Style Without End - NYTimes.com

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By PAULA SPAN

Ari Seth Cohen can probably blame his fascination with glam older women on his grandmothers.

His mother’s mother, whom he describes as “my best friend, growing up,” successfully lobbied for him to leave Seattle, where he’d been working in galleries and in a men’s store, and to move east. “She always told me New York was where everything is happening, and if I wanted to do something creative, I should be there,” he told me.

His father’s mother was a fashion plate who took him shopping at Escada. “She wore beautiful suits and jewelry, a very elegant woman,” Mr. Cohen recalled.

When he did move to New York, initially taking a job in a museum bookstore, he noticed a number of idiosyncratically chic older women on the streets. He took to carrying his Canon Rebel digital camera with him everywhere, snapping their photos. The result is the blog Advanced Style, launched in 2008, which declares itself “proof from the wise and silver-haired set that personal style advances with age.”

“Older people are comfortable in their own skin, and they wear their style with confidence,” Mr. Cohen explained, sounding a bit envious. He’s a mere 29.

That appearance matters, at least to a number of old people, is something lots of nursing home, assisted living and adult day staffers can testify to. There’s a reason so many of these facilities have beauty salons on site, a reason many women cling to their red lipstick and hair color when even walking becomes difficult.


I often hear complaints about the limited range of clothing designed for older women who disdain pastel velour tracksuits. You won’t see a lot of those on Advanced Style.

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New Funding Proposed for Adult Day Centers - The New Old Age Blog - NYTimes.com

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By PAULA SPAN

I wrote recently about the way adult day centers can provide health monitoring, social contact, meals and activities for older people who don’t thrive alone at home, while allowing participants to return to familiar surroundings at the end of the day.

Families whose relatives use these centers often become staunch fans. “The program is key to her social life and well-being, and key to helping me keep my job,” commented Eleanor, a reader from Silver Spring, Md., whose mother attends an adult day center. “Don’t let them wither away!” agreed John from Brooklyn.

I wouldn’t say the centers — close to 4,000 operate around the country — are withering away, but they’re definitely short of cash as states hack away at Medicaid budgets and other financing even as private donations shrink. Some centers have had to cut hours or days or enrollment; a few have closed altogether.

So federal legislation that would permit Medicare funds now designated for home visits or rehab centers also to be used for adult day programs seems a sensible move. Yet it’s been stalled in Congress, despite having attracted 80 co-sponsors from 30 states in the House of Representatives, for nearly a year.

Here’s how the Medicare Adult Day Services Act would work:

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