Monthly Archives for September 2024

AARP study on older adult stereotypes in on-line images. We think they can help

Published in RINewsToday on September 30, 2024

Following on the heels of an intense national media debate of President Joe Biden’s age and his ability to govern, a new AARP study finds a positive shift over the past five years in how adults 50-plus are portrayed online in marketing and media imagery. Researchers found that negative sentiment in online media and marketing images dropped from 28% in 2018 to just 10% in 2023.

AARP’s analysis compared images from 2018 to 2023, revealing the strengths and limitations in how aging is portrayed in media and marketing.  

AARP’s Media Landscape Review analyzed a random sample of over 1,000 online images and 500 videos featuring adults 50-plus from brands and thought leaders posted on news sites and social media with at least two million followers or readers. But political content was excluded.

According to Lauren Goodson, AARP Research Director of Growth, Enablement & Membership, AARP conducted the initial study to demonstrate the opportunity for companies/brands to more accurately and honestly represent older adults. The 2018 study found 28% of online images portrayed adults 50-plus in a negative manner compared to just 4% of those under the age of 50. “We are encouraged to see that efforts by AARP and other organizations to raise concerns about ageism have resulted in significant improvement over the past 5 years, says Goodson, noting that no decisions have yet been made about a third wave of the study.

The research findings indicated that the age 50 and over population is pictured as more active and independent, less fearful, and more likely to use technology, reflecting a growing recognition of older adults’ active lifestyles and valuable engagement in society.

While the results were promising about the decrease of ageism on the internet, note researchers, they stressed that challenges still remain.  Social media images of older workers aged 50 and over in the workplace remained unrealistically rare, they say, while depictions of this age group spending time with family actually fell over the past five years.

“At AARP, we have been leading the fight to combat ageism in marketing and media imagery, and it looks like the creative industry is starting to really listen,” said AARP Chief Communications and Marketing Officer Martha Boudreau, in a Sept. 23 statement announcing the study’s findings. “As the old saying goes, a picture is worth a thousand words. In the age of social media, and with the ubiquity of advertising across people’s daily lives, this is truer than ever. The images we see shape what we think and can even influence how we act towards one another. Progress has been made in improving how 50-plus adults are portrayed but we still have a lot of work to do. Studies like these point the way forward and give us a solid roadmap for how to continue to make things better,” she adds.

AARP’s study details positive improvements showing a shift “from decline to vitality.” For instance, aging was viewed as more active than before.  The researchers say that the portrayal of America’s older adults has “moved from fear-based, with an emphasis on financial and medical themes, to active and healthy lifestyles.  When reviewing on-line images and videos, findings show that 26% of people 50-plus shown in images were physically active, compared to 15% in 2018.

The AARP research findings revealed a striking increase in depictions of adults 50-plus using technology. In 2023, 33% of images showed people 50-plus using tech devices, up from just 4% in 2018.  The study’s findings, indicating an uptick in the use of tech devices, better reflects this age cohort’s acceptance of technology, challenging outdated ageist stereotypes and highlighting the reality of their digital use.

As they age, nearly 80 percent of America’s older adults aged 50 and over want to age in place in their community, choosing not to be placed in an assisted living or nursing facilities.  The study showing 73 % of static images showing people at home vs. 39 % in 2018, reflects that this trend has been more visibly reflected in media in recent years

Meanwhile, just 8% of static images showed people in a retirement community compared to 15% in 2018. The researchers say it’s a sign that retirement centers are less likely to be the visual shorthand for aging, with recent images elevating independence over medical worries or reliance on assistance.

Even with positive changes, there is more room for improvement especially with portrayal of older adults in the workplace.  Despite older workers making up over one-third of the workforce, the study found only 14% of social media images show age 50 and older adults at work, this being almost unchanged from 13 % in 2018. Researchers say, “this under representation misses both on what people 50-plus are adding to the economy and what long, satisfying careers are adding to their lives.” Also, how long people are working or have gone back to work due to outliving income streams, a negative, but realistic image.

