New Website Helps Local Health Departments Support Older Adults

 

Washington, DC (April 28, 2021) – Trust for America’s Health (TFAH), with funding from The John A. Hartford Foundation, has developed and launched the Age-Friendly Public Health Systems Initiative (AFPHS) online resource portal.

Older adults are the fastest growing demographic of the U.S. population. Every day more than 10,000 people reach age 65. The new AFPHS.org site is designed to be a hub resource of the many programs, recommendations, guidelines, and tool kits the AFPHS initiative and network partners have developed to help state and local public health departments make healthy aging a core component of their operations.

Healthy aging related content on the site includes information on ageism, the age-friendly ecosystem, caregiving, COVID-19, physical and mental health, the social determinants of health, health equity and partnership and collaborations, as well as future events and past recordings of AFPHS training sessions.

The site also houses the Age-Friendly Public Health Systems Recognition Program, in which state and local health departments are invited to enroll. Health departments that enroll will receive guidance and technical assistance from TFAH to complete action in 10 areas considered foundational to becoming age friendly.

Practitioners in public health, aging and disability services, and healthcare organizations will find useful resources on the site as well as a community of like-minded professionals and a place to exchange resources, ideas, and questions. State and Local health departments are invited to learn more about the AFPHS network that currently includes Florida, Michigan, Mississippi, and Washington State. Interested individuals can sign-up for the AFPHS newsletter on the site.