‘Baby Boom’ generation will redefine ‘old age’

In an article based on his Design in Mental Health 2022 conference presentation, highly experienced architect, and founder of IBI TH!NK, Richard Mazuch, argues that architects, designers, and planners, will increasingly need to tailor their thinking on the optimal living and care environments to the needs and wants of the so-called ‘Baby Boomer’ generation. This, he says, will require a radical re-think on what an ageing, but ever-more youthfully-minded, population needs and desires for a fulfilling life.

Between 1946-1964 the largest generation was created. The ‘Baby Boomers’ radically changed society at every stage of their lives, as they will do so in their senior years, ‘from considerations regarding drugs, sex, rebellion, and rock ’n roll, to end of life issues’, and ‘will challenge long-term facilities to instate new policies’. (James Siberski, co-author, with Carol Siberski, of an article titled ‘Boomers in Nursing Homes: Ready or Not, Here They Come’, in Today’s Geriatric Medicine 2015; 8 (5): 18). They have lived through post war food rationing to Deliveroo, from telegrams to the Internet, from Perry Como to Black Sabbath, from ‘The Year of Love’ to the bombing of Hiroshima, and from Charlie Chaplin to Monty Python… Mods, Rockers, Skins, Hippies, Punks, Goths, and beyond. 

The ‘Baby Boomers’ will redefine old age. This longer-living, ‘toughing things out’ cohort will face significant challenges – ranging from failing body systems to mental health issues. They will encounter everything from depression, Diabetes, Arthritis, cataracts, and incontinence, to loneliness, and from Dementia to substance abuse or misuse.