State Aging Readiness

The Institute on Aging, in collaboration with the NC Division of Aging and Adult Services and the Governor’s Advisory Council on Aging, is helping North Carolina prepare for projected increases in the older adult population.

North Carolina is undergoing a major demographic shift with the number of older adults expected to double by 2030. The goal of this project is to help prepare North Carolina to face the challenges and opportunities raised by this population shift.

Mandate

In 2009, the Legislature issued Senate Bill 195 / S.L. 2009-407 2009-2010 Preparations for Aging Baby Boomers.

In 2010, Governor Beverly Perdue issued Executive Order Number 54: Assessment of State's Readiness for Aging Population.

Activities

The following activities are underway or completed:

Review of other states' efforts

The team reviewed efforts by other states to see what had been done (a list of links to other state's efforts is below under Resources). We used the results of this work to create a plan to assess the readiness of state agencies in North Carolina.

Readiness survey of state agencies

We created a survey that was administered in 2010 to state agencies to assess their readiness for the future increases in the aging population. Each agency appointed a liaison to be responsible for completing the survey and participate in ongoing meetings and updates.

• Information for state agency liaisons
• Sample copy of the survey tool
• Draft Results of the survey
• Aging Readiness Assessment Results: Final Report

Statewide Policy Meetings

Six Policy Roundtables were held during spring 2010. The issues and ideas identified at each of the roundtables were then compiled and summarized into Policy Briefs to lay the groundwork for policy sessions during the 2010 Governor’s Conference on Aging, held October 13-15, 2010. At the conference, participants further developed policy recommendations. The work of the policy roundtables and Governor’s Conference informed the recommendations found in the 2011-2015 State Aging Plan.

• 2010 Roundtables Executive Summary
• 2010 Roundtables Executive Summary plus list of issues
• Policy Briefs
• 2010 Governor’s Conference on Aging
• 2011-2015 State Aging Plan

Resources

The following resources have been collected by the planning group:

• Quick Facts about Aging Demographics in North Carolina
• What Are Other States Doing? List of Multi-Agency Initiatives
• Public Policy/Issues
• Workforce Issues
• Existing Planning Information in NC
• Role of Higher Education in Preparing for Older Population
• List of Volunteer Options for Older Adults