As to mobility challenges, AARP’s study reveals a substantial gap in representing mobility challenges among age 50 and over adults.  The findings indicate that only 1% of images show consumers with mobility aids, despite 12% of these older adults, in fact, regularly using a mobility device for assistance walking or navigating stairs. 

Finally, the study found a significant decline compared to 2018 in people aged 50 and older shown in multi-generational families. There was a significant decline compared to 2018 in these older adults shown in a family situation (17% to 9%) or with their grandchildren (13% to 6%), this suggesting a major opportunity for social media to more accurately reflect an important source of joy and meaning for many over 50. This finding suggests a need for the social media and marketing companies to better portray the important family roles and relationships older adults have, as these connections become more significant as one ages.

Finally, the research tracked still images and video content, with video proving to be more successful at showing adults 50-plus interacting with others, outside the home and using technology.

Every picture tells a story, don’t it?

“Those of us in communications often search for images to use to accompany stories, says Nancy Thomas, publisher of RINewsToday, a state-wide new site, noting that usually original images, with credits to photographers and artists are used. “Whether we buy them from a photographer or image service or use ones provided in what is called a Media Library on such platforms as WordPress, searching for just that right image to illustrate an article we’re publishing can be extremely difficult if the image you want is first that of an “older person,” admits Thomas.

Thomas, who ran a marketing company and held senior communications positions for over 30 years, says “it’s the hardest search we’ll do.”

According to Thomas, common searches for “a dog and family,” a “child in daycare”, “people camping” or “networking” are pretty simple, but it is more difficult to find group shots featuring accurate age spectrums and finding no person looking older than 40. “Looking back years ago,” she says, “there were no people of color, but today that has changed significantly.”

“But older people? Aging? You might find them in a nursing home setting, in a bed, with a younger person holding their hand. And then there is the active couple, running gently at the water’s edge. Or sitting at a Thanksgiving table,” quips Thomas.

“But to find an older person at work? At a training meeting? Maybe even doing the training?  It’s hard to find. At a computer? Only if someone is at their shoulder, ‘helping them’. But no doctors – they all look 30 years old. No accountants. No writers. Or even people in therapy. All young,” she says.

“It’s a conundrum, and entirely unfair for small communication and marking firms and news sites. “We’ve written to WordPress expressing our suggestion that the next time they make paid assignments to add to their Media Library they think about common images to show older people in everyday settings. At work. Watching television. Cooking. Doing art. Having a spa day. At the playground with their grandchildren. Shopping. As the medical expert. Or technician,” says Thomas, noting that “All images amazingly absent.”

Thomas adds: “When we do find images of older men and women, how often are they in muted colors? Wearing sweaters. Or, of course, there are the handsomely grey-haired men with the twinkle in their eye.  We wonder what AI will bring to the table, being programmed, as it were, by younger people?  Request an image of grandma and grandpa playing with their newborn grandchild – see what you get,” she asks.

“Let’s push back against being seen, regardless of our age, as either “the wealthy” or “the impoverished” – most of us, regardless of our age, are somewhere floating up and down in the middle. A healthy dose of realism led by the photographs we show, and the images we keep, is due all the way around,” says Thomas. 

A suggestion for AARP – beyond studies – to solution!

Thomas went on to suggest one thing AARP could change much of this. They could create a bank of photos that groups could use with “approved” AARP images (even giving an AARP credit line so small websites and publication sites could dramatically improve their images overnight – not only would AARP be creating an almost instant solution, they could add a small fee to subscribe to the service that would help fund their future studies into issues of concern for aging Americans.

On-line Imagery Should Accurately Reflect Society

According to Betty Galligan, APR, president of Pawtucket-based Newberry Public Relations and Marketing, as the AARP study points out, the creative media industry has a long way to go in portraying life as an older person in today’s society. In addition to photo and video imagery on news sites and social media platforms, streaming video content is an opportunity that holds a lot of influence to normalize the way we see 50-plus adults. “It would be wonderful to see a romantic series or movie featuring an older leading man or woman who uses a wheelchair or walker to get around. Or to show more older heroes and heroines in the workplace. “The Intern” movie with Robert DeNiro and Anne Hathaway comes to mind, as does the stereotype of Meryl Streep’s character in “The Devil Wears Prada”,” she says.

