health

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.

The Profile of Older Americans is an annual summary of the statistics from the U.S. Census Bureau, the National Center for Health Statistics, and the Bureau of Labor Statistics related to older adults in the United States. The Profile illustrates the shifting demographics of Americans age 65 and older and includes information on population growth, marital status, living arrangements, income, employment, and health. This year's report includes a special section on family caregivers.

This month, ACL is recognizing the 50th anniversary of the Senior Nutrition Program with the theme, "Celebrate. Innovate. Educate." ACL has shared a few items to help promote senior nutrition programs on the anniversary webpage, including social media graphics, activity ideas, and news releases.

US Senator Bob Casey (ranking member, Special Committee on Aging) has released a new report on how COVID-19 has exacerbated the challenges facing older Americans. The report outlines a blueprint for addressing the problems older adults face and highlights the services necessary to ensure Americans can age with dignity. This report contains policy recommendations that address three main areas: health care, economic security, and social supports.

The Compendium includes many tables of data, including state and national values and trends over time. The Compendium is broken into eleven sections and includes topics such as employment, health, and education. The Annual Report highlights state and trend data, and complements the detailed tables available in the Compendium & Supplement.

Age Wave conducted nine recent study reports in collaboration with Bank of America Merrill Lynch on the future of retirement. These reports were created by reviewing thousands of papers, reports, and datasets, conducting over 140 expert interviews and 43 focus groups, and surveying 50,000+ respondents. The nine reports cover a variety of topics regarding retirement, including family, health, leisure, and finances. All nine reports are followed by sample media coverage.

The Institute on Disability has released the latest Annual Disability Statistics Compendium and Report. The Compendium includes many tables of data, including state and national values and trends over time. The Annual Report highlights state and trend data, and complements the detailed tables available in the Compendium & Supplement. The Annual Report includes maps to highlight the variability in disability rates by state, and each map is related to a specific table from the Compendium.

This report reviews federal health and housing policies, noting the barriers created that seniors with clinically-driven housing insecurity must navigate. It also reviews a series of initiatives that ACAP members are undertaking to address housing as a social determinant for this vulnerable population, with examples from California, Ohio, and North Carolina.

The Compendium is a web-based tool that pools disability statistics published by various federal agencies together in one place. This one-stop tool makes it easier for individuals to find data relating to persons with disabilities. This year's compendium includes aging data for the first time with over 100 tables representing age ranges. Additionally, the 2015 Disability Statistics Annual Report accompanies the Compendium.

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and National Academy for State Health Policy created a resource that explains the funding sources available to states for meeting the health-related social needs of low-income persons. The publication specifically brings attention to funding sources that states can use to help adult high-cost/high-need residents live.