Public Policy

Community Statement on COVID-19

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A PDF version of this letter can be found on the National Alliance for Caregiving website.

SUPPORT FAMILY CAREGIVERS

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has magnified what we’ve known all along – our institutions are not prepared to support family caregivers.

We write to urge government, community and religious leaders to please remember the challenges facing family caregivers as this public health crisis continues to unfold. Unpaid family caregivers are the backbone of the health care system in the United States, providing as much as 90 percent of all home health care for no pay.... Read More

             

Poor, Older Black Americans are an Afterthought in the COVID-19 Crisis

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by Christina N. Harrington. This article originally appeared on Next Avenue.

Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick recently said that he and other older Americans would be willing to risk death due to the coronavirus in order to protect the U.S. economy. What followed was a backlash by people warning that even the thought of sacrificing the elderly is unacceptable. Of even greater concern, though, is what this agenda would mean for poor, older black Americans — people like my 89-year-old grandmother — who already are an afterthought in this country and stand to be impacted the most by the pandemic.

America has always had a problem with those at the margins. Individuals with intersectional marginalized identities.... Read More

             

Direct Care Workers Can Address Social Isolation and Loneliness

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This article originally appeared on the PHI blog.

Illustration by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

A remarkable though unsettling new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine has drawn attention to the extensive harm that social isolation and loneliness are having on the health and well-being of older adults. The report—Social Isolation and Loneliness in Older Adults: Opportunities for the Health Care System—provides a sweeping overview of these two issues, as well as a compelling rationale for why.... Read More

             

Managing the COVID-19 Crisis for Vulnerable Populations

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by Vivian Nava-Schellinger and Jenna McDavid. This article originally appeared on the National Council on Aging (NCOA) blog.

We want to hear how COVID-19 is impacting your community. Please take a moment to answer this short anonymous survey.

Last week, more than 1,600 older adults and professionals in aging attended our tele-town hall event. (Listen to the recording here.) It was a wonderful—and easily accessible—way to share valuable information from national and community partners working with us to and lessen feelings of uncertainty about.... Read More

             

Life at the Intersection: Older Adults Need a Response to COVID-19 Grounded in Equity

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by Denny Chan. This article originally appeared on the Justice in Aging blog.

Dorothy is in good spirits, but tired and growing increasingly impatient. In January – well before life for most Americans had been dramatically disrupted by COVID-19 with stay at home orders and the shut down of non-essential businesses – the 72-year-old Chinese American living in Seattle, Washington’s Chinatown began to see signs that her community’s life was slowing down. She’d been reading the daily headlines in the Chinese newspaper about the virus in Wuhan and other parts of China..... Read More

             

SAGE Celebrates Major Victory in Reauthorization of the Older Americans Act

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This release originally appeared on the SAGE website on March 26, 2020.

[New York, NY] Today, the Older Americans Act reauthorization was signed into law with provisions that will help ensure that LGBT elders get the services and support they need to remain independent. SAGE, the world’s largest and oldest organization dedicated to improving the lives of LGBT older people, has spent years working with our allies in Congress, the LGBT community, and the aging sector to push for this inclusion and celebrates this victory for the LGBT community. This legislation is especially timely given the sobering risks LGBT elders face during the current COVID-19 pandemic and their heightened need for inclusive services and care.

The.... Read More

             

National Nutrition Month: Highlight on the Elder Index and Food Insecurity

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Developed by the Gerontology Institute at the University of Massachusetts Boston, the Elder Index tool is used to measure the income older people need to meet their daily living expenses while staying independent in their own homes. The Elder Index tool is specific to household size, location, housing and health status, unlike the Federal Poverty Level, another index used to assess income level.

Additionally, the Elder Index accounts for the cost of healthcare, transportation, miscellaneous essentials, and food. After attending the webinar “Promoting Better Communities for.... Read More

             

Diverse Elders Coalition Urges Policy Changes to Protect Diverse Elders from COVID-19

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

MARCH 13, 2020

CONTACT: Jenna McDavid, National Director
jmcdavid@diverseelders.org
646-653-5015

Diverse Elders Coalition urges policy changes to protect diverse older adults from COVID-19

New York, NY — Today, the Diverse Elders Coalition (DEC) issued a plea to Congress in support of policy changes and protective measures to limit the impact of the novel coronavirus, COVID-19, on older adults from communities of color, American Indian and Alaska Native communities, and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) communities.

“People 60 years of age and older and those with underlying health conditions (e.g., diabetes, HIV, heart disease, and lung disease), are most vulnerable to getting sick or even dying from COVID-19. Many of the communities we represent already.... Read More

             
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