Online media shapes and informs public opinion, and its influence is evident in the way people view older adults, says Galligan. “The recently released AARP study reveals a positive shift because the 50-plus population today is indeed way more active than in past generations,” she said.

 “We all know a grandparent who is using text messaging, TikTok and technology to keep up with their grandchildren. We also know older folks who are athletic and energetic well into their 80s, sometimes more so than their younger counterparts. Marketing imagery should hold up the proverbial mirror to society and reflect this,” adds Galligan, who has worked in the Boston and Providence advertising sector for nearly 40 years.

In the past, successful advertising and marketing was ideally aspirational, reflecting what consumers desire to be versus what they actually are,” observes Galligan. “At its core, it can be deceptive. Images depicting stereotypes of a thin model smoking, for example, drove sales for cigarette brands especially among women who used smoking as a diet aid,” she said, stressing that today’s realism is in vogue.

“Popular reality TV shows, the “celebrification” of ordinary people, citizen  journalism on social media platforms all play a role in portraying the average person (including older adults) in ways we’ve not experienced before,” notes Galligan.

Galligan notes that people are healthier than in past decades, living longer and with more vitality. In general, the 50-plus market segment has greater disposable income, so it’s no wonder that brands are embracing this demographic reality. “Marketing has become bolder and more inclusive than before – case in point, ads depicting older same-gender couples and ladies wearing disposable garments for incontinence, says Galligan.

To get AARP’s 2018 Media Landscape review, go to https://www.aarp.org/research/topics/life/info-2019/age-representation-in-online-media-images.html.

To get AARP’s latest (2024) latest Media Landscape review, go to:

https://www.aarp.org/content/dam/aarp/research/topics/aging-experience/demographics/ageism-online-media.doi.10.26419-2Fres.00852.001.pdf.

Learn more about this study at AARP.org/50plusmedia.

Spotlight on scams and frauds targeting older Americans 

Published in RINewsToday on September 23, 2024 

Although the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging, initially established in 1961 as a temporary committee, later becoming a permanent Senate Committee in 1977, has no legislative authority, it studies an array of issues related to older Americans. Last week, U.S. Senator Bob Casey (D-PA), Chairman of the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging, held a full Committee Hearing, taking a look at an important issue impacting older Americans, the rampant increase of scams and frauds.

The hearing entitled “Fighting Fraud: How Scammers are Stealing from Older Adults,” lasting over one hour and thirty minutes, highlighted the psychological and economic impacts that frauds and scams have older adults, who are disproportionately targeted by fraudsters.

During the hearing, held on Sep. 19, Casey unveiled the Aging Committee’s 9th annual Fraud Book, “Fighting Fraud: Scams to Watch Out For.” The 93-page book, hot off the press, provides seniors with an overview of the most prevalent scams to help them identify and avoid being victimized. The Fraud Book also contains valuable resources for scam victims.

At this hearing, Casey also touched on the 2017 Republican tax law, called “Scammed Then Taxed,”which details how the law’s repeal of the theft loss deduction has imposed significant taxes on many scam victims.

The 91-page Majority Staff Report details the results of a months-long investigation examining how the removal of the casualty and theft loss tax deduction—repealed by Republicans in the 2017 tax law has devastated many American fraud victims.

This report details how some older adults—who lose the most to frauds and scams—are now facing huge tax bills on top of losing all their assets, leading them to feel as though they have been victimized twice.

According to the report, for a century, the theft loss deduction allowed taxpayers who experienced theft to receive a tax deduction to offset their losses. The repeal of this provision has meant that fraud victims are now often obligated to pay taxes on money that has been stolen.

Keeping Scammers from Stealing from Older Adults

In his opening statement, Casey stated: “At today’s hearing, we heard tragic stories from scam victims and law enforcement about how fraudsters are getting more sophisticated and aggressive with their scams and throwing the lives of older adults into chaos.” The Pennsylvania Senator stressed the importance of educating older adults about the threats they face from frauds and scams.

