Adapting to Changing Demographics and Diversity

Our world is changing faster than ever before. The older population we serve is growing at an unprecedented rate. Our communities are more diverse in a myriad of different ways than they were ten or even five years ago. These changes bring new challenges for the future. How do we better serve a larger cohort of seniors who want more engagement, choice and quality in the services they receive? How can we effectively adapt our work to meet the unique needs of a more culturally and ethnically diverse group of seniors?

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Harnessing New Technology

Technology opens up an exciting new world of opportunities and possibilities. Smartphones and tablets let us take the power of the Internet with us anywhere we go. Social networks let us connect and collaborate with anyone in the world. Cloud-based software lets us improve consumer services, collect better data and harness the power of information. Other advances improve efficiency and productivity in the kitchen, on the roads, in our homes and at the office. How can we take advantage of these new technologies to better serve the seniors in our communities?

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Surviving Fiscal and Competitive Challenges

Budget cuts, flat funding, loss of revenue, staff reductions, unemployment, and dwindled retirement savings are some of the widespread impacts of the economic downturn and a slow recovery. For agencies and providers serving seniors on every level, there is increased pressure to do more with less. At the same time, age demographics are shifting rapidly and the demand and need for services is greater than ever before. Anticipating tighter budgets in the years ahead, what steps should we take to meet the needs of our Nation’s seniors? How do we develop and implement innovative plans that improve efficiency, eliminate waste and leverage resources from many to sources in order to maintain and increase services?

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Managing Health Consequences

The number of seniors suffering from multiple chronic conditions - including diabetes, heart disease, arthritis and cancer - is increasing. When seniors can’t manage these conditions with proper diet, exercise and medical care, it affects their quality of life and their ability to live independently in their own homes. On a national scale, healthcare costs are skyrocketing for seniors as these conditions result in countless prescription medications, preventable hospital stays and nursing home admissions. How can we better support seniors in preventing and managing chronic diseases? How can we encourage proper nutrition and exercise to promote healthy aging?

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Working Together through Collaboration

Preparing for an aging population, operating under tighter budgets, and implementing policy changes under the new health care law will require committed collaboration from local governments, organizations, coalitions, and our communities. Whether we partner to reduce hospital readmissions, build a community kitchen, or a local transit system, our shared effort is to everyone’s benefit. How do we develop community partnerships to ensure the needs of seniors and their caregivers are addressed and that they have a seat at the table? How do we work together with local agencies, schools, hospitals, public health networks, businesses in order to bundle resources and provide coordinated systems to best serve our seniors and our country?

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Increasing Access and Overcoming Barriers

From the federal government, to the states, to local agencies, to services providers, and then to seniors, the aging network is the glue that holds everything together. In many ways, the network is effective in coordinating services, but in some places accessing services for seniors is the biggest challenge. How do we utilize and build on services available in every community to help some or our Nation’s most vulnerable seniors? Whether it is access to meals, rides to the doctor, affordable housing, preventive health care services, and more. How do we make services affordable? How do we make services accessible in every community nationwide?

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Building Awareness and Reducing Stigma

The media talks anti-aging. Getting old is NOT considered “cool.” Many Americans are simply unaware of the serious issues that older Americans face. Others want to ignore important issues around nutrition and aging because they do not want to think about it for themselves. Yet aging happens to all of us. How can aging organizations help increase awareness and get our messages out more effectively? How do we as a society, as a network, as individual organizations reduce the “age-old” stigma related to aging? How do we get cool?

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Promoting Proper Nutrition

Proper nutrition is not only linked to good health, it becomes even more critical as we age. Obesity is on the rise. At the same time, 7.5 million seniors are at risk of hunger, which is an increase from previous years. Obesity and hunger may seem at two different ends of the spectrum, but both are about nutrition. Physical limitations and chronic conditions tend to increase dramatically among seniors when we do not address proper nutrition, if we do not eat right. How can we ensure the seniors we serve are meeting their nutritional needs to stay healthy? How can we encourage them to make healthy food choices? How can we help them eat right?

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Choose Your Own Challenge

We are all getting older - it’s the one thing we all have in common. But each of us looks at aging through different eyes. We each see different challenges and opportunities and we each have our own, unique perspective to offer. When you look at the future of aging in America, what do you see? What problems and issues are most important in your life and for the seniors in your community?

Tell us about any other challenge you are facing - and then tell us your solution.