Meredith Oppenheim launched the Vitality Society after serving on Mayor Bloomberg’s Age-Friendly Commission and the board of the NYC Department for the Aging, as well as overseeing multi-billion-dollar senior housing portfolios. The Vitality Society is an online community dedicated to help older people stay where they want to stay – at home – and how they want to stay – connected and well.
At the Academy of Lifelong Learning this spring, Oppenheim is teaching Empowering Your Mind and Body to Enjoy Life the Most: A Master Class with Meredith Oppenheim
Enjoy this interview with our new Academy of Lifelong Learning instructor for a concise understanding of what to expect in this exciting master class.
Q: What can students expect from your class?
A: If COVID has taught us anything, it’s the importance of finding new ways to maintain our physical and mental well-being while staying connected with old friends and making new ones. In fact, study after study, including a recent landmark meta-study analyzing 90 studies, has demonstrated staying connected is vital to good health.
Now is the time to apply your experiences and build on your strengths and interests. During this interactive 5-part class, you will learn a new framework to measure your vitality and create a pathway to live the life and leave the legacy you desire.
Research suggests that starting at 60, you become increasingly happier with every passing decade. Yet circumstances may arise that derail you. We will acknowledge the possible setbacks and learn how to address them to prepare you to return to a vitality trajectory.
Q: How can this class help students at different stages of their life?
A: Regardless of your age, we all have goals and dreams. Ultimately, the question is, if not now, when? During this series, students will learn how to live the lives they imagined and desired. Building stamina and strength is vital; our Vitality Society members are amongst the busiest people I know as they generally have more time and a greater desire to be all they want to be, do all they want to do, and go to all the places they want to go.
Q: What kind of classroom environment do you try to create for yourself and your students?
A: While a student at the Harvard Business School, we learned via the case study method, which engaged all of us to think about the content in the context of the case’s protagonist. Our professors often asked us what we would do if we were in their shoes. When I had a chance to speak at the Harvard Business School reunions, I also learned the more interactive the program, the more interesting the experience was for all who attended. My goal is to provide a valuable perspective but then allow the class participants to learn from each other by sharing their perspectives with the whole class, in small groups, or one-on-one with others.
Q: What inspired you to create the Vitality Society?
A: For decades, I have personally and professionally been passionate about and dedicated to keeping older people well. My commitment began with my cherished grandparents, whose longevity became my priority. As a teenager, I started to cook for them, introducing ingredients that were scientifically proven to have health benefits. Because they enjoyed and benefitted from what I made, I started cooking for other older people at senior centers throughout my home state of New Jersey to help others live healthier lives. I earned a US Congressional Award for this work.
Several years ago, my father was diagnosed with multiple blood cancers and blood diseases. I now know what it is like to have to fight like hell to save my father’s life and worry about my mother’s mental health — while at the same time holding down a job and parenting. We can’t do this alone. We adult children are already exhausted, and Medicare and Medicaid are already depleted. Thus, we all must fight like hell to stay well, as if our lives depend upon it because they do. When my father was very sick, I asked my mother what she thought she would do should something happen to him. She did not know yet; she made it clear she would not be moving to any senior housing community despite me working in the industry for leading owners and operators. Instead, she said, “You are the expert, and there are 70 million of me, so you’d better figure it out quickly.”
I knew I had to think out of the box, that is, beyond the four walls of senior housing, to give the massive maturing market another option to thrive. Baby Boomers have been game changers, so Vitality Society is catalytic in keeping them that way.
Q. Apart from this class, what other projects are you working on that you are excited about?
A: Now that we have created fanatical fans amongst our subscribers on Vitality Society, the goal is to scale the business in conjunction with leading players to impact the lives of millions of older people. Often, older people are overlooked and poorly represented and served, and I am on a mission to change that. Fortunately, as my esteemed colleague Paul Irving of the Milken Institute has said, “Boomers will use whatever resources they have to continue to live life to its fullest for as long as they can.” Baby Boomers are the wealthiest generation, spending over $548 billion a year, so most companies are taking note of this massive market opportunity spanning most industries, but know it requires a specific sensibility and sensitivity to deliver the highest quality service and experience, which we know how to do uniquely well.
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Spring 2024 link to course: Empowering Your Mind and Body to Enjoy Life the Most: A Master Class with Meredith Oppenheim
To browse other Academy of Lifelong Learning courses please click on this link: Academy of Lifelong Learning