Older Adults

On December 15, 2022 U.S. Senate Special Committe on Aging held a hearing to recognize the impact of federal nutrition assistance programs in reducing hunger among older adults. At the hearing, the Committee released a bipartisan report, entitled “Recognizing 50 Years of the Nation’s First Nutrition Program for Older Adults.” The report celebrates the role of the Older Americans Act Nutrition Program in reducing hunger, promoting health, and enhancing the wellbeing and quality of life of older adults. The Committee also released state-by-state fact sheets highlighting the impact of the Older Americans Act Nutrition Program in each Committee member’s state.

ASTDD has shared a new collection of resources, Older Adult Oral Health Resources for Collaboration. This resource was developed by a workgroup consisting of individuals from state public health programs, academia, and clinicians caring for older adults in a variety of settings. It includes information on the link between oral health and overall health, oral health and chronic disease, special populations, ventilator and non-ventilator pneumonia, nutrition, financing routine dental care, information for non-dental providers, teledentistry and equity.

This report is based on 2021 data from the National Adult Maltreatment Reporting System (NAMRS), which is a voluntary data reporting system that collects information from state adult protective services systems throughout all states, territories, and the District of Columbia. The 2021 report features a unique chapter on the potential impacts of COVID-19.

The National Aging and Disability Transportation Center, a program of the Federal Transit Administration administered by Easterseals and USAging with guidance from ACL, is lookig for survey participants to share challenges and promising practices in providing accessible transportation to older adults and people with disabilities. Survey responses will help guide NADTC's work over the next year.

This KFF issue brief describes the anticipated enrollment changes in pathways based on old age or disability (“non-MAGI”) after the Public Health Emergency (PHE) ends, state enrollment and renewal policies for non-MAGI groups as of January 1, 2022, and state plans for resuming normal operations when the PHE ends.

This fact sheet from the National Long-Term Care Ombudsman Resource Center, Residents’ Rights and the LGBTQ+ Community: Know Your Rights as a Nursing Home Resident, highlights federal residents' rights and nursing home requirements pertaining to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBTQ+) residents. The factsheet also provides options for complaint resolution, information for reporting abuse and resources regarding long-term care and LGBTQ+ advocacy.

Evidence-based community falls prevention programs can reduce falls, risk factors, and costs associated with falls. Community-based programs address a wide range of risk factors such as improving muscle strength and balance, removing home hazards that contribute to falls, and increasing confidence to engage in falls-reduction activities. NCOA's infographic highlights key statistics on falls injuries and solutions to help save lives and money.

Virginia Tech’s Center for Gerontology is offering an Online Graduate Certificate in Leadership for an Aging Society. The 12-credit program can be completed in one academic year and covers a wide variety of topics such as the biological, psychological, and sociological impacts of aging, ethical issues surrounding older adults and their families, as well as the public policy development and approval processes at the local, state, and national levels. Certificate recipients will be prepared by industry leaders to lead and manage teams and multi-agency collaborations that serve older adults in a variety of settings, including private and public organizations.

CMS has announced it will offer more than $110 million to expand access to home and community-based services (HCBS) through Medicaid’s Money Follows the Person (MFP) program. The new Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) makes individual awards of up to $5 million available for more than 20 states and territories not currently participating in MFP. These funds will support initial planning and implementation to get the state/territory programs off the ground, which would ensure more people with Medicaid can receive high-quality, cost-effective, person-centered services in a setting they choose.

The brief from the KKF shares state-level data on HCBS spending and the number of people receiving Medicaid in FY 2020. The data were collected in KFF’s 19th survey of state officials administering Medicaid HCBS programs in all 50 states and DC.