Janice Goldmintz - Your Parents Aren't Broken: Why "Successful Aging" Isn't About Staying Young

Janice Goldmintz - Your Parents Aren't Broken: Why "Successful Aging" Isn't About Staying Young

July 1, 2026 · 39 min · Episode 303

About this episode

Janice Goldmintz discusses the importance of proactive conversations about aging and the true meaning of quality of life in later years.

anice Goldmintz is a gerontologist, caregiver advocate, and founder of Talk About Aging, and author of Getting Older But Not Old . Most families wait for a crisis before they start talking about aging. A fall, a diagnosis, an unopened stack of mail — and suddenly everyone's scrambling. But here's the problem: by the time you're reacting, you've already lost the chance to plan with dignity instead of panic. Janice has spent years working with the "sandwich generation" — people caring for aging parents while still raising their own kids — and her core message cuts against how most of us think about getting older: quality of life was never about staying young. It's about purpose, community, and one uncomfortable habit almost no family practices — actually talking about it before it's urgent. Expect to learn why society's obsession with looking young makes the conversation about aging harder to have, what the real difference is between being alone and being lonely, how to spot the early warning signs that a parent needs support during an ordinary visit home, why treating your aging parent like a child destroys the trust you're trying to build, what "high quality of…

People in this episode

Host: Asekho Toto

Guest: Janice Goldmintz

Topics covered

Keywords

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Talk About Aging

Books & works: Getting Older But Not Old

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