Patricia Raskin’s new passion project is positive aging

Patricia Raskin has a one-word message for you: Hope.

The East Greenwich entrepreneur, who has had a long career helping others through her media projects, is now focused on positive aging. And she wants us to know that she sees a bright future. 

There are limitations as we age, but it doesn’t have to stop us. We don’t move quite as fast, and we aren’t quite as strong, but we are living longer, healthier and better, Raskin says. And we’re in good company – the elderly are the fastest-growing population group in Rhode Island.  

After a 30-year career in media and communications, and with a master’s degree in counseling, Raskin has the skills to drive her message of thriving as we age.   

Some will recognize Raskin, 71, from her longtime radio show, “The Patricia Raskin Show,” first on WPRO and now on the internet, or from her visibility in the Jewish community, where she serves on the board at Providence’s Temple Emanu-El and writes a column for The Jewish Voice.  

Raskin, who grew up in New England, returned to the area in 2008 to be closer to family and because she had an opportunity to bring her radio show here, she says. 

She also helps people who are interested in making podcasts, and she speaks to various groups around Rhode Island on the subject of positive aging. In 2015, she received a Small Business Administration award for her work as an entrepreneur in the radio field.

Her latest project is a Ted Talk, set to be delivered sometime in the spring. The talk will cover positive aging and five steps to help deal with loss. You can get a taste of the Ted Talk in Raskin’s latest Voice column on page 17

Raskin is also putting together a 27-minute pilot on positive aging for Rhode Island PBS. The show, which will focus on a variety of relevant topics, such as technology for seniors and brain health, will be a vehicle to find funding to create a weekly program.

“The thrust of my work has always been around showing positive role models. Now that I’m older, I’m concentrating on positive aging,” Raskin says. 

“What I’m excited about in this pilot is that I want to show seniors aging up. I don’t just want to show people when they go downhill. How do we take what we’ve got and start afresh and look at it positively?  

“Keeping hope alive, that’s what my work is about. In all my programs, this is my passion. I’ve been tested. I’ve had to use these skills to keep hope alive.”

FRAN OSTENDORF (fostendorf@jewishallianceri.org) is the editor of The Jewish Voice.