Ozarks Profile: Bradley Fisher, PhD

What is gerontology?

Gerontology is defined as the study of aging and those processes that affect the aging experience. It is an interdisciplinary field of study, which would include things like psychology, sociology, biology, political science, economics and social work.

How did you come to choose gerontology as your field of work?

It would probably go back to my grandmother, Lillian Fisher, who was quite a character. When I was a kid, of course, she seemed old to me when she was in her 50s. But she lived into her mid-80s, and so I had a lot of opportunity to interact with her as I grew up and became a young man. And she always had this unconditional love, a willingness to spend time with me, a willingness to listen, to joke. She was never as pressed, it seemed, as the adults my parents' generation, who obviously, were very busy with their lives, something I understand now but she always had time for me and was always willing to play games and joke and tease me when I'd take things too seriously. I can still hear her laughter today when I start taking something too seriously.

What are some of the biggest issues that aging people face?

There have been a number of surveys and the needs always come out pretty much the same. And the focuses of those are health and finances. Health concerns are they going to have the health resources available to take care of their needs, issues such as Medicare and the big issue now prescription drug coverage. Finances come into play when you have people who have saved, but maybe not saved enough for later life or their income may shrink, even though they've planned very carefully. So those are overwhelming concerns, but those are always going to be concerns until society decides to do something different.

What needs to be different?

My own belief is that one of the primary issues affecting older adults is the way that society views older adults. Are they viewed as valuable members of society or are they viewed as a drag on social resources? If we truly believe as a society that we have grown on the backs of the labor that our older men and women have contributed during their younger years, if we believe that we stand essentially, on their shoulders because of what they've given throughout their lives to us then we as a society owe them a debt of gratitude. We as a society need to find a way so that there is no older adult who is hungry, no older adult out there who is worried about whether or not they can afford food versus a prescription, that there is no older adult out there who has to sit at home alone.

How should people prepare for retirement?

If someone wants to retire successfully, they should be thinking about it ahead of time, developing activities of interest to them, meaningful things they can do with their time. Because if you're not going to be needed on the job anymore, and you ... have to find somewhere else to direct those energies.

Is the "sandwich generation" a new issue, or is it just becoming more prevalent?

The sandwich generation is an issue because life expectancy has increased. As a result you are having situations where you have people who are still in their work careers, who have children probably older children in their teens and they have parents who may have retired. And those parents may be very vital but some may have additional needs. So the adult child is feeling pulled between the needs of the adults and the needs of the children. It's more of an issue simply because there are more older adults out there.

Tell us about your family.

I've been married now for almost 19 years. My wife, Kathy, is a local fabric artist, and my daughter Emma is a student at Glendale High School.