Working Group on Aging

>About the group (.pdf) To join the Working Group on Aging or learn more, e-mail WG's Kathy Freshley.

From WG Daily:

Improving the health and quality of life older adults, especially low-income seniors, in the Greater Washington region by working to increase public and private investments in creative and innovative strategies focused on healthy aging.

News:
We are partnering with Grantmakers in Aging's EngAGEment Initiative, a national learning community of regional funders testing models to strengthen awareness and funding support for aging issues

WGA Turns 1!

The Working Group on Aging (WGA) is one year old! In its first year, the group has learned and done a lot - and has much more to accomplish in order to strengthen understanding of aging services and programs in the region and create a framework for change. A few lessons learned so far…

• Both the country and our region are confronting a “senior tsunami,” and we are not prepared.
• DC has one of the highest rates per capita of low-income older adults in the country.
• Seniors increasingly live in the suburbs, but suburban communities are not designed to efficiently and affordably deliver needed services.
• The current healthcare system focuses on curing ailments rather than preventing them.
• Today, we need more trained caregivers than elementary school teachers - and this need will grow for the next 35 years.
• Currently, only seven percent of WG members have aging as a funding focus.

Healthy Aging and Community: What Makes a Good Place to Grow Old?
WGA continued its; series of educational programs, in May with guest Dr. Philip B. Stafford, cultural anthropologist, who discussed the aging-friendly communities movement and explained how it can help older adults be less dependent, more mentally stimulated, and better connected to neighbors and community. More than 60 funders and invited nonprofits and government leaders attended.

Collaborations with Public Officials
WGA has met with government leaders working on aging issues in Montgomery, Fairfax, and Arlington counties and the District of Columbia. Every jurisdiction has developed innovative programs in response to growing senior populations, but most can’t afford to conduct needs assessments to plan adequately. All have expressed interest in collaboration. As a result, the WGA has been invited to be part of the Washington Regional Aging Network (WRAN) at COG.

Resources

• Creativity Matters: Arts and Aging Toolkit - explains why and how older adults benefit from participating in professionally conducted community arts programs and offers detailed advice and examples on program design, implementation and evaluation.
  
  
• National Center for Creative Aging
  
  
• TimeSlips Creative Storytelling Project - replacing the pressure to remember with encouragement to imagine.
  
  
• Kairos Dance Theater - uses dance and storytelling to create a sense of community and well-being
  
  
• Stagebridge Senior Theatre - theatre and storytelling to bridge the generation gap
  
  
• Songwriting works - promoting health through the power of songwriting and performance.
  
  
• EngAGE - provides a whole-person approach to creative and healthy aging for thousands of their senior residents in Southern California.
  
  
• Above Ground: Information on Artists III: Special Focus New York City Aging Artists
  
  
• Kenneth A. Picerne Foundation - the Artist Outreach Project awards grants to accomplished visual, performing and literary artists, age 55 and older
  
  
• PHI National - Improving the quality of eldercare and disability services by improving the jobs of direct-care workers.
  
  
• Elders Share the Arts - programs featuring professional artists in creative writing, storytelling, visual arts, and theater.