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June 15, 2004

Harvard School of Public Health and MetLife Foundation Launch National Media Campaign To "Reinvent Aging"

Former President Clinton, Music Icon Quincy Jones Featured in Campaign

Boston, MA, February 21, 2006-With the Baby Boomer Generation marking its milestone 60th birthday this year, the Harvard School of Public Health and MetLife Foundation have launched a national media campaign to promote healthy aging, reshape cultural attitudes toward the older years, and encourage Boomers to volunteer their time, skills, and experience to help strengthen local communities. The campaign also will challenge the Hollywood creative community to re-think current portrayals of older people in film and television.

In a TV public service announcement (PSA) produced by the campaign, former President Bill Clinton says, "In the latter stages of your life, you want to carve out some time to give the gifts you have received from others to people who are younger than you are, to enrich their lives, to give whatever it is you think you gleaned from life back to them." The former president, who turns 60 this year, urges Boomers to "Share what you know. Become a mentor."

In another campaign PSA, music impresario Quincy Jones says, "They say when you're over the hill, that's when you pick up speed. The 'silver foxes'are the greatest force out there. [They've] got so much to give, so much to say." Quincy Jones encourages Boomers to "share what you know" by volunteering as mentors to at-risk youth.

Thanks to advances in public health and medicine, the average 60-year-old today can expect to live to the age of 83, and millions will continue well into their 90s. This longevity revolution has spawned a new, largely unrecognized stage of life, nestled between middle-age and old-age, spanning the period from 60 to 80. The media campaign will employ a combination of news coverage, advertising, and prime-time entertainment programming, to encourage a "balanced portfolio" of priorities for this new stage of life that makes room for community volunteering as well as for work, family, leisure, travel, and lifelong learning.

PARADE magazine initiative

In a special initiative, the Harvard School of Public Health and MetLife Foundation have partnered with PARADE magazine to invite PARADE's 75 million readers to help name the new stage of life that the oldest boomers are about to enter. In a PARADE cover story on December 11, 2005, the magazine's readers also were invited to suggest new language to substitute for "senior citizen," "elderly," and "old", and to address such questions as, "How would you define the meaning and purpose of this stage of life?" and "What are your thoughts on society's expectations of and attitudes towards its older citizens?" Some of the most interesting ideas and comments will be published in the March 19, 2006 issue of PARADE, and will be posted on www.ReinventingAging.org, the web site of the Harvard School of Public Health-MetLife Foundation Initiative on Retirement and Civic Engagement.

Origins of the campaign

The campaign is an outgrowth of a major report, Reinventing Aging: Baby Boomers and Civic Engagement, published in June 2004, by the Harvard School of Public Health-MetLife Foundation Initiative on Retirement and Civic Engagement. This Initiative is a project of the School's Center for Health Communication. (The report is available online at www.ReinventingAging.org.) Organizations participating in the initiative include AARP, Civic Ventures, Corporation for National & Community Service, Experience Corps, Generations United, The National Council on the Aging, Points of Light Foundation & Volunteer Center National Network, and Temple University Center for Intergenerational Programs.

"Baby boomers have an important opportunity to redefine aging and the productive role that people can play in later life by becoming involved in our communities," said Sibyl Jacobson, MetLife Foundation President and CEO. "We are pleased to support this Initiative, which is stimulating thinking about the impact that boomers can have on our society as they reach retirement and the benefits they will receive from volunteering."

"This campaign is a call-to-action for all sectors of society to develop plans for tapping the time, energy, and talents of millions of older boomers to strengthen local communities," said Jay Winsten, Associate Dean of the Harvard School of Public Health and Frank Stanton Director of the School's Center for Health Communication.

"We need new language and new images that portray healthy and productive aging. Who better than the boomers, who have changed almost every social institution they have encountered, to re-invent aging and give new meaning and purpose to our later years," said Susan Moses, deputy director of the Center for Health Communication and co-director of the campaign.

* * *

What Would You Call the New Stage of Life Between 60 and 80?

Harvard School of Public Health, MetLife Foundation, and PARADE Magazine Invite the Public to Help Name the Extra Stage of Life Between Middle Age and Old Age

Boston, MA, December 8, 2005—With the Baby Boomer Generation set to celebrate its milestone 60th birthday next month, PARADE magazine has partnered with the Harvard School of Public Health and MetLife Foundation to invite the general public to help name the new stage of life that the oldest boomers are about to enter.

