Issue Category: Age-Friendly Public Health

Age-Friendly Public Health: The Podcast

October 2024

In this episode of Age-Friendly Public Health: The Podcast host, Dr. J. Nadine Gracia, President and CEO of Trust for America’s Health (TFAH) is joined by guest Jess Maurer, Executive Director of the Maine Council on Aging (MCOA). They discuss how MCOA is working to end ageism in Maine and the action being taken on ending ageism. Listen to their conversation.

Age-Friendly Public Health: The Podcast is a production of Trust for America’s Health’s (TFAH) Age-Friendly Public Health Systems Initiative. This quarterly podcast, hosted by TFAH’s President and CEO Dr. J. Nadine Gracia, will feature conversations with leaders in the age-friendly public health systems movement on challenges, opportunities, and model programs, with a focus on the role public health can play in helping older adults thrive. You can listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or where ever you access your favorite podcast.

Episode 4 transcript

Previous Episodes:

How Healthy People 2030 Has Led to Success Changing the Narrative on Healthy Aging

September is National Healthy Aging Month, and Trust for America’s Health (TFAH) is proud that its Age-Friendly Public Health Systems initiative (AFPHS) has led to state, local, and tribal efforts to help older adults remain active and independent and reframe the narrative around aging.

The AFPHS initiative aligns with National Healthy Aging Month and Healthy People 2030, a federal initiative that identifies public health priorities to help individuals, organizations, and communities across the United States improve health and well-being. The Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (ODPHP) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, in collaboration with a diverse group of partners and organizations, leads and manages the Healthy People initiative, which sets national objectives every 10 years. TFAH is honored to be officially recognized as a Healthy People 2030 Champion. The current iteration of the Healthy People initiative incorporates a variety of new objectives and targets for improving conditions for older adults. (See full list here).

Both Healthy People 2030 and TFAH’s AFPHS 6C’s Framework emphasize community partnerships and effective communication to meet the needs of older adults. Through the AFPHS initiative, TFAH has worked closely with federal partners to encourage and support  collaboration between state, local, tribal, and territorial public health and aging agencies. Highlights from these collaborations include:

  • A partnership in Hawai’i — the Kūpuna Collective — that supports age-inclusive ways to maximize health, independence, and engagement among older adults. Network members include foundations, nonprofit and community-based organizations, healthcare organizations, and academic institutions.
  • Implementation of the Counseling on Access to Lethal Means (CALM) program by the Georgia Departments of Health and Aging Services to promote mental health among older adults and limit access to lethal means of suicide.
  • A joint effort among tribal nations in Region 6 to provide training, resources, services, and funding for improving nutrition education and supplying meals.

Building an age-friendly ecosystem that holistically supports healthy aging should be a priority in communities across the country since nearly a quarter of the U.S. population is expected to be 65 years or older by 2060.

TFAH co-hosted the National Healthy Aging Symposium with ODPHP on September 26, 2024 to elevate successful innovations that improve older adult health and well-being and provide a forum to learn from experts in fields like brain health, caregiving, and social determinants of health.

The National Healthy Aging Symposium

The Association for State and Territorial Health Officials Achieves Age-Friendly Public Health Systems Recognition

First National Organization to Achieve Age-Friendly Public Health Systems Recognition

(Washington, DC – June 12, 2024) – Trust for America’s Health (TFAH) is pleased to announce that the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO) has earned Advanced Recognition through TFAH’s Age-Friendly Public Health Systems (AFPHS) Recognition Program.

The AFPHS Recognition Program highlights the efforts of departments of health and public health organizations designed to improve the health and well-being of older people. ASTHO is the first national-level organization to achieve AFPHS recognition.

TFAH is a long-time partner of ASTHO in supporting state and territorial health departments to advance health equity and optimal health for all. ASTHO and TFAH have partnered on healthy aging activities since the inception of TFAH’s Age-Friendly Public Health System initiative in 2017, including participating in AFPHS programs and contributing to the development of AFPHS resources.

