09-25-2024 Primetime - Flipbook - Page 18
18 A Special Advertising Section of Baltimore Sun Media Group | Wednesday, September 25, 2024
Eliminating ageism,
continued from page 7
End of life, continued
from page 10
and learn about them in person?
“It takes time to change our language,”
says D’Antonio, “but you have to practice.
Over the years, it’s become engrained in
us. What pronouns do you use when you
talk about older people: We? or They?”
D’Antonio admits she started seven years
ago to modify her language.
If we talk about an attorney who continues to work in a law practice, most
people recognize the accumulation of
wisdom. I think about Judge J. Michael
Luttig, a conservative jurist, now 70, who
has appeared on multiple news programs
since January 6, 2021. He’s been publishing opinions about this country and its
problems. And there are all the talking
heads who have turned their experience
and knowledge into being subject matter
experts when needed.
We need policies and, sometimes,
accommodations that allow people to
continue to work. What else can we do to
show our acceptance of others, that reinforce our belief that we are interconnected
and support each other.
Carmel Roques, Secretary of the
Maryland Department of Aging, is staring at myriad issues as the baby boomer
generation’s population becomes equal
to those under the age of 18. “We are
not sufficiently prepared to assist them
as they age, to keep them active and
involved if that’s what they want. We
should not push them aside,” she says.
So, there is work to be done. D’Antonio
sums it up. “Our prejudices, our biases
are holding us back in creating policy that
would be beneficial now and in the future.
If anything, we will continue to have
older adults living even longer than today.
The sooner we change our language,
the sooner we can drive more productive thinking about aging and overcome
our prejudices and biases; then, we can
address the issues in a positive way and
implement helpful public policies. It’s up
to us.”
specifically calling on high schools to incorporate nonpartisan voter registration into
their programs.”
For Maryland, 78,676 are turning 18
this year, so if they registered, they would
be eligible to vote in this year’s election. The online registration deadline is
October 15, 2024. Here’s the link to register: voterservices.elections.maryland.gov/
OnlineVoterRegistration/VoterType
Brill said that the most recent reports
show that less than 40% of 18-year-olds
are registered to vote in Pennsylvania, Ohio
and Arizona. In New Hampshire, the registration rate for 18-year-olds is just 21%.
You’re probably wondering why I included this volunteer option when it targets
teens. You are parents or grandparents of
teens and are in a position to help them
learn about voting since this election is constantly in the news. Visit TheCivicsCenter.
org to learn how you, the adults, can help
out. Under the heading, “Get Involved,” is a
subhead: Volunteer.
Some of the tasks will sound familiar,
especially if you’ve ever volunteered for the
League of Women Voters (www.lwv.org),
except it targets teens. I know I registered
to vote the minute I could.
There’s a huge side benefit. Civics
classes have disappeared since we were in
school. This is a way to learn how important
it is to be involved in and care about those
who run our local government. Explaining
all this, teaching your relatives about local,
state, and national politics will make them
more productive citizens.
We have a lot going on in Maryland this
election. Rep. John Sarbanes is retiring as
one of our Congressmen, Ben Cardin is
retiring as one of our two Senators, and
there are bills that are pretty important.
When you teach young people about voting, you’re getting them involved for the rest
of their lives. That’s pretty terrific.
Volunteer, continued from page 12
Registering High School Voters
Joyce Vance writes a blog titled Civil
Discourse with Joyce Vance on Substack
and is a law professor, MSNBC/NBC Legal
Analyst, and Podcaster (Sisters in Law).
She also invites others who practice law
for interviews periodically. Quotes are taken
from Vance’s post on Substack.
Laura Brill is an attorney and a former
law clerk to Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
She launched The Civics Center in 2018
and explains, “We create resources for
students to lead drives, we host workshops
around the country to help train students
and educators do voter registration, and we
calculate high-quality data around 18-yearold registration rates in states around the
country, including Pennsylvania, New York,
Michigan, Ohio and Arizona, the most
recent ones we’ve looked at.
“Today, 19 states (including Maryland)
and the District of Columbia allow young
people to preregister to vote starting at
age 16. These states account for more
than 50% of teens in the U.S. Even in the
most age-restrictive states, virtually everyone is old enough to register when they are
still in high school. The U.S. Department
of Education recently published guidance
Become a Volunteer
There are opportunities to contribute
everywhere you look. Every hospital in the
area needs volunteers as do organizations
like Big Brothers and Big Sisters, most
faith-based organizations, and lots of educational organizations.
These are only three of hundreds that
would appreciate you. Start your search at
Maryland Nonprofits: www.marylandnonprofits.org/volunteer. They will be glad to
have you.
It used to be that you needed an attorney to create these documents. Today,
you can go to several legal websites,
such as LegalZoom.com, and download
what you need for a very reasonable fee.
You still need to identify the person who
will be in charge if you’re not available.
Want to learn more about advance
care planning?
• NIA’s “Advance Care Planning: A
Conversation Guide” offers conversation tips, worksheets and more.”
• Compassion & Choices, a non-profit
that “improves care, expands options
and empowers everyone to chart their
end-of-life journey,” offers a downloadable guide: “My End-of-Life Decisions:
An Advance Planning Guide and Toolkit.”
• The Conversation Project, one of
the first non-profits to guide people
through having a difficult conversation, is now under the aegis of Institute
for Healthcare Improvement. It has
guides in several languages. It does
a thorough job of helping you have a
conversation with your loved ones. You
can also download a modifiable PDF of
Your Conversation Starter Guide and
save it to your computer.
The Conversation Project offers
guides for other conversations, such as
choosing the person to be your healthcare proxy and talking with that person
to explain what’s involved. There is also
a guide for caregivers of those with
dementia.
In addition, there are Resources for
Organizations and Communities, videos,
blogs, and Resources for Individuals.
Taking care of all these items should
not be put off and this list only scratches
the surface. We never know what the
future holds for us. And our lives can
change in seconds. Set a deadline for
yourself with a completion date. Once
done, you’ll be relieved it’s off your plate.
