Toolkit

The Employer Assistance and Resource Network on Disability Inclusion (EARN) has released a toolkit highlighting the significance of promoting mental health equity in the workplace, particularly for underserved communities. The organization's recently updated Mental Health Toolkit offers a structured approach, centered around the "4 A's" framework—awareness, accommodations, assistance, and access—to help employers create a mental health-supportive workplace culture. The toolkit addresses challenges arising from the COVID-19 pandemic and emphasizes strategies for acknowledging and addressing systemic issues, providing summaries of research, case studies, and accessible resources for initiating workplace mental health initiatives.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has developed a series of practical guides centered around housing and home equity for aging adults. Given the complexities of retirement, debt, and savings, these guides cover essential subjects including managing changes in health, passing down homes to children/heirs, utilizing home equity for financial needs, and addressing the loss of a spouse/partner. These guides offer insights and considerations to assist older individuals in making informed decisions regarding their homes and financial security in later stages of life.

The Rosalynn Carter Institute for Caregivers, the Virginia Caregiver Support Program, and the Virginia Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) have recently released a toolkit for caregivers of Veterans for disaster preparedness. This resource is designed to empower caregivers of Veterans, providing them with essential tools and knowledge to navigate the challenges of caregiving during disasters. With a focus on increasing caregiver confidence and preparedness, this toolkit aims to help caregivers prepare both themselves and the Veterans they care for in the face of crisis.

The National Institute on Aging (NIA) has released a resource offering insights and guidance on legal and financial planning for people living with Alzheimer's disease or related dementias. This article emphasizes the importance of early preparation and covers essential legal and financial planning documents, including advance health care directives and directives for financial and estate management. This resource offers guidance on seeking assistance with legal and financial planning, including advice on advance care planning discussions with healthcare providers and locating support from elder law attorneys. Additionally, it provides information about available resources for low-income families.

The National Institute on Aging (NIA) has created a series of caregiver worksheets designed to assist in organizing and managing caregiving responsibilities effectively. These worksheets cover a range of topics, including coordinating caregiving tasks, ensuring home safety, hiring care providers, considering the option of moving an older adult into one's home, managing medications, and organizing important documents. Caregivers can download and utilize these worksheets to streamline their caregiving efforts and maintain essential information in an organized manner.

The National Aging and Disability Transportation Center (NADTC) has published a comprehensive resource guide that offers guidance to transportation providers on how to better serve older passengers with vision loss. The guide addresses the pervasive and often unrecognized issue of age-related vision changes, the unique challenges that older adults with vision loss face when using transportation services, and effective strategies that transportation providers can use to improve their services. This resource also discusses the critical role of effective communication in addressing these challenges and provides travel training and orientation and mobility (O&M) to help older riders with vision loss navigate the transportation system.

KFF unveiled their “Medicaid Enrollment and Unwinding Tracker” featuring state-level Medicaid/CHIP enrollment data for the 50 states and the District of Columbia as well as any unwinding or monthly renewals, disenrollments, and other measures that may be available for states. The tracker also provides information on state-specific Medicaid renewal policies, eligibility policies, and system capacity measures. The tool includes national data on Medicaid enrollment as reported by the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services (CMS); however, these data lag by several months and do not provide a current picture of net changes in Medicaid enrollment.

Every May, ACL leads the nation’s observance of Older Americans Month (OAM). This year's theme is Aging Unbound, which offers an opportunity to explore diverse aging experiences and discuss how communities can combat stereotypes. ACL is providing resources to help organizations celebrate Older Americans Month in promoting flexible thinking about aging – and how we all benefit when older adults remain engaged, independent, and included.

The National Indian Council on Aging has released a toolkit dedicated to increasing awareness and knowledge of the needs of American Indian and Alaska Native persons living with disabilities. The resource is divided into sections for healthy living, education, independent living, vocational rehabilitation and employment resources, assistive technology, housing and facilities, and transportation. It includes suggestions for improving services, providing protections, and utilizing resources in local tribal communities for people with disabilities. Additional information provides overviews on federal disabilities laws, initiatives, agencies, and organizations that support work with Native individuals with disabilities and communities.

The annual Medicare open enrollment period for Medicare Advantage and Part D plans ends Wednesday, December 7, 2022. To assist individuals who counsel Medicare clients, the National Council on Aging or NCOA developed a “Medicare Open Enrollment Toolkit”. The Toolkit includes many useful resources designed for professionals, advocates, caregivers, and/or older adults, including a fact sheet on changes to Medicare in 2023; information on Medicare Part A and Part B premiums and cost-sharing in 2023; a 2023 Medicare Part D cost-sharing chart; and other helpful information and guidance.