Casey rattled off a list of common scams, detailed in the released Fraud Book, including grandparent scams, investment scams, tech support scams, to name just a few.

With the advent of Artificial Intelligence, scammers have now gotten even more sophisticated, especially by cloning the voice, warned Casey, making their phone and online message even more convincing to the older victim.

“That may explain why recent FBI data shows that fraud losses among older adults have gone up in recent years – reaching $3.4 billion in 2023,” says Casey.

Casey also called for more resources to be provided to persons who have been victimized by scams, including those who have been forced to pay taxes on money they’ve lost due to changes in the 2017 Republican tax law.

Like Casey, in his opening statement Ranking Member Mike Braun (R- Indiana) also stressed the need to prioritize education and outreach to older adults help them to recognize red flags that warn of scams.

“Our community banks and credit unions are often the first line of defense intervening on transactions that just don’t add up,” says Braun. “In my home state of Indiana, one community bank has been able to stop over $1.2 million worth of scams this year,” he notes.

According to Braun, last year Medicare lost an estimated $60 billion due to fraud, errors, and abuse. “Every dollar lost to fraud is a dollar that can be spent on vital programs for American seniors,” he says.

The Indiana Senator noted that he has requested the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) to initiate a full audit of Medicare fraud. The GAO has begun its audit in July, says Braun, noting it to be the most comprehensive audit in Medicare’s history.

And Braun expects the GAO investigation to uncover “how much fraudsters are stealing from the American taxpayer” and to revamp the current Medicare Fraud Prevention System to reduce fraud taking place. 

Witnesses testifying before Senate Aging Committee

Casey invited Susan Whittaker, an Administrative Assistant at Lehigh County Aging and Adult Services in Allentown, Pennsylvania, to testify at the hearing about her late husband’s experience as a QuickBooks scam victim.  At the time of the scam, Bill, 75, suffered from dementia along with other chronic conditions.

Susan told Senators that her husband had received an email receipt on Tuesday, that appeared to be from QuickBooks. It claimed that a software upgrade fee of $499 had been charged to the business account that Bill used to manage his son’s company.  He knew that he hadn’t purchased this upgrade.  Calling the company and requesting a refund, he was told to pay $500 upfront, thru a created Venmo account, install an application on his computer and provide personal financial information.  Once done, Bill would get his money back.

On Friday, by the time Susan had learned about the financial transaction, $28,000 had been withdrawn from their accounts. Although the bank ultimately recovered $8,000 the following week, $20,000 was gone — money that her husband was planning to use to buy medications.  And he lost his job, too.

“This scam was devastating and had a devastating effect on Bill—both financially (losing $20,000) and emotionally,” stated Susan, forcing her husband to begin rationing his medications.

“We just couldn’t afford them [medications] anymore… He also lost his sense of self-worth. I was really sad to see this very intelligent and past business owner, become so afraid to read emails and use a phone. It was a huge setback for him, and I think contributed to his worsening health conditions…he stopped living,” said Susan.  

Kathy Stokes, Director of AARP’s Fraud Prevention Program, told Senators that there has been a “meteoric” growth in fraud crimes. When considering fraud that goes unreported, Stokes noted that the Federal Trade Commission estimated the cost of fraud at $137 billion in 2022.  But most fraud experts say that this is far higher than the $ 8.9 billion in losses reported that year, she added.

Beyond educating seniors about fraud prevention thru the sharing of information online at aarp.org/fraudwatchnetwork, AARP covers the issue in AARP the Magazine, AARP Bulletin, biweekly emails or text ‘watchdog alert newsletter,” and on its podcast “A Perfect Story,” notes Stokes.

“Beyond education, AARP is unique in its focus on supporting victims of fraud and their families,” says Stokes, noting that its Fraud Watch Network Helpline receives 500 calls a day.

“Addressing fraud requires more than piecemeal solutions; it demands a whole-of-society approach,” warns Stokes. “But together, educators, policymakers, law enforcement and industry can turn the tide against vicious crime gangs who hold the power right now. Together we can disrupt their business model, protect millions of consumers, and keep billions of dollars in saving and retirement accounts and in our economy,” she says.

