I recently returned from the Grantmakers In Health conference in Portland, Oregon, where GIA co-hosted the learning lab on Optimizing Health and Wellbeing in Later Life through the Older Americans Act and Beyond. The room was packed with funders ranging from “aging experts” to those who were “aging curious.” Regardless of our level of knowledge, most of us were “aging worried.”
"What do you fear more? Outliving your savings, or dying?"
I opened the session by asking, "What do you fear more: outliving your savings or dying?" The results were comparable to those from a recent poll that found two out of three people are more afraid of outliving their savings than they are of dying. Similarly, the West Health-Gallup 2024 Survey on Aging in America found that 70 percent of adults are worried about their financial security as they age.
Aging worries are not just about money. The West Health-Gallup survey also found that Americans are increasingly anxious about developing cognitive issues, becoming seriously ill, living independently, and loneliness in later life.
But it’s not all doom and gloom. There is a robust network working around the clock to support us and improve our quality of life as we age and provide care to others who are aging. Led by USAging, the aging network responds to later-life challenges under both routine and catastrophic conditions but without adequate funding to meet the growing demand for services.
We can help change that. As one of our learning lab participants remarked, “There are lots of great solutions. It’s our turn as funders to resource them.”
There are lots of great solutions. It’s our turn as funders to resource them.
By adequately capitalizing the aging network and putting the right policies and programs in place for caregivers, we can channel our collective anxiety into collective action. GIA and GIH have co-created Five Ways Congress Can Strengthen the Older Americans Act, and What Philanthropy Can Do – download it here.
We are also proud to announce the launch of the Caregiver Nation Network, an initiative led by the National Alliance for Caregiving (NAC) with GIA as the fiscal agent.
The Caregiver Nation Network empowers caregivers to raise their own voices with state and federal policymakers by investing in coalitions in 10 states (Arizona, California, Hawaii, Illinois, Michigan, New York, North Carolina, Texas, Utah, and Wisconsin) and providing seed funding, collaborative learning, policy education, enhanced data and insights about caregiving, and a national advocacy summit. Learn more here.
The Network builds on the success of the #ActOnRAISE Campaign, an initiative to drive action on the National Strategy to Support Family Caregivers supported by more than 100 partners and made possible by The John A. Hartford Foundation.
Funders include Health Foundation for Western & Central New York and RRF Foundation for Aging. At an earlier stage, when the program was called Changing the Care Conversation, funding also came from Archstone Foundation, Bader Philanthropies, and St. David's Foundation.
Take action, sleep better
Finally, keep your aging anxiety in check by registering for our Annual Conference in Detroit, to learn about how funders and nonprofits across the country are making things better for all of us as we age!
They’ve got some cool things going on in Detroit, like free rides in autonomous (self-driving) vehicles for older people and those with disabilities, guided tours of the renowned Detroit Institute of Art for people living with dementia and their caregivers, and a transformative residential community including a PACE center, affordable assisted living, and the Weinberg Green Houses. Plus, there’s nothing like the Motown sound to help you relax.
So register now and, until we see you in Detroit, tell everyone you know - but particularly your elected representatives (they’re back home in August!) - why the Older Americans Act and the RAISE Act should be reauthorized and funded. We’ll all sleep a lot better once that's done.