AARP Public Policy Institute

This report discusses what is known about effective programs to support family caregivers and emphasizes evidence-based programs for family caregivers of persons living with dementia. Evidence-based programs to help caregiving families are not widely available in communities. This report looks at barriers to scaling up effective programs and draws attention to programs that have been shown to improve one or more aspects of the quality of life of family caregivers.

This is the first major research paper in this emerging field of managed long-term services and supports (LTSS) that addresses family caregivers’ needs. Family caregivers of people with self-care needs often make it possible for the members of managed care plans to live at home rather than in institutions. Managed care plans, therefore, have strong financial incentives to support these family caregivers, thus improving quality of life and reducing the overall cost of care.

AARP has released an update from their Public Policy Livable Communities division, which explains that communities need to encourage more accessible homes for older adults and their families by requiring that single family homes meet visitability requirements with features such as having an entrance without steps, kitchen counters set at multiple heights, and half-bathrooms at the ground level.

This report provides a multidimensional look at state performance for the delivery of long-term services and supports (LTSS), based on a uniform set of performance measures and how performance has changed over time. It also includes the role that housing and transportation play in assisting older adults, people with physical disabilities and their family caregivers, as well as promising practices and emerging innovations to foster greater information exchange.

The Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) is the federal government’s primary way for producing affordable rental housing. LIHTC provides $8 billion in annual budget authority to state and local housing agencies to help produce new and rehabilitated rental housing for low-income households. The program has also generated over 3 million housing units since its inception.

This paper provides concrete examples of how seven No Wrong Door Systems are promoting person- and family-centered practice. This resource includes a toolkit of resources and contacts for states to learn more and replicate these practices. A checklist also provides a roadmap for states to ensure that No Wrong Door Systems operate in a person- and family-centered way.

The AARP Public Policy Institute published a report that examined what state Medicaid agencies need in order to effectively monitor the performance of managed long-term services and supports (MLTSS) programs. Eight states with long-term experience operating and overseeing MLTSS were used to analyze monitoring capacities and develop promising practices. The states were: Arizona, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Mexico, New York, Tennessee, Texas and Wisconsin.

This is a report on the lifelong disparities that exist among older American Indian (AI) and Alaska Native (AN) populations when compared to the general United States population of older adults. The report includes a definition of who falls into the category of American Indian, identifies where these populations generally live in the U.S., and compares AI/ANs generally with the rest of the population of older adults and also specifically compares health coverage.

The report updates national and state estimates of the economic value of family caregiving using the most current data available. It also explains the challenges that family caregivers face today, highlights key policy developments for family caregivers since the 2011 edition of the report, and provides recommendations to better support caregiving families.

The AARP Public Policy Institute released a new report conducted by Truven Health Analytics. The two part study examined Medicaid Managed Long Term Services and Supports program contracts in 18 different states for older adults and people with physical disabilities and case studies of new care coordination models in Ohio and Illinois. The findings indicate that states need care coordination and that these care coordinators provide crucial support for consumers and their family caregivers.