs apparently don't realize they are less capable because of inferior hearing.

The study also noted that 1 out of every 6 boomers and 1 out of every 14 Gen Xers suffers from hearing loss, yet only a quarter of Americans with hearing problems are getting treatment.

I've often wished I had gotten hearing aids sooner. They've completely changed my life, so I've become quite the evangelist, convincing a few boomer friends to give them a try as well.

The July issue of Delta's Sky Magazine features a fascinating article about where hearing technology is headed. Doctors predict that in less than 50 years, there will be no such thing as hearing loss.

Until then, hearing loss not only exists, it's an increasing concern for boomers. So, what are you going to do about it?

Boomers exercise their right to be fit; gyms get a makeover. Weight training to the oldies!

I just finished up a week that was unusually physically taxing for me and it really brought home to me the need to start working out again. I confess I have gotten lazy recently, justifying the constant elbow-bending and fork lifting as a type of exercise. That's not working for me, so I need to try something else.

I'm past worrying about looking younger than my 50 years and have decided instead that my goal should be simply to be healthier and have more stamina. Well, it turns out, once again, I'm right in the middle of a boomer revolution at the gym. According to the International Health, Racquet and Sportsclub Association, more than 20 percent of all gym memberships purchased last year came from those 55 and older.

As a result, gyms are making changes to welcome this new demographic, primarily by making the equipment more ergonomically correct. Boomers aren't looking to reverse the effects of aging so much as we want to increase the likelihood that we can be physically able to age at home and not depend on assisted care. Until then, we want to continue to participate in favorite activities and be "fun" grandparents who can keep up with the grandkids.

Gyms are responding with kinder, gentler regimens including fitness training that focuses on smooth, controlled muscle resistance through air pressure rather than traditional weights and chains. They're also re-thinking the entire environment, making the rooms more spacious with better lighting and softer music. In other words, gyms aren't tolerating boomers; they're recruiting them. Seems that mainstream gyms are catching on to what Curves has been saying for years: working out isn't about torturing your body; it's about strengthening your body (and spirit in the process).

This new focus on workouts for Boomers and matures in particular makes sense when you consider that in less than 25 years, there will be 71 million 65-year-olds. That's twice as many as in 2000. We can't all be planning to use walkers - it would cause an aluminum shortage and we need the aluminum for the cans of high-energy drinks we'll be consuming.

Look for Boomers to spend more time in the gym, then bring the gym home. As we design the homes we'll retire in, expect to see exercise rooms become a must-have. One more thing... I'm predicting that sales of hangers will go up. After all, we'll need somewhere else to hang all those clothes that have been covering the treadmills and recumbent bikes!

Say it ain't so! Boomers love emoticons, says Zango

A friend sent me a link to a study just released by Zango that shows that the most prolific users of emoticons are Boomers. Surely you know about emoticons, those obnoxious little digital faces you can insert into your e-mails to make sure the recipient knows you're kidding, frowning or winking.  They are especially useful for people who don't write clearly.  ;-)

Anyway,  Zango, an online media company, claims that the 45+ crowd downloads its personalization tools more than any other age group. In addition to emoticons, Zango provides a catalog of over 100,000 digital tools that let you personalize your e-mail background, play games,  create e-cards and even personalize your screensaver. It's all free - sponsored by ads, of  course,.

Zango would like for readers of its promotional release to believe that these findings prove that Boomers are big users of online technology and that - guess what! - they love Zango. They may be only half right. It's true that there is a steady rise in the number of Boomers who use online tools. After all, we love to itemize, personalize and customize. I've received enough e-cards from friends and family to last a lifetime.

I have a little different take on what the Zango data really shows, though. I can believe the 45+ crowd visits Zango and downloads, but I have a hard time believing they stick with it. You see, these free digital toys are available only when you click on the sponsor's ad, which instantly plants spyware on your system. Before you know it, you're inundated with pop-up boxes and screaming solicitations asking you to buy a product.

Gen X and Gen Y got burned early on and quickly spread the word to be cautious about Zango. The young'uns are highly intolerant of interruption advertising. Meanwhile, the Boomer set has been slower to spread the word about the downside to sites like Zango. We go there because we think it's a good place to grab a little electronic bling to let us share some online love with the grandkids and friends.

This downloading "trend" doesn't mean middle-aged women are suckers that you can easily court with a cute smiley face. We may be trusting at first, but we don't like to be bugged online any more than our kids do. So don't fall for the argument that to reach Boomers you need to give them easy, breezy digital toys. You may be able to get a nice press release out of it (and, by all means, do make sure to use "unexpected" in the headline - that always gets attention) but if results matter more than a 48-hour news cycle, you may be disappointed.

