Appeal to the Insurance Industry: Life Insurance, Health Insurance, Liability
January 26, 2003

Our focus on improving quality of life for aging people is about building the culture of hope that can only happen when people strive to thrive. When they stop striving, they are ready to die.

Elder LifeCare Foundation supports strategies that will comprehensively affect change in the behavior of aging people in many stages, levels and circumstances. The outcomes will be measured in the drama of a happier, healthier aging constituency, better prepared to understand life in a way that aging people can anticipate and plan for challenges before they become hopeless catastrophes. People need the freedom to live by the rules that truly sustain quality life; goal seeking and hopeful incentive based striving. We have seen what dependency and entitlements have brought us.

Strategies that enable change must begin where there is the most pain, the long-term care industry and families caring for aging loved-ones in the home. But we can't stop there. We have the responsibility to carry the message of quality of life to all Americans, regardless of where they are on the continuum of aging.

Real change brings an honest understanding of aging. In the hands of government, aging has become a series of milestones that trigger government oversite and response. We are witness to the results, enormous waste, staggering costs and unhappy state of health. Both psychologically and financially, elevated stress, anxiety and depression facilitate rapid decline in health and escalation in real costs. Time alone will only exacerbate this national and worldwide crisis.

By organizing a massive response, the private sector can begin the incremental process of changing the entire culture of aging. Government will need to be changed as well.

As for private sector industries specialized to support aging, there is a compelling argument for their aggressive and immediate participation and initiative in helping ELF achieve its mission. People need to take charge of their destinies. Livelihood is the ultimate consequence of striving to thrive. By helping to prepare us for the challenges of livelihood, the Insurance Industry can serve critical financial needs that directly affect quality of life. Who would say that a happier, healthier, less anxious people firmly in charge of their livelihood is not the answer we want for our families, our world or ourselves? Only an angry, self-serving, misguided politician!

In every way, the social experiments of the 20th century have, by confiscating livelihood, created the mythical expectation of nirvana that, worldwide, has resulted in anxious and stressful loss of personal control, endless promises of entitlements and no way to pay for these hopeless circumstances except by robbing us of our natural right to enjoy quality life.

We believe that the Insurance Industries, Life, Health and liability have a key role to play in the process of re-training generations of people to the behaviors that will enable a healthier generation of aging people and caregiving assistance trained to support and sustain their continued ability to thrive. Collaborative efforts with the Insurance Industry can help avert this imminent disaster, restore quality of life to generations of aging people and provide meaningful private sector guidance and leadership to sustain the outcomes.

Together we can begin the process of changing the course. Success can only occur with the conviction of courage. It is time to take back our world. Somebody has to do it!

With your help, we believe that Elder LifeCare Foundation will begin to put out the fire.

Kent Lenhard, Executive Director
Elder LifeCare Foundation

Contact: Mail