Thanks to advances in public health and medicine, the average 60-year-old today can expect to live to the age of 83, and millions will continue well into their 90s. This longevity revolution has spawned a new, largely unrecognized stage of life, nestled between middle-age and old-age, spanning the period from 60 to 80. As Boomers enter their 60s, they will confront the questions "What's next?" and "What do I want to do with the rest of my life?"

The cover story of PARADE's December 11 issue will invite readers to suggest new language to substitute for such terms as "senior citizen," "elderly," and "old"—labels likely to be rejected by Boomers. Readers may also address related questions, such as, "How would you define the meaning and purpose of this stage of life?" and "What are your thoughts on society's expectations of and attitudes towards its older citizens?" Some of the best ideas and comments may be published in a future issue of PARADE, and will be posted on www.ReinventingAging.org, the web site of the Harvard School of Public Health-MetLife Foundation Initiative on Retirement and Civic Engagement. Information on how to submit ideas and comments is available at www.PARADE.com.

Author Gail Sheehy, in an essay in the December 11 PARADE, writes that "For the vast majority of American and European women and men today, the 60s are a stage where a maximum of freedom of choice co-exists with a minimum of physical limitations…(A)s a broad generalization, today's 60-somethings still have active minds and vigorous bodies and enjoy the benefit of a mature perspective on life-the first time they possess that potent combination."

To mark the Boomer Generation's 60th birthday, the Harvard School of Public Health-MetLife Foundation Initiative on Retirement and Civic Engagement will launch of a national media campaign to promote healthy aging, reshape cultural attitudes toward the older years, and encourage Boomers to volunteer their time, skills, and experience to help strengthen local communities. The campaign also will challenge the Hollywood creative community to re-think current portrayals of older people in film and television.

In the campaign's first TV ad, music impresario Quincy Jones says, "They say when you're over the hill, that's when you pick up speed. The 'silver foxes' are the greatest force out there. [They've] got so much to give, so much to say." Quincy Jones encourages Boomers to "share what you know" by volunteering as mentors to at-risk youth.

The campaign is an outgrowth of a major report, Reinventing Aging: Baby Boomers and Civic Engagement, published in June 2004, by the Harvard School of Public Health-MetLife Foundation Initiative on Retirement and Civic Engagement. This Initiative is a project of the School's Center for Health Communication. (The report is available online at www.ReinventingAging.org.) Organizations participating in the initiative include AARP, Civic Ventures, Corporation for National & Community Service, Experience Corps, Generations United, The National Council on the Aging, Points of Light Foundation & Volunteer Center National Network, and Temple University Center for Intergenerational Programs.

Employing a combination of news coverage, advertising, and prime-time entertainment programming, the campaign's messages will encourage a "balanced portfolio" of priorities for this new stage of life that makes room for community involvement as well as work, family, leisure, travel, and lifelong learning.

"Baby boomers have an important opportunity to redefine aging and the productive role that people can play in later life by becoming involved in our communities," said Sibyl Jacobson, MetLife Foundation President and CEO. "We are pleased to support this Initiative, which is stimulating thinking about the impact that boomers can have on our society as they reach retirement and the benefits they will receive from volunteering."

"This campaign is a call-to-action for all sectors of society to develop plans for tapping the time, energy, and talents of millions of older boomers to strengthen local communities," said Jay Winsten, Associate Dean of the Harvard School of Public Health and Frank Stanton Director of the School's Center for Health Communication.

"We need new language and new images that portray healthy and productive aging. Who better than the boomers, who have changed almost every social institution they have encountered, to re-invent aging and give new meaning and purpose to our later years," said Susan Moses, deputy director of the Center for Health Communication and co-director of the campaign.

* * *

Harvard School of Public Health and MetLife Foundation Announce National Media Campaign to Recruit Older Boomers as Community Volunteers

BOSTON, MA, October 24, 2005—The Harvard School of Public Health and MetLife Foundation will mark the Boomer Generation's milestone 60th birthday on January 1, 2006 with the launch of a national media campaign to promote healthy aging, reshape cultural attitudes toward the older years, and encourage Boomers to volunteer their time, skills, and experience to help strengthen local communities. The campaign will challenge the Hollywood creative community to re-think current portrayals of older people in film and television.

