Older Adults

The Trust envisions a society where older adults are visible, valued, and have access to necessary or desired support to lead dignified and engaged lives, rooted in interdependence and self-determination.

Overview

Baby Boomers (born 1946-1964) are the largest generational population cohort in American history to date. This generation is aging into older adulthood, with predictions that by 2030 there will be 70 million older adults making up approximately 30% of the United States population – twice the number as 2013 data. At the same time, those 85 and older are living longer than ever before due to medical advances, and this group is predicted to triple in size in the next 10 years. These demographic shifts will have significant implications for the ability of the United States' aging services infrastructure to keep pace with the needs of older adults, resulting in further strain on existing systems. Systemic dysfunction, inequitable access to resources, and underfunding services for those living on fixed incomes lead to many adverse outcomes including food insecurity, housing instability, and lack of access to care and supportive services. Additionally, the rapid growth of this population, coupled with too few caregivers to address their needs, demands that we all reimagine a new robust care infrastructure.

Focus Population

The Trust's Older Adults focus population includes all adults age 60+ and recognizes that there is a continuum of life circumstances that inform their aging experience. For this reason, the Trust prioritizes work with particular focus on older adults living on low and fixed incomes, as well as middle-income older adults, often referred to as the "missing middle" – those who have too much income to qualify for government assistance, but not enough to cover the out-of-pocket expenses to adequately meet their care needs. Subpopulations disproportionately impacted due to a legacy of systemic disenfranchisement, historic oppression and abuses, and/or living in under resourced areas, such as communities of color and older adults/elders residing in remote or rural areas or on tribal lands, will be a major focus of the Trust’s grantmaking.

Older Man and Woman Looking at a Computer

Goals and Strategies

Aging in Community

Older adults will have access to affordable housing and needed support services to age safely.

Grantmaking strategies include supporting direct service and policy/systems change efforts that:

Help to meet basic needs such as food access, housing, transportation, legal services, health care, employment, and other supportive services for older adults
Promote access to economic security, housing, and homeless prevention services to ensure overall housing stability to older adults
Provide access to legal or protective services, and wellness and supportive services that allow older adults to age safely in the community of their choice

Caregivers

Caregivers (both direct care workforce and family caregivers) have the skills rooted in person-centered care to meet the needs of older adults that keep them safe at all stages of the aging process and support self-determination, if possible.

Grantmaking strategies include supporting direct service and policy/systems change efforts that:

Assist family caregivers in increasing their knowledge and skills through education and training
Provide accessible and affordable respite opportunities for family caregivers
Provide direct care workforce with culturally competent education, training, and certification opportunities to enhance skills and leadership - promoting job retention, a living wage, and career pathways to advancement
Advocate for changes and improvements to programs that fund long-term care settings including Medicare, Medicaid, or other Federal or State Government programs

Community Engagement

Older adults are engaged in their communities through civic engagement, wellness activities, and cultural enrichment to foster connections that prevent isolation and loneliness, and that facilitate their valuable contributions

Grantmaking strategies include supporting direct service and policy/systems change efforts that:

Ensure older adults have access to high quality lifelong learning programs through arts and culture, education, and wellness programming
Foster intergenerational connections that support continued growth for older adults and encourage interdependence and engagement across generations
Promote the perception of older adults as valuable contributors to the community, rather than societal burdens, through self-advocacy and civic engagement programs
Ensure access to appropriate and affordable behavioral health resources