“Currently, we are all failing the very people who need us the most: older adults- m any of whom can’t afford to lose anything, let everything. We are failing in our most basic duties to protect those in their golden years who are living off their nest eggs they worked for their entire lives and who are beyond the ability to rejoin the workforce to make the money back,” charged Scott Pirrello, who oversees the San Diego District Attorney’s Office’s Elder Abuse Prosecution. 

“Too many very well intended programs are not implemented in a way to truly impact the tsunami of fraud that we are facing each day,” he said.

Pirrello told the Senators about the success of the Elder Justice Task Force (EJTF), created by his office, working with the San Diego FBI, to combat elder fraud. Oversea scammers depended on organized networks of money launders operating in the United States, he said, noting that EJTF worked to disrupt these networks.

Like the other witness, Pirrello called for investing in education, as well as adequately fund task forces like the EJTF, to fight against scammers.

One of the biggest crimes affecting Medicare beneficiaries and persons with disabilities is Medicare fraud, waste and abuse, says Nancy Gilmer Moore, who works for the Indiana Association of Area Agencies on Aging managing its Senior Medicare Program. “Health care experts estimate improper Medicare payments are approximately $ 60 billion a year,” she says.

Gilmer Moore admitted to the Senate Aging Panel that she was personally the target of the “Intermittent Urinary Catheter fraud scheme.  Medicare paid the fraudsters $1,500 a month (for supplies never ordered) before she noticed it on her statement. Moore ultimately reported the suspicious claims to Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and requested a new Medicare number since her number was compromised.

“Be on the lookout for duplicate billing, services or products not rendered or received and services not ordered by their physicians,” urged Gilmer Moore, noting that beneficiaries and caregivers should never give their Medicare number or financial information over the telephone to an unknown called.  Medicare does not make. unsolicited phone calls.

For information on fraud prevention, go to aarp.org/fraudwatchnetwork.

To download a copy of the 2024 Fraud Book, go to https://www.aging.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/2024_fraud_book_english.pdf.

To watch the Senate Aging Panel’s hearing on fighting fraud, go to https://www.aging.senate.gov/hearings/fighting-fraud-how-scammers-are-stealing-from-older-adults.

To see the Majority Staff Report, “Scammed Then Taxed,” go to

https://www.casey.senate.gov/news/releases/scammed-then-taxed-casey-unveils-new-report-showing-how-republican-tax-law-further-devastated-scam-victims

Social Security 2025 COLA expected to be small increase 

Published in RINewsToday on September 16, 2024

Stay tuned… Next year’s cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) will be announced by the Social Security Administration (SSA) in mid-October, upon the release of September’s annual inflation adjustment data.  SSA’s COLA for 2025 will be reflected in beneficiary checks starting in January of that year. Like clockwork, this happens annually, although beneficiaries may see their payments occasionally arrive a few days early due to holidays or weekends. 

The Senior Citizen’s League (TSCL) releases its COLA projections each month. The official COLA is determined by the Labor Bureau’s revised CPI-W data from July, August and September.

Some say SSA’s 2025 COLA is “Chump Change”

With one month left, TSCL’s latest COLA model results, released on Sept. 11, 2024, predicts that next year’s COLA will be 2.5 % based on a decline from 2.9% to 2.5% in consumer price data. While 2.5% is lower than the 3.2% received in 2024, that wouldn’t be far from the historical norm. The COLA has averaged about 2.6% over the past 20 years. It went as low as 0.0% in 2010, 2011, and 2016 and as high as 8.7% in 2023.

According to TSCL, by law, the annual inflation adjustment is based on the average inflation during July, August, and September as measured by the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W). The Bureau of Labor Statistics averages the CPI-W for these three months and then compares it with the same timeframe from the previous year, says the Alexandria-based nonprofit advocacy group whose mission is to protect Social Security, Medicare, and veteran or military retiree benefits.  

TSCL’s COLA latest analysis findings indicates that next year’s COLA of 2.5% would raise the average monthly benefit for retired workers of $1,920 by $48 or about $564 annually. The modest increase will not enable seniors to cover increasing cost of living expenses (including food, clothing, transportation, energy, and shelter costs).  “Rising grocery prices is creating food insecurity for many retirees. Feeding America estimated that 5.5 million Americans age 60 and above suffered from food insecurity in 2021, in the most recent study available on the subject, and that number is likely higher today,” note the researchers.