The new initiative is an outgrowth of a major report, Reinventing Aging: Baby Boomers and Civic Engagement, published in June 2004, by the Harvard School of Public Health-MetLife Foundation Initiative on Retirement and Civic Engagement, a project of the School's Center for Health Communication. (The report is available online at www.ReinventingAging.org.) Organizations participating in the initiative include AARP, Civic Ventures, Corporation for National & Community Service, Experience Corps, Generations United, The National Council on the Aging, Points of Light Foundation & Volunteer Center National Network, and Temple University Center for Intergenerational Programs.

Thanks to advances in public health and medicine, the average 60-year-old today can expect to live to the age of 83, and millions will continue well into their 90s. This longevity revolution has spawned a new, largely unrecognized stage of life, nestled between middle-age and old-age, spanning the period from 60 to 80. The campaign will challenge boomers to address the question, "What will I do with the rest of my life?"

Employing a combination of news coverage, advertising, and prime-time entertainment programming, the campaign's messages will encourage a "balanced portfolio" of priorities for this new stage of life that makes room for community involvement as well as work, family, leisure, travel, and lifelong learning.

"Baby boomers have an important opportunity to redefine aging and the productive role that people can play in later life by becoming involved in our communities," said Sibyl Jacobson, MetLife Foundation President and CEO. "We are pleased to support this Initiative, which is stimulating thinking about the impact that boomers can have on our society as they reach retirement and the benefits they will receive from volunteering."

"This campaign is a call-to-action for all sectors of society to develop plans for tapping the time, energy, and talents of millions of older boomers to strengthen local communities," said Jay Winsten, Associate Dean of the Harvard School of Public Health and Frank Stanton Director of the School's Center for Health Communication.

* * *

Harvard School of Public Health and MetLife Foundation Announce National Media Campaign to Recruit Baby Boomers as Community Volunteers

BOSTON, MA, July 15, 2005—January 1, 2006 will mark the landmark 60th birthday of the Boomer Generation. Leading the parade of boomers who turn 60 in 2006 are President George W. Bush, First Lady Laura Bush, Candice Bergen, Jimmy Buffett, Cher, Connie Chung, Former President Bill Clinton, Tyne Daley, Patty Duke, Sally Field, Al Green, Reggie Jackson, Diane Keaton, David Lynch, Liza Minnelli, Tommy Lee Jones, Frank Marshall, Hayley Mills, Dolly Parton, Linda Ronstadt, Pat Sajak, Susan Sarandon, Suzanne Somers, Steven Spielberg, Sylvester Stallone, Susan St. James, Oliver Stone, Donald Trump, and Ben Vereen.

Thanks to advances in public health and medicine, the average 60-year-old today can expect to live to the age of 83, and millions will continue well into their 90s. This longevity revolution has spawned a new, largely unrecognized stage of life, nestled between middle-age and old-age, spanning the period from 60 to 80. This new stage does not have a name yet, and does not have a clearly defined social purpose.

The Harvard School of Public Health and MetLife Foundation will mark the Boomer Generation's milestone birthday with the launch, in January 2006, of a national media campaign with three objectives:

• to promote healthy aging;
  
  
• to reshape cultural attitudes toward the older years;
  
  
• to encourage boomers to volunteer their time, skills, and experience to strengthen local communities.

The campaign will challenge the first wave of boomers (and older "honorary" boomers as well) to address the question, "What will I do with the rest of my life?" It will encourage them to create a life plan with a "balanced portfolio" of personal priorities that makes room for community involvement as well as a mix of work, family time, leisure, travel, and lifelong learning. The campaign will employ a combination of news coverage, advertising, and prime-time entertainment programming.

Here are some initial elements of the campaign:

1. The January 2006 launch will include paid, full-page ads in Daily Variety and The Hollywood Reporter challenging the creative community to re-think portrayals of older people in film and television. Each ad will feature an image of a major celebrity who is turning 60 in 2006 accompanied by the headline "Who Are You Calling 'Old'?", the tagline "Watch Your Language!", and explanatory text. The ads will be designed to stimulate news coverage-in news and entertainment weeklies, network and syndicated TV newsmagazines, local newspapers, and TV newscasts-as an initial means of involving the public in a reconsideration of "aging." The campaign will include a sustained, year-round outreach to the Hollywood community. The Writers Guild has invited an article on the campaign for their monthly magazine.

