Life Skills Education for Over 50
- Learning to be a smart consumer is one of the life skills for those over 50.
Some consumer skills include using the principles of comparison shopping in order to save money; learning about various types of insurance and where to get insurance; understanding the rights and responsibilities of being a consumer; understanding how the housing market works, both for rentals and repairs; learning how to budget money and use credit responsibly; being able to identify consumer fraud, such as bogus emails and solicitations; and knowing the social services that are available to older adults and how to use them. - Creating healthful eating habits is an important life skill for senior adults.
A major life skill for those older than 50 is to understand the link between memory and aging. Some memory problems include absent-mindedness, distortion and repression. Other health-related life skills include being able to identify healthful practices, learning the link between sound nutrition and good health, identifying appropriate physical exercise, identifying safe practices in using medication to stay healthy and demonstrating knowledge of disease and prevention. - Writing a memoir is a way to activate memory in those older than 50.
A good skill for older adults to learn is memoir-writing. For one thing, it keeps the memory active. Also, the memoir provides a narrative for children and grandchildren. Other important literacy life skills include enjoyment of the arts and being able to express yourself through the proper use of English. Math literacy skills are important, too. Older adults need to understand basic math concepts, such as adding, subtracting, dividing, multiplying and percentages as well as be able to solve money and other real world math problems. - Understanding the changing behaviors of people as they grow older is another important life skill for those older than 50. One important life skill is to understand the effects of institutionalization and ways to cope with adverse effects. Senior adults also need to recognize the factors influencing self-awareness and the ability to interact with others, to be able to react and respond to events in your community and the neighboring communities, to learn to cope with death and dying, to understand that aging is a natural event and can lead to personal growth and to learn how to keep themselves and their property safe.
- In many communities, senior adult life skills are taught through basic adult education programs. Other communities have senior citizen centers that provide similar training, especially when it comes to social interaction and healthful living. Many libraries also offer courses in older adult life skills education.
