Public Policy

Older adults represent one of the fastest growing populations in the United States. This growth will be accompanied by challenges to all sectors of civil society. Public policy represents an important opportunity to impact the health and wellbeing of older adults. Aging related policies at the federal, state and local levels shape many factors that influence health including: access to long-term services and supports, access to food and food assistance, the availability and quality of health care, and the environment in which older adults live. This resource collection encompasses a range of reports and articles that describe the Aging Network, provide insight on related federal and state policies and regulations, as well as resources on aging policies that impact the nutrition status of older adults. The strength of the Aging Network is that it has the freedom to operate at the local community level. The Administration for Community Living (ACL) does not provide a prescriptive set of guidelines, but it establishes basic principles describing goals to be achieved at the local level. Similarly, ACL relates in a partnership manner with states and tribes, who use their sovereign relationship with regional and local service areas to designate area agencies to assess what is needed in their own communities and ensure that the funds are spent in ways that are responsive to those needs. The section of the Library will describe programs at all levels of the aging network, and several of the key partners with whom they collaborate.

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