Congressional Update

This popular annual session will provide cutting-edge information on what the 117th Congress has and has not accomplished to date, and what may be left for end of the First Session. Speakers will discuss key issues such as pandemic relief, Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and the Older Americans Act.

The Older Americans Act, the Aging Network, and the Pandemic

This session provides insights into how the pandemic challenged the capabilities and ingenuity of the Older Americans Act (OAA) programs and the aging network and what it means for in-home and community aging services now and in the future. Speakers will include key aging network stakeholders, who will discuss the overnight evolution of programs serving often isolated older adults.

Older Americans Act Meals Programs: Responding to the Pandemic

This session provides insights into how the pandemic challenged the capabilities and ingenuity of the Older Americans Act (OAA) programs and the aging network. Speakers will include key aging network stakeholders, who will discuss the overnight evolution of programs serving often isolated older adults.

How Lonely are Older Americans Act National Family Caregiver Support Program Participants?

Older Americans Act (OAA) family caregiver services connect family members caring for older adults with a diversity of community-based resources and supports. Social isolation and loneliness are known public health threats, and family caregivers may face greater vulnerability to loneliness given the often-intensive time demands of care provision. Policy stakeholders and aging services providers are increasingly focused on combating loneliness among older adults and family caregivers. To inform efforts to reduce loneliness, we conducted descriptive analyses to identify characteristics of the participants in the OAA National Family Caregiver Support Program associated with higher rates of loneliness, measured with the 3-item UCLA Loneliness Scale. Using data from the 2019 National Survey of Older Americans Act Participants, we examined how caregiver loneliness varied based on caregiver age, gender, income, race and ethnicity, living alone, rurality, and self-reported health, as well as care recipients’ health status and difficulties with ADLs. Among our sample of 1,824 family caregivers, rates of loneliness were high overall (70%). Loneliness was significantly higher for caregivers with poor health (71.4%), incomes less than $20,000 (75.3%), living alone (75.4%), aged 65 or older (73.2%), Hispanic caregivers (82.2%) and caregivers for care recipients with 3 or more ADLs (76.0%). Findings underscore the importance of increasing social engagement opportunities for family caregivers. Policies and programs focused on reducing caregiver loneliness should be accessible to all family caregivers but should prioritize outreach and engagement for groups at higher risk of loneliness.

National Family Caregiver Support Program Participants' Recommendations to Boost Caregiver Supports

For more than 20 years, family caregivers have been supported through the National Family Caregiver Support Program (NFCSP) of the Older Americans Act (Title IIIE). The NFCSP provides information to caregivers about available services; assistance in gaining access to services; counseling, support groups and caregiver training; respite care; and supplemental services. In the 2019 National Survey of Older Americans Act Participants, 1,909 NFCSP caregivers were asked “What recommendations do you have for improving the service?” The resulting 748 open-ended responses were thematically coded. The thematic analysis yielded six major themes: Additional Resources, Staffing, Communication, Care Coordination, Quality of Services, and Eligibility. Sub-themes were identified for Additional Resources and Staffing. The most common sub-themes for Additional Resources were requests for more help or services (e.g., grocery shopping), increased funding or financial assistance, and more service hours (e.g., overnight or holiday care). The most common sub-theme for Staffing was the need for consistent staffing due to high turnover of staff. Chi-Squared tests and Fisher’s Exact tests indicated that there were no significant associations between any of the recommendation themes and the gender of the caregiver, employment status of the caregiver, or whether the care recipient has Alzheimer’s or dementia. Many of the themes align with results from a recent RAISE Family Caregiving Advisory Council Report. Recommendations from both sets of findings indicate ways that programs, services, and policies can be enhanced to support the needs of care recipients and caregivers.

Older Americans Act Supports and Services: Adapting to the Pandemic

This session provides insights into how the pandemic challenged the capabilities and ingenuity of the Older Americans Act (OAA) programs and the aging network. Speakers will include key aging network stakeholders, who will discuss the overnight evolution of programs serving often isolated older adults.

“Caring for Our Own”

This article traces the founding of Senior Action in a Gay Environment (SAGE), the nation’s oldest and largest social service organization for LGBT elders. Drawing on archival documentation as well as interviews with SAGE founders and early members, the article shows how SAGE was born of two largely disconnected social transformations: the gay and lesbian movement and the national expansion of services and programs for the elderly that was enabled by the Older Americans Act of 1965. SAGE’s institutionalization and its relationship with the state allowed it to grow in an increasingly conservative political context while ensuring that the organization would not take a broadly intersectional approach to the challenges gay and lesbian elders faced. Despite its political limitations, however, SAGE provided a setting in which some white gay and lesbian elders began to see themselves as agents of social change.

Transforming Aging Services: Area Agencies on Aging and the COVID-19 Response

For over four decades, Area Agencies on Aging (AAAs) have served as focal points to help older adults remain in their homes and communities. AAAs partner with other organizations to administer services authorized under the Older Americans Act (OAA). AAAs represent loosely coupled systems; they are responsive to guidelines established by the OAA while maintaining flexibility to leverage limited resources, establish partnerships, and create innovative programs to meet community needs. As stay-at-home orders and concern for safety have kept many older adults homebound during the COVID-19 pandemic, an important question is how the Aging Network, including the over 600 AAAs, has responded to these rapidly changing needs. Although time and more systematic assessments are required, available information suggests that the loosely coupled network of AAAs has been a key, adaptable resource. This article begins with a description of the Aging Network and its history before turning to how the community-specific, collaborative, and evolving nature of AAAs places them at a unique position to respond to the challenges that arise with COVID-19. It concludes with how AAAs can continue to adapt to meet the needs of older adults and the people who care for them.