“ASTHO continues to be forward-thinking in the guidance it provides to its members and partners, including information and resources that enable communities to be better prepared to help their older adult population thrive, said J. Nadine Gracia, M.D., MSCE, TFAH President and CEO. “TFAH applauds ASTHO’s commitment to health equity and the many ways that this commitment enhances efforts to improve older adult health.”

“ASTHO is honored to be recognized by TFAH,” said Dr. Joseph Kanter, M.D., MPH, ASTHO Chief Executive Officer. “Our team is motivated to continue supporting public health departments in elevating their work on healthy aging and older adult health.”

Action steps for recognition are based on the AFPHS 6Cs Framework: creating and leading; connecting and convening; coordinating; collecting, analyzing and translating data; communicating; and complementing.

ASTHO achieved AFPHS Advanced Recognition based on multiple activities that are specifically aligned with the AFPHS 6Cs Framework. These include:

  • Creating and leading – ASTHO develops and maintains resources on improving older adult health and well-being, including technical packages and webinars.
  • Connecting and convening – ASTHO hosts a learning community to coordinate community-clinical linkages to prevent falls among older adults.
  • Collecting relevant data – ASTHO provides technical assistance to states in the analysis of their Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System data on several areas including subjective cognitive decline and caregiving.
  • Communicating – ASTHO developed an e-Learning module to support public health agencies in gaining a foundation in healthy aging as a public health issue.
  • Complementing – ASTHO developed a guide with examples to help states expand their fall prevention strategies.

TFAH’s Age-Friendly Public Health Systems initiative is made possible with generous support from The John A. Hartford Foundation.

To learn more about the Age-Friendly Public Health Systems initiative, visit Age-Friendly Public Health Systems – Trust for America’s Health (afphs.org)

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Trust for America’s Health is a nonprofit, nonpartisan public health policy, research, and advocacy organization that promotes optimal health for every person and community and works to make the prevention of illness and injury a national priority.  www.tfah.org

The Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO) supports the work of state and territorial public health officials and furthers the development and excellence of public health policy nationwide. About Us | ASTHO

 

The John A. Hartford Foundation, based in New York City, is a private, nonpartisan, national philanthropy dedicated to improving the care of older adults. The leader in the field of aging and health, the Foundation has three areas of emphasis: creating age-friendly health systems, supporting family caregivers and improving serious illness and end-of-life care. https://www.johnahartford.org/

 

TFAH Celebrates Older Americans Month: Powered by Connection

In his presidential proclamation designating May as Older Americans’ Month, President Joe Biden said “Older Americans are the backbone of our Nation. They have built the foundation that we all stand upon today”.

This annual celebration, first declared in 1963, provides the opportunity to not only recognize older Americans’ contributions to our society, but also to highlight challenges and reaffirm our commitment to serving older adults across the country.

This year’s theme, “Powered by Connection,” helps us focus on the profound impact that meaningful connections have on everyone’s well-being and health, including older adults. The  U.S. Surgeon General’s 2023 Advisory on the Healing Effects of Social Connection and Community underscores the importance of this engagement. While social isolation can have the same effect as smoking 15 cigarettes a day, a study in Scientific American found that strong social connections can boost a person’s lifespan by 50 percent!

The public health sector is leading in many states and communities to enhance connectedness among older adults, recognizing the value of engagement for people’s health and well-being. Many organizations are leading efforts to build inclusive neighborhoods and to include policies for mitigating social isolation into state and community health improvement plans. Public health agencies are partnering with area agencies on aging, YMCAs, or other community-based organizations to improve access to facilities and programs that provide services to older adults, particularly those in underserved communities. Some are leading efforts to pilot and expand intergenerational programs, connecting older people with younger individuals who provide training on technology, for example. Local health departments are partnering with parks and recreation, transportation, and housing colleagues to build inclusive public spaces and ensure they have adequate lighting, space, and other features to bolster safety for older adults and their families.

