Beyond bingo

This is a busy time at Senior Toronto. I've been working my way through the fall Fun Guides, updating the senior programs available through the community centres, so you can keep finding the latest courses through keyword searches on the Senior Toronto website. There are occasional inspired offerings, like tap dancing and clogging at the Scarborough Village Recreation Centre, and ukulele lessons at the Waterfront Neighbourhood Centre. But for the most part it's the same old stuff they've been serving up for years: bingo, carpet bowling, cribbage, euchre, gentle fitness, knitting. These programs are geared to older seniors, and they fill an obvious need. But they do not attract younger seniors.

We baby boomer seniors, just beginning to retire, have special needs too. We need cardio, stretch and strength, and flexibility fitness, but adapted to our aging bodies. The gentle fitness classes at senior centres and community centres are often too gentle to build our endurance, while the fitness classes for younger adults are often too hard on our joints. Community centres and senior centres should offer senior fitness programs at different levels, presented by instructors who are certified as fitness instructors for older adults.

Retiring baby boomers are also eager to keep learning. Many organizations now offer lifelong learning programs specifically for seniors (see Senior Toronto's Lifelong Learning section), and they can hardly keep up with the demand. Why can't community centres and senior centres host some of these courses locally, as Baycrest and the Sunshine Centres for Seniors do? In addition, many of us already have solid technology skills, but once we leave the workplace we want help keeping up. So why not offer technology clubs that explore smartphones, tablets, ereaders, blogging, Skype and social media? And community centres and senior centres should update their programs to include activities our age group is interested in, like creative writing, digital photography and photo management, genealogy and scrapbooking.

I've blogged before about how difficult it is for seniors to get our voices heard by policy makers. There are various special-interest groups, but there is no strong coordinated body to speak for seniors with one voice. And look at the problems looming: insufficient, poorly funded home care; a shortage of affordable, good quality long term care homes; a generation unable to secure their retirement because of degraded or nonexistent pensions and a lifetime of precarious work. We have to learn to advocate for ourselves and to strengthen our own communities. Community centres and senior centres should offer seniors a chance to develop skills in leadership and community building. The Birchmount Bluffs Neighbourhood Centre and Danforth-Perth Neighbourhood and Community Health Centre already do this. Other centres should follow their lead.