Let's Get Smarter About Growing Older

Durham, NH (January 6, 2022) - “You can blame it on a cocktail party,” says Cathleen Toomey, Vice President of Marketing at the RiverWoods Group, a family of Continuing Care Retirement Communities. “Because I live in a small town and have worked for RiverWoods for many years, people would come to me at pre-Covid cocktail or dinner parties, even at the grocery store, with questions about aging.”

In the last couple of years, the number of people with questions seemed to increase. “Suddenly, many more people were asking, and I realized that adult children need more information.” Toomey recognized there was a need to amplify the answers to reach the growing number of people with questions about aging. “We all know that people are living longer than ever before. Adult children are raising their own children and trying to keep their parents safe, and they don’t know where to go with all of their questions,” says Toomey.

That is when Toomey launched the SENIORITY AUTHORITY podcast, which covers topics from dementia to downsizing, fitness to finance and more. “My goal is to bring together ideas and strategies from new research, leading writers and scientists to provide answers on aging to everyone,” says Toomey.

The podcast caught the imagination of Dawn DeAngelis, Vice President and Chief Content Officer at NHPBS, and she approached Toomey with the idea of partnering with video content. “This content is exactly what our viewers are interested in, and we are thrilled to bring this valuable information to the NHPBS audience,” says DeAngelis.

Starting in January, NHPBS will feature Toomey on-air and online at nhpbs.org/seniorityauthority tackling topics such as understanding different levels of care, how to build brain health, simple ways to have a long happy life and the challenge of downsizing (sadly, no one wants your Hummels). “I want to change the way people think about aging,” says Toomey.

Toomey focuses on blending current science, thinking and research with actionable tactics people can use. For example, in one episode, she explores the three key things you can do to reduce your chance of dementia by 50 percent. “Sleep, exercise and socialization. Socialization is very important — even more important than brain games,” explains Toomey. “Sleep is important, and exercise is a silver bullet. It is the one thing you have to keep doing because it affects everything.”

Toomey packs a punch with her ideas on aging and offers up simple solutions from trusted sources. Podcast guests have included Dr. Robert Waldinger, Director of Harvard’s Study for Adult Development; Dan Heath, New York Times best-selling author; Ashley Campbell, musician Glen Campbell’s daughter, and more.

“Our society says that growing old is bad, and we have to change that,” says Toomey. “The Boomer Generation is rewriting every social convention. They are marrying later, traveling more, and aging is no different. I really want to flip the script on ageism.”

You can catch SENIORITY AUTHORITY on NHPBS and online at nhpbs.org/seniorityauthority. And you can listen to the Seniority Authority podcast free wherever you listen to podcasts. Find out more at seniorityauthority.org.

SENIORITY AUTHORITY is made possible by Bank of New Hampshire Wealth Management, UnitedHealthcare, Donahue, Tucker & Ciandella, PLLC and Milne Travel.

Pressroom Contact

Carla Gordon Russell
Director of Communications
crussell@nhpbs.org
(603) 868-4339