Trust for America’s Health’s Age-Friendly Public Health Systems 6Cs Framework offers a practical guide for public health actions to improve social connectedness:

  • Creating and leading changes in social isolation and loneliness among older adults by improving awareness of the health implications and motivating existing older adult systems and infrastructures to address social isolation.
  • Connecting multi-sector partners to strengthen ties between healthcare systems and community-based networks and resources addressing older adult social isolation and loneliness.
  • Collecting data and developing a more robust evidence base on the implications and importance of addressing social isolation.
  • Coordinating existing programs for older adults to improve screening, access and service delivery to older adults and strengthen ongoing education and training on social isolation.
  • Communicating how to translate current research into healthcare practices to support the reduction of social isolation among older adults.
  • Complementing existing aging services to reach older adults where they are to reduce social isolation.

Social engagement is not just about having someone to chat with. It’s about the transformative potential of community engagement in enhancing mental, physical, and emotional well-being. By recognizing and nurturing the role that connectedness plays, we can mitigate issues like loneliness, ultimately promoting health across the life span for all Americans.

Ready or Not 2024: Protecting the Public’s Health from Diseases, Disasters, and Bioterrorism

The Ready or Not 2024: Protecting the Public’s Health from Diseases, Disasters, and Bioterrorism report identifies gaps in national and state preparedness to protect residents’ health during emergencies and makes recommendations to strengthen the nation’s public health system and improve emergency readiness. As the nation experiences an increasing number of infectious disease outbreaks and extreme weather events, the report found that while emergency preparedness has improved in some areas, policymakers not heeding the lessons of past emergencies, funding cuts, and health misinformation put decades of progress at risk.

 

Resource:

Ready or Not 2024: State-by-State Factsheets

Trust for America’s Health Celebrates Healthy Aging Month

September is Healthy Aging Month. It is a time to pause, ponder, and consider the potential we have before us to take the concept of healthy aging to the next level. Healthy aging is often defined as “the development and maintenance of optimal physical, mental (cognitive and emotional), spiritual, and social well-being and function in older adults.”

What needs to happen to take all those components to the next level? Multi-sector collaboration, coordination, funding, and prioritization of the health and social needs of older people.

Collaboration: Most policy actors understand that policy and systems changes do not happen without unified, strategic planning and working across sectors to achieve the desired changes. The power of a collective impact approach is its ability to bring together the aging services, healthcare, public health, and community sectors to work together to assess and understand the needs of older adults in any given community.

Coordination: Once the above systems are assessed for their strengths or gaps in providing age-friendly services, sectors can come together to coordinate activities and interventions to reduce duplication and maximize the distribution of limited public resources for programs and services that support older people, their caregivers, and their families.

Investment: Funding is a much-needed aspect of providing systems and services that support healthy aging, but advocates face numerous challenges in securing additional funding for older adult programs. Since much of what happens in older age can be attributed to lifestyle choices in early age, funding healthy habits all along the life course is one way to reduce demands on the long-term care system. Unfortunately, the return on investment is also long-term and therefore often a hard one for policymakers to see and act on.

Prioritization of healthy aging, from birth to the end of life: This process may take the form of addressing the social and economic issues that impact health at the community level, as well as dismantling the systemic structures that lead to health disparities. Prioritizing healthy housing, access to nutritious food sources, quality education, quality healthcare, and other community supports that lift all people will inevitably improve the opportunities for all people to grow older with optimal physical, mental, spiritual, emotional, and social health and function. It’s up to everyone to see ourselves in this process and make our communities better for all.

 

 

Indicators of Healthy Aging: A Guide to Explore Healthy Aging Data through Community Health Improvement

Collecting, analyzing, and translating relevant and robust data on older adults.

For over a century, public health interventions – from vaccines to food safety and vector control – have contributed to Americans’ longevity, and state and local health departments play a key role in supporting their communities by promoting healthy living. Healthy aging programs uniquely dovetail with local health department Community Health Improvement Plans (CHIPs).  Both allow health departments and partnering organizations to understand and address healthy aging priorities through data.