Boomers and online technology: we like it, we love it, we want some more of it!

Today's Wall Street Journal ran a feature about the fact that it's the 10th anniversary of blogs. It's hard to believe they've been around so long. We've seen them evolve from a simple online posting of a bunch of links to web sites and other resources to blossoming into sophisticated replacements of web sites. Interestingly, boomers are contributing significantly to the growing trend in blogging as we turn to blogs for information and to connect with others. This runs counter to what many people believe, which is that boomers stay away from blogs, for the most part.

One misconception a lot of people seem to have about boomers is that we are technical neophytes or that we don't embrace technology, hoping instead to avoid having to learn too much about it before we retire. That's just not what the research shows. So, for Friday the 13th, I'd like to share 13 things about boomers and technology that are worth mulling over:

1.   72% access the Internet over broadband from home (higher than the national average across all age groups)

2.   82% go online to read about health and wellness for ourselves andour families

3.   92% visit a web site after reading a print article

4.   89% visit a web site after seeing a print ad

5.   79% say they will respond to promotional e-mails

6.   82% research products online before shopping offline

7.   91% read articles online

8.   73% shop online

9.    95% use online services to stay in touch with family and friends

10.  96% share information they learned online with family

11.  17% use a laptop to connect to the Internet

12.  82% use a destop computer to connect to the Internet

13.  96% just generally browse the web

Why do you suppose there's so much boomer interest in technology? It's actually pretty simple: we grew up in the information age. We seek facts, data and input from others. Technology often enables us to discover what we want to know on our own terms and in our own timeframe.

Generally speaking, we're not intimidated nor put off by the new trends in technology, both online and offline. (Thank goodness! It was my boomer friend, Chris Clarke-Epstein, who introduced me to the new iPhone, her latest toy. She was getting me back for the time I got in her face about being among the very first to own a video iPod!)

It's also worth noting that the baby boonmers aren't leading when it comes to blogging, watching video online or playing online games. We do all those things, but not in the same way Gen X and Gen Y do. In other words, we don't play around much when it comes to technology, online or otherwise. We're purposeful users who want to accomplish something in particular.

What does this mean to your company? If you want to reach boomers, get to the point online. Tell us what we want to know and make it easy to get information from you. Don't make us work for it. And that means providing us with additional relevant resources. Do that to our satisfaction, and we'll  help you spread the word.

I'm making a list and checking it twice: on the lookout for stores that accommodate special physical needs

I found myself making a rather unusual, but important, list over the weekend. It was a list of all the stores I went in that adequately accommodated and/or welcomed wheelchair-bound people. I wrote them on a pad and stuck them on the refrigerator of my vacation home.

Why? Because my parents love to visit us at our lake house, but both require wheelchairs if they're required to walk more than just a few yards. Both use canes or walkers all the time, but when we shop, they need electric carts or wheelchairs (Mom is 79 and dad is 81 and both have neuropathy and arthritis). They love to visit malls and big box stores, but can't unless wheels are available.

I decided to start tracking all the stores in Milledgeville,  Eatonton and Macon, GA so I would know before taking or sending my parents there whether their needs would be accommodated.  When I visited stores where wheelchairs weren't available, or they had only one, I asked why. (BTW, I want to give a shout-out to Kroger in Milledgeville, where I found at least four electric carts.)

In K-Mart, I was told, "I guess not enough people need them." (Did I mention that K-Mart is located right next door to Kroger?)

Not "enough" people need wheels inside a store, huh?

Well, consider this, Today there are 51.2 million people who have some level of disability... that's 18% of the U.S. population. Given that Boomers are the largest and fastest growing segment of the U.S. population, it stands to reason that stores, restaurants, museums and other places we visit need to plan for how to accommodate our needs going forward, even if they aren't too concerned about the folks who already need a little extra help. The government can force a public building to reserve a specific number of handicap spaces, but even the feds can't legislate common sense. Handicaps aren't always advertised by a blue and white hanging car tag, you know.

We Boomers need to be more aggressive about protecting the special needs of seniors today, while also being vocal about our own expectations in the future.  Already, I avoid restaurants that are too loud or play music at decibles that would drown out an airplane.  My father is extremely hearing-impaired, so when we eat out, we go only to restaurants that provide the opportunity to actually have a conversation without yelling at one another.

I'd love to see all retailers and restaurants in particular do a thorough assessment of how accommodating they are to consumers with special physical needs and take a stand to welcome them.  (Forgive the plug here - but I can help you do that.)

Meanwhile, don't get your underwear in a knot if I visit your place and ask a lot of questions about why your menu is hard to read or your dressing rooms are too small. I'd love for readers to let me know what establishments you patronize or avoid because of their willingess to accommodate special physical needs.