By Jack Cumming
With little fanfare, a federal interagency coordinating committee in May 2024 released a report to Congress with a Strategic Framework for a National Plan on Aging. It’s received almost no publicity, although in July, AARP followed the government’s plan with an eponymous plan of its own. Their work is titled AARP’s Vision for a National Plan on Aging.
Aging in America is politically, culturally, and societally complex. The media frequently criticize the senior housing industry for being controlling and motivated by interests other than the well-being of those served. The government has a welter of agencies, each of which would like to justify its existence by declaring the benefit it provides.
In contrast to these interests, there is a popular upswelling of citizens looking to provide for themselves as neighbors. In this article, we explore this interplay of emerging cultural forces.
AARP and Government
The interagency government effort was initiated by a congressional appropriation. The directive was twofold:
- Craft a “framework” to prepare for the 2025 White House Conference on Aging, which often leads to modifications in the Older Americans Act.
- Address “falls prevention as an area of focus.”
Input on the government report is sought before September 15, so time is short. The interagency committee has partnered for that purpose with the National Plan on Aging Community Engagement Collaborative. This listening collaborative is comprised of three government “partners,” West Health, the SCAN Foundation, and the John A. Hartford Foundation.
Vision
The vision statement for the interagency document reads:
Our vision is an America that values older adults, embraces aging, and recognizes that all people have the right to live with dignity, make their own choices, and participate fully in society. We want to be a nation that prioritizes independence, inclusion, well-being, and health across the lifespan.
AARP is more insistent. Its vision is:
More can and must be done to enhance the quality of life for all people as they age and to create a society in which all people live with dignity and purpose, able to fulfill their goals and dreams. A national plan on aging is necessary to capture the opportunity and successfully meet the need to do so.
The AARP document barely mentions the government work.
Grassroots Villages
I learned of this initiative to advise Congress from Bill Kincaid, who is the board president of the Village to Village Network. Thank you, Bill. The Village network is rather unique in being a grassroots organization, created by ordinary citizens to provide needed support for themselves as they age.
From the perspective of senior housing, such a popular upswelling can seem like a threat. But it’s not. It’s an opportunity. Its growing popularity can also be appealing to legislators in a way that is difficult for today’s senior housing industry, given recent adverse media attention.
People who form and join villages are prospective customers for senior housing and other services. If the same grassroots, citizen leadership model were adopted for senior living, the industry would be seen as less institutional and more empowering. By moving beyond direct ownership and control, the industry might support aging as community managers. There can be profit, and less risk, in converting a previously top-down nonprofit or for-profit community to inclusive governance.
What Villagers Want Is Good for the Industry
It’s almost self-evident that, if the industry shifts from a top-down model toward bottom-up empowerment, the industry will regain popularity as a trustworthy haven for the elderly. It’s not that hard to do. It simply means that some people will have to relinquish power, or defer power, so that others — the people served — can have the dignity of self-determination.
Perhaps the takeaway from these new documents is that it is easier to treat words as accomplishment than to take action. The Village Movement can become a paradigm. The industry has a choice. It can oppose these wishes with denial and words — e.g., rebranding or disparaging — or it can embrace the opportunity by acting to benefit from it.
The spirit of the Village Movement — neighbors helping neighbors — could be the elixir that the senior living industry needs to demonstrate its credibility as the trustworthy answer to the nation’s challenges of aging.
Yes Yes & No
1. Yes – Bottom up is the key to amazing success in senior living. We actually see communities where this is happening.
2. Yes – Village to Village is no threat to senior living and in fact as you point out could be a serious benefit to the industry.
3. No – You say “It’s not that hard.” While I agree theoretically people’s egos are huge and they hate to give up power and control even when it is in the best interest to do so.