Resource Library

This brief will describe the major mental and behavioral health issues affecting older people and examine opportunities for funders to get involved and address gaps in four main areas.

New Frontiers for Funding provides guidance specifically for grantmakers supporting rural areas and how working on rural aging issues can increase the impact of many different kinds of philanthropies.

A fact sheet outlines how congress and philanthropy can work together to strengthen the Older Americans Act to better meet the social needs that COVID-19 revealed and match funding levels to the growth of the older population and the true cost of aging in America.

Innovation and Hope is a four-part webinar series and partnership between Grantmakers In Aging and the Helen Daniels Bader Alzheimer's & Healthy Aging Speaker Series

The field of impact investing has developed over more than five decades, gaining traction as a lever for driving social change and equity, and as a prudent investment strategy. Many types of organizations have taken up the approach, including foundations, faith-based organizations, health systems, pension funds, insurance companies, corporations, wealth managers, banks fulfilling the Community Reinvestment Act, and individuals seeking social and environmental benefits alongside financial returns. Government is also a frequent partner. Still, impact investing is relatively new to many philanthropic funders, which has led trustees, staff, and fiduciaries generally to ask how they could or should apply impact investing and broader social investing techniques to advance their missions and values.

Across the United States, Multisector Plans for Aging are driving public-private partnerships at the highest level of state government. Globally, 128 countries have national or subnational plans on aging. These plans have the potential to influence policies and funding mechanisms across sectors with corresponding metrics to track impact.

Social isolation is an epidemic in the United States, affecting two-thirds of older adults and three-quarters of young people (as reported during COVID). Social isolation is linked to depression, poor sleep, and impaired immunity. It increases the risks of dementia by 50 percent, stroke by 32 percent, and coronary heart disease by 29 percent, and significantly increases the risk of premature death from all causes.

Impact investments can be used to complement traditional grantmaking and bring promising initiatives to scale. Join Grantmakers In Aging and Grantmakers In Health to learn about strategies to structure and deliver capital to drive and sustain solutions, as well as examples of how funders are leveraging impact investing to advance their missions. 

Age-Friendly Health Systems aim to follow an essential set of evidence-based practices; cause no harm; and align with what matters to older adults and their caregivers. This issue brief provides background on the need and an update on a new movement that seeks to transform how our healthcare system approaches the care of older adults.

Evidence-based programs (EBPs) are essential for promoting healthy aging and wellness in older adults. These programs address challenges such as chronic conditions, falls, physical inactivity, and behavioral health issues, which can impact health, well-being, and independence. 

Elders of color and LGBT elders face significant disparities in health and health care access, economic security, housing, employment, community support, and more.

For older people whose social networks are dwindling, arts and culture give opportunities to keep socially, civically, and mentally active in their communities. The arts provide a symbolic and emotionally expressive communication system for elders with cognitive limitations, allowing them to engage with their care partners and the larger community.

Explore new, transformative ways of thinking about aging and community development. 

Older adults can be a vital asset to communities and community development, contributing their experience, leadership, and, often, economic participation. Unfortunately, most live in places that are not well prepared for an aging population, and most communities have a long way to go before they can be called “age-friendly” – that is, great places to grow up and grow old.

GIA has identified age-friendly community development as an issue of great promise and compelling need, with enormous potential for important contributions by funders.