Aging/Older Adults

The blog for Vi Living, a provider of various care level housing for seniors, is an excellent source of information from aging experts, government agencies, non-profit groups, in-house leaders, and others. Its a great resource for anyone interested in finding senior housing. Explore this website to find all of the information that you need in one stop.

In honor of the upcoming one-year anniversary of the Affordable Care Act, Family Caregiver Alliance releases this guide which highlights some of the most important developments in 2010 affecting family caregivers, including legislative and policy changes; research focused on caregivers; and media coverage of family caregiving. A great resource for families, researchers, policymakers, and others.

The Center for Advocacy for the Rights and Interests of the Elderly (CARIE) has many concerns about “unbefriended” elderly, those who do not have any family or friends to help them. CARIE’s Legislative Committee developed a white paper about unbefriended elderly with Alzheimer’s disease or other dementia to help bring attention to this group to begin to address their needs. This paper contains helpful recommendations for policymakers, researchers, and others.

How is California educating relevant parties on this important new health care reform law? Please see two examples of state-wide outreach, a presentation on the changes that the Act will result in as well as a six month summary on the changes that have occurred thus far.

“The Innovation Center” is a new engine for revitalizing and sustaining the Medicare, Medicaid and CHIP programs and ultimately to help to improve the healthcare system for all Americans. The Center, established by the Affordable Care Act, was given the flexibility and resources to rapidly test innovative care and payment models and scale up successful models. Visit the website to read about new initiatives such as Partnership for Patients. There is also an area to share your own ideas.

As increasing numbers of older adults stop or limit their driving and consider other options for mobility, there is likely to be increased attention focused on the use of taxicabs. Taxis certainly offer the opportunity for independence and personalized service; however, there are at least two barriers to widespread use of taxis for transportation: the limited availability of taxis, and the cost of rides. Learn more about the challenges, solutions and potential strategies.

A NORC, the widely used term short for Naturally Occurring Retirement Community is a community that was not originally built for seniors, but that now is home to a significant proportion of older residents. The American population is aging, and these communities will increase over the next 20 years. NORC programs are innovative models that coordinate a broad range of social and health care services to support the senior. The website provides FAQs, a toolbox and assistance with sustainability.

This Trends paper includes: an overview of the challenges involved in providing transportation services to American Indian elders living on reservations and Indian lands; a discussion of the Tribal aging and transportation services infrastructure; a brief description of transportation funding options; and examples of creative solutions from the field. Information may be replicable by transportation programs for elders living in other rural and frontier areas.

Reverse mortgages offer older homeowners a way to tap home equity to meet financial needs in retirement. However, the collapse of the mortgage market in 2008–2009 has led to major changes that impact consumer choices. While consumers have more product choices, reverse mortgages are generally more expensive and more complicated. Learn more about how this has affected aging consumers and what Congress and regulatory agencies are doing to protect consumers here.

Review a summary of this Innovative Communities Summit held in Washington D.C. The report features case studies of how three communities in the United States are working together to improve care transitions and reduce avoidable hospitalizations. The report outlines steps the LTQA should take to encourage and promote the creation of comparable multi-sector innovative communities that would involve local providers as well as consumers and caregivers.