Older Adults

A coalition of aging and disability groups, including ADvancing States, partnered to develop a guide to making vaccination sites fully accessible to older adults and people with disabilities. The recommendations included in the guide address significant gaps in accessibility of vaccine administration sites and can go a long way toward increasing vaccination rates in these vulnerable populations.

The University of Southern California's Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work has posted a "Crisis Care for Adults With Cognitive Impairment" resource on their website. This webpage includes a list of the types of cognitive impairment, a guide to person-centered care for adults with cognitive impairment and strategies for health care providers. Source: The MSW@USC, the online Master of Social Work program at the University of Southern California.

Using data from the 2019 AAA National Survey, this brief, explores differences and similarities between AAAs serving rural and non-rural areas in structure, budget, workforce and service provision, including home repair and modification, transportation and evidence-based programs.

BellAge has released new findings from their CV19 CheckUp survey that show risk education can help save lives during the COVID-19 pandemic. Findings include that most adults (79%) dangerously underestimate the lethal threat risk that COVID-19 poses to older adults, and when informed of the true magnitude or the lethal threat risks, most of respondents (63%) say they would modify their behaviors to keep older adults and loved ones safe. Download the PDF to read more about their findings.

The RRF Foundation for Aging recently released an issue brief, “Working Together to Achieve Economic Security in Later Life”, which is a first in a series of briefs highlight the foundation’s approach to grantmaking. The brief focuses on the innovative ways for older adults to achieve financial well-being and also as an invitation to others to partner with the foundation on these and other critical issues. The issue brief and social media sharing toolkit are linked to this page.

This report looks at how federal agencies can better meet the nutritional needs of older adults. The study examines how older adults' nutrition is connected to health outcomes and the extent to which federal nutrition guidelines address older adults' nutritional needs. It also outlines the challenges program providers face in meeting older adults' nutritional needs. GAO makes a series of recommendations for HHS and USDA to improve federal nutrition assistance programs for this population.

This paper discusses the role of the public health field in promoting the health of older adults. It summarizes a meeting of aging stakeholders in Fall 2017 and analyzes the document developed at the meeting, called the Framework for an Age-Friendly Public Health System. This framework outlines the potential for the further involvement of public health in aging by presenting five major directions the field can take to make a positive impact on the aging process.

This report from the Center for Oral Health highlights how an alarming number of Californians age 65 years and older are suffering from untreated tooth decay and poor oral health. This report includes a series of recommendations to eliminate barriers to care and improve oral health.

The Senior Community Service Employment Program (SCSEP) is a $400 million federal workforce investment program projected to serve over 67,000 low-income unemployed older adults in program year (PY) 2017. This is the only federally funded program to target older individuals who want to enter or reenter the workforce. The fiscal year (FY) 2018 budget eliminates all funding for SCSEP. This white paper examines the evidence on the value of SCSEP and discusses the potential effects of cutting it.

This issue brief from the Administration for Community Living describes the nutritional quality of congregate and home-delivered meals offered through the Nutrition Services Program and examines their compliance with the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. The brief also discusses how the Healthy Eating Index (HEI)-2010 was used to assess the nutritional quality of the congregate and home-delivered meals.