Tag Archives: healthcare services

AP-NORC Poll on Community Support of Older Adults Finds Disparities in Services and Access

July 28th, 2021

Overall, more people think their local area is doing a good job than a poor job meeting the needs of older adults when it comes to many services, including health care, healthy food and nutrition, social activities, transportation, and in-home supports, according to a new study from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

Crucially, however, it finds that non-white adults and those in lower-income households hold more negative evaluations of how well their community provides many of these services. Continue reading →

Issue Brief – Medicare and Telehealth: Coverage and Use During the COVID-19 Pandemic and Options for the Future

May 26th, 2021

An issue brief published by Kaiser Family Foundation dives into the rapid expansion of telehealth during the pandemic. For example, among the vast majority of Medicare beneficiaries with a usual source of care (95%), such as a doctor or other health professional, or a clinic, nearly two-thirds (64% or 33.6 million) say that their provider currently offers telehealth appointments, up from 18% who said their provider offered telehealth before the pandemic.

But nearly a quarter of Medicare beneficiaries (23%) say they don’t know if their provider offers telehealth appointments, and this percentage is larger among beneficiaries who live in rural areas (30%). Continue reading →

New Data on Advance Care Planning During Pandemic Coincides with Preparations for Healthcare Decisions Day

April 7th, 2021

As the toll of COVID-19 continues to climb, newly released poll data suggest an opportunity to use the pandemic as a prompt for discussing and documenting older adults’ wishes for  care, in case of seriously illness or injury.

Overall, 59% of the 50- to 80-year-olds polled said they had had a conversation with loved ones about their preferences in case they became severely ill. That percentage was even higher — 70% — among those over age 65. Just 7% of all older adults polled said COVID-19 had motivated them to have such conversations. Continue reading →

State Funding Awards for Housing, Transportation and Community Services Include Strong Support for Older Adults

March 3rd, 2021

In the past week, the state has announced the latest grant awards for MassDOT’s Shared Winter Streets and Spaces program, Affordable Housing Development, and Community Development Block Grants (CDBG) – all of which include multiple projects that support older adults.

All of the following award announcements are great examples for age- and dementia friendly communities looking to address housing, transportation and community services.

Continue reading →