2. The January 2006 launch will include the release of a TV PSA featuring celebrities who are turning 60 to mark the Boomer Generation's 60th birthday.

3. The January 2006 launch will include a public relations initiative inviting broad public participation in addressing such questions as: What name would you give to the period of life between middle age and old age? How would you define its meaning and purpose? What are your thoughts on how the media portrays older people? What terms would you use to substitute for "elderly" and "retired"? The most interesting contributions submitted by members of the public will be used in the campaign.

4. The campaign will place full-page magazine and newspaper ads in donated space encouraging the 60+ generation to "Share What You Know" by volunteering their time, skills, and experience to help strengthen local communities.

5. The campaign will conduct and publish a series of Q&As with leading thinkers from various fields to stimulate broad discussion around the meaning and purpose of the new, "extra" stage of life.

6. The campaign will create a website that will serve as a resource for the 60+ generation in: developing a life plan with a balanced portfolio of activities; pursuing meaningful volunteer opportunities in their communities; and adopting good-health practices to extend their life expectancy.

The campaign is sponsored by the Harvard School of Public Health-MetLife Foundation Initiative on Retirement and Civic Engagement, and is an outgrowth of an Initiative report, Reinventing Aging: Baby Boomers and Civic Engagement, published in June 2004. Based in part on a national conference convened by the Initiative and commissioned background papers, the Report distills insights of key thinkers on the implications of aging boomers on society and ways to channel their skills and interests to strengthen local communities. The Report has been widely distributed and discussed in the volunteerism and philanthropic communities. (The full Report is available online at www.ReinventingAging.org.)

* * *

Harvard School of Public Health and MetLife Foundation Announce National Media Campaign To Recruit Older Boomers as Community Volunteers

Boston, MA, March 10, 2005—With the first wave of baby boomers poised to turn 60 in less than a year, MetLife Foundation and the Harvard School of Public Health's Center for Health Communication have announced a national media campaign to promote healthy aging, reshape cultural attitudes toward the older years, and encourage boomers to share their time, skills, and experience as community volunteers. The campaign will spotlight the mentoring of young people as a leading example of community involvement.

MetLife Foundation has provided $1.7 million to the Center for Health Communication to support this initiative. The Center is widely recognized for a national media campaign in the late 1980s that popularized the "designated driver" concept in the United States. Since then, the Center has led major national initiatives to curb youth violence and recruit volunteer mentors for at-risk youth.

The new initiative is an outgrowth of a major report, Reinventing Aging: Baby Boomers and Civic Engagement, published in June 2004, by the Harvard School of Public Health-MetLife Foundation Initiative on Retirement and Civic Engagement, a project of the School's Center for Health Communication. (The report is available online at www.ReinventingAging.org.) Organizations participating in the initiative include AARP, Civic Ventures, Experience Corps, Generations United, National Council on Aging, Points of Light Foundation & Volunteer Center National Network, and Temple University Center for Intergenerational Programs.

Thanks to advances in public health and medicine, the average 60-year-old today can expect to live to the age of 83 and millions will continue well into their 90s. This longevity revolution has spawned a new, largely unrecognized stage of life, nestled between middle-age and old-age, spanning the period from 60 to 80. The campaign will challenge boomers to address the question, "What will I do with the rest of my life?"

Employing a combination of news coverage, advertising, and prime-time entertainment programming, the campaign's messages will encourage a "balanced portfolio" of priorities for this new stage of life that makes room for community involvement as well as work, family, leisure, travel, and lifelong learning.

The Campaign includes four components:

1. A Guidebook for Boomers will present research findings on healthy aging, and present a check-list of questions that boomers can ask themselves as they create a personal plan for making the most of this new stage of life.

2. A Hollywood Collaboration will encourage the creative community to rethink and reinvent the images of aging.

3. An Advertising Campaign aimed at boomers will promote community involvement.

4. A News Center will stimulate ongoing coverage of healthy aging and community involvement.

"Baby boomers have an important opportunity to redefine aging and the productive role that people can play in later life by becoming involved in our communities," said Sibyl Jacobson, MetLife Foundation President and CEO. "We are pleased to support this Initiative, which will stimulate thinking about the impact that boomers can have on our society as they reach retirement and the benefits they will receive from volunteering."