An analysis conducted by the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO), found that most CHIPs include priorities that, while not specifically addressing older adults (e.g., 65 years of age and older), could be adapted for healthy aging programs. These priorities include chronic diseases, including heart disease, diabetes, stroke, and cancer, as well as substance use, depression, and other mental health conditions.

To develop and strengthen age-friendly public health systems, a more comprehensive set of healthy aging indicators is needed to help health departments and community partners at the local, state, tribal, and territorial levels measure and identify population-level health disparities and inequities. Additionally, Community Health Improvement (CHI) partners need a robust, unified source of secondary data that aligns with healthy aging indicators to inform strategic and action planning.

This guide, developed by Trust for America’s Health (TFAH) and the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) and with funding from The John A. Hartford Foundation, is designed to augment NACCHO’s Mobilizing for Action through Planning and Partnerships (MAPP) framework. MAPP is the most widely used CHI framework among governmental public health departments and, increasingly, community-based organizations, nonprofit hospital systems, and community health centers that lead or engage in CHI processes. This also serves as a resource for health departments seeking to attain Age-Friendly Public Health Systems (AFPHS) recognition.

Download your free copy of the Guide.

Public Health’s Role in Supporting Family Caregivers

According to a September 2022 report by the National Alliance for Caregiving (NAC) and  the National Association of Chronic Disease Directors, Chronic Disease Family Caregiving Through a Public Health Lens, there are 53 million family caregivers in America-that’s nearly one i five families. Furthermore, the number of caregivers will continue to rise as people aged 65 or older are expected to almost double by the year 2060. At that time, the nation will have reached a milestone of one in four people responsible for providing care for a family member with a chronic disease, serious illness, or a disability.

The report, which was supported by a grant from the John A. Hartford Foundation, found that caregivers are taking on caregiving responsibilities for adults with increasingly complex needs due to raising rates of chronic disease, Alzheimer’s Disease and other types of memory and dementia issues.

Caregivers in Need

Providing care for an ill family member is a demanding task often made more complicated by geographically dispersed families and the need for two wage-earners.

Source: Caregiving for Family and Friends – A Public Health Issue

According to a NAC and National Association of Chronic Disease Directors Roundtable, in 2020,23 percent of caregivers reported worsening health due to caregiving. Of those caregivers, 60 percent reported difficulty when addressing their own health needs. TFAH has recommended establishing a comprehensive paid family and medical leave policy that ensures paid time off to address family health or caregiving needs for all employees.

Equity in Caregiving

Of the nation’s 53 million family caregivers, an estimated 61 percent are Non-Hispanic white, 17 percent are Hispanic, 14 percent are African American, and 5 percent are Asian American and/or Pacific Islander. As the need for care grows, the need for caregiver systems that are integrated into the community, and culturally and language appropriate is critical. Innovations in technology, such as telemedicine and translation tools, can assist in allowing both long-distance and non-English speaking caregivers have the support they need from public health programs and their communities. Culturally designed approaches and relationship building within communities will enable greater understanding of, support for, and interaction with the nation’s caregivers.

How Can the Public Health System Support Caregivers?

Support for the nation’s caregivers is a public health issue especially in light of demographic changes that will make the need for family caregiving even greater in the future. The public health system has  a critical role to play in supporting family caregivers and their ability to provide care through care coordination and assistance integrating home care with more formal healthcare services. Public health systems should work to create family caregiving support infrastructure and should team with other entities that can have a role in supporting caregivers including healthcare systems and providers, insurers, community-based organizations, faith-based organizations, and employers.

Conclusion

Caregivers are a vital part of the nation’s healthcare system and need the support of the public health sector. Policies should support the nation’s existing and growing number of caregivers to allow them to provide care while protecting their own health, well-being, and financial security.

Additional TFAH Age-Friendly Public Health Systems initiative Resources on Family Caregiving