“Due to a higher cost of living, older Americans are using more and more of their income each month just to get by compared to a year ago. “Sixty-five percent of seniors reported monthly expenses of at least $2,000, up from 55% in 2023,” says TSCL’s COLA analysis, noting that statistical testing shows that there’s almost no chance that this gap is due to noisy survey variation. (The 2024 survey had 2,129 respondents; 2023 had 2,258 respondents.)

But low-income seniors aren’t the only ones who have seen their expenses rise, either, say the researchers, noting that more seniors are spending at least $4,000 or $6,000 per month compared to 2023, too, while fewer are able to get by on $1,000 or less. TSCL says that a rise in monthly expenses wouldn’t be much of an issue if seniors’ higher expenses were going to fun activities things, like activities with their grandchildren, or discretionary costs, like bucket-list vacations. However, this is not the case, says the Social Security advocacy group.  “Nearly 80% of senior households in the 2024 survey reported that their monthly budget for essential items like food, housing, and prescription drugs had increased over the last 12 months, with 63% saying they’re worried that their income won’t be enough to cover these basic costs in the coming months,” says the analysis findings.

Over the years, TSCL, along with other aging advocacy groups including the National Committee to Protect Social Security (NCPSSM) and Social Security Works, have called for higher COLAs.

Calls for Congress to change current COLA formula.

Last March, in correspondence to Sen. Bob Casey, Jr. (D-PA), chairman of the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging, NCPSSM, the Washington DC based Social Security advocacy group endorsed Casey’s legislative proposal, S. 3974, entitled the “Boosting Benefits and COLAs for Seniors Act.”  The proposal has been referred to the Senate Finance Committee.

Specifically, Casey’s legislative proposal, introduced March 19, 2024, would direct SSA to adjust benefits based on CPI-E rather than CPI-W, if CPI-E would result in a larger increase in benefits. The Bureau of Labor Statistics  (BLS) would calculate and publish the CPI-E on a monthly basis. The Senator believes it would be the most accurate measure of the real effect of inflation on the goods and services that are purchased by America’s seniors.

In NCPSSM’s correspondence, CEO and President Max Richtman strongly supported Casey’s call for requiring BLS to change the way it calculates SSA’s annual COLAs, using a CPI-E formula.

According to Richtman, SSA’s current formula for calculating COLAs is based upon the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W), which is a measurement by the BLS of the changes in the prices paid for a market basket of goods and services purchased by urban wage earners and clerical workers.

“The current CPI-W has fallen far short of providing needed inflation protection because it fails to adequately measure the spending patterns of seniors,” says Richtman in his endorsement of Seniors typically spend more on out-of-pocket health care costs than other Americans, and in most years, the cost of health care rises more quickly than general inflation,” he says. “We believe adoption of your bill would go a long way toward protecting those on fixed incomes from the ravages of inflation,” says Richtman.

The following organizations have endorsed S. 3974: Arc of the United States; Alliance for Retired Americans; American Federation of Government Employees; American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees; California Alliance for Retired Americans; Justice in Aging; National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare; National Education Association; National Organization of Social Security Claimants Representatives; Social Security Works; Strengthen Social Security Coalition.

While former President Donald Trump and Vice-President Kamala Harris have both pledged to protect Social Security, nether have put out a specific plan to keep America’s retirement program solvent.

According to the last Social Security Trustees report, the Social Security Old-Age and Survivors Insurance  trust fund is projected to be depleted by 2033 at which point SSA will be forced to make a 21 percent across the board reduction.  The nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget estimates that this would be a $16, 500 cut in annual benefits for a typical dual-income couple retiring at the time of trust fund depletion. 

When the dust settles after the upcoming presidential election, the new president must make it a priority to hammer out a bipartisan fix along with pushing for requiring BLS to use the CPI-E Formula to accurately predict the impact of inflation on America’s retirees.