"This campaign is a call-to-action for all sectors of society to develop plans for tapping the time, energy, and talents of millions of older boomers to strengthen local communities," said Jay Winsten, Associate Dean of the Harvard School of Public Health and Frank Stanton Director of the School's Center for Health Communication.

* * *

New Harvard School of Public Health-MetLife Foundation Report Highlights "Unprecedented" Opportunity Ahead to Mobilize Millions of Aging Boomers as Community Volunteers

Boston, MA, June 15, 2004—As some of the demands that have commanded attention in mid-life recede, baby boomers will have the potential to become a social resource of unprecedented proportions by actively participating in the life of their communities. But will they participate? Compared to their parents' generation, the so-called "Greatest Generation," boomers have done less by every measure of civic engagement, including rates of voting and joining community groups.

This and related questions are examined in a report released today by the Harvard School of Public Health-MetLife Foundation Initiative on Retirement and Civic Engagement. The Report identifies strategies to expand the contributions of boomers to civic life. MetLife Foundation provided $1 million to fund the Initiative.

Based in part on a national conference convened by the Initiative, and commissioned background papers, the Report distills insights of key thinkers on the implications of aging boomers on society and ways to channel their skills and interests to strengthen local communities.

The Report will serve as a planning tool for national, state, and local policymakers and program directors.

The Report also will provide the foundation for a national media campaign being developed by the Harvard School of Public Health to: stimulate a public dialogue about the meaning and purpose of the later years; work with the entertainment and advertising industries to rethink images of aging; encourage journalists to cover aging in new ways; and motivate boomers to volunteer.

"Baby boomers have an important opportunity to redefine aging and the productive role that people can play in later life by becoming involved in our communities," said Sibyl Jacobson, MetLife Foundation President and CEO. "We are pleased to support this Report, which will stimulate thinking about the impact that boomers can have on our society as they reach retirement and the benefits they will receive from volunteering."

"This Report is a call-to-action for all sectors of society to develop plans for tapping the time, energy, and talents of millions of older boomers to strengthen local communities," said Jay Winsten, Associate Dean of the Harvard School of Public Health and Frank Stanton Director of the School's Center for Health Communication. The Center, which is directing this Initiative, previously created a national media campaign that made the "designated driver" an integral part of American culture.

Key observations in the Report include:

Boomers say they will volunteer, but may need a push.

Given that boomers have been far less civically engaged than the Greatest Generation at every stage to date, it is not clear to what extent they will fill their parents' shoes through volunteer activity in their retirement years. Although close to one-third of boomers say they expect to participate in community service after retirement, there is a difference between intentions and actions, and boomers may need encouragement. Large-scale efforts may be needed to recruit boomers as volunteers.

Contrary to conventional wisdom, more people volunteer in mid-life than in retirement.

Generally, the percentage of people who volunteer reaches a peak in mid-life, not in retirement. Volunteering in this peak period is associated with having more, rather than fewer commitments. However, individuals who do volunteer during their early years of retirement do so with greater frequency than mid-life volunteers. Boomers are likely to continue working longer than their predecessors, and to move gradually towards retirement; if they remain in the workforce longer, they may stay connected to social networks that foster volunteering.

Current language related to aging is obsolete.

Words like "work," "retirement," "volunteer," and language related to aging, may serve as barriers to redefining the meaning and purpose of one's later years. New language, imagery, and stories are needed to help boomers and the general public re-envision the role and value of elders. The entertainment industry, given its role in storytelling across the social spectrum, may be the most promising vehicle for conveying alternative images of aging and portraying individuals of all ages participating in community life. In addition, the advertising industry can play a key role by offering alternatives to the narrow set of existing images that reflect current social attitudes toward aging.

Organizations may need retooling to attract and retain boomer volunteers.

Existing voluntary or charitable institutions may need to be revamped to absorb boomer volunteers and take account of their interests and preferences. Many local agencies will not have the resources for professional volunteer management, so new mediating institutions, or third parties, may be needed to handle recruitment, training, and referral of boomers.

Intergenerational programs deserve attention.

Initiatives that bridge the generations should build community by integrating the old with the young, transmitting knowledge and experience to future generations and re-enforcing the value of people of all ages. Studies have found that young people in such programs show measurable improvements in school attendance, attitudes toward school and the future, and attitudes toward elders. Adult volunteers report substantial benefits to themselves: the satisfaction of sharing their experience, feeling useful, and giving back to the community.

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