Bringing the National Plan on Aging to Life: Turning Strategy into Action
By Olivia Burns and Erin Westphal, The SCAN Foundation
As the U.S population gets older and increasingly diverse, the federal government, states, and stakeholders are recognizing the need to conduct systems-level, cross-sector planning. Earlier this year, the Administration for Community Living’s (ACL) Interagency Coordinating Committee on Healthy Aging and Age-Friendly Communities (ICC) solicited feedback on a strategic framework to inform the development of a National Plan on Aging (NPA). The NPA will serve as a blueprint to guide and align federal policy and programmatic efforts to advance healthy aging opportunities for all older adults.
The National Plan on Aging Community Engagement Collaborative, a group of three philanthropies focused on elevating the voices of older adults and community partners, recently organized a survey and multiple listening sessions across the country to gather input on the framework. As the ACL synthesizes stakeholder feedback, we must also think about future NPA implementation.
The proliferation of Multisector Plans for Aging (MPA) across the country has helped drive the conversation and approach for the NPA. As an organization that has been supporting state-based MPA efforts for years, The SCAN Foundation has a unique expertise that we can leverage to help bring the NPA to life. We led the way for a Multisector Plan for Aging in California and have supported MPA learning collaboratives for 24 other states. Based on our experiences, we propose three key recommendations for NPA operationalization: aligning the plan with the needs of older Americans—from their perspectives, ensuring accountability for cross-sector collaboration, and building upon state-level successes in MPAs.
Recommendations for Operationalizing the National Plan on Aging
Recommendation 1: Ensure Alignment with Older Americans’ Needs
To realize its goal of creating a more effective system of aging services and supports, the NPA must be informed by both the real voices of older Americans, as well as comprehensive data on their characteristics, trends, and needs. This combination of qualitative and quantitative input can help inform NPA initiatives and measure its impact.
Tactic: Provide opportunities for older adults, people with disabilities, caregivers, subject matter experts, and advocates to participate at every step of the NPA process: Many MPA states have created regular mechanisms to solicit feedback from stakeholders, like hosting town halls, implementing surveys, and creating stakeholder advisory committees. For example, California has a series of stakeholder advisory committees that provides continuous feedback on various aspects of its MPA, including implementation, equity, and data and research. Colorado hosted regional “Conversations on Aging” with older adults and other community members as a public engagement strategy to inform its MPA. The ICC should consider building into the NPA methods for ongoing stakeholder engagement throughout the life of the plan.
Tactic: Utilize data to understand the population, identify trends, and benchmark progress: Many states are developing data dashboards to inform their MPAs and measure their impact. California developed the Data Dashboard for Aging, which includes data indicators for each of the five goals of the plan. Similarly, Tennessee developed its own MPA data dashboard, the Tennessee MPA Data Dashboard, which houses demographic data on the state’s older adult population. The ICC should consider developing similar tools that integrate various data sets that can help tell a story about the older American population, identify any trends, and measure the NPA’s impact.
Recommendation 2: Accountability for Cross-Sector Collaboration
A key component of MPAs is that they are cross-sector, connecting public, private, and philanthropic stakeholders with shared solutions that impact all aspects of the aging experience. The ICC has made a good start in ensuring cross-sector collaboration by including 16 federal agencies and departments in the development of the Strategic Framework. Additionally, they have partnered with the philanthropic sector to gather feedback on the Strategic Framework. However, in order for the NPA to be successful, there must be processes in place to ensure continued cross-agency and cross-sector ownership of the plan.
Tactic: Ensure continued cross-agency involvement: One way of creating shared leadership of the plan is to build formal mechanisms for cross-agency involvement, such as inter-departmental advisory committees. For example, in California, there has been an increase in state agency collaboration on cross-sector advisory committees, such as the California Department for Aging’s participation on the Behavioral Health Task Force and the California Interagency Council on Homelessness. The Missouri MPA has several subcommittees that are co-chaired by other state departments. Vermont’s MPA, Age Strong Vermont, is co-led by the state’s Department of Aging and Independent Living and the Department of Health. The ICC should consider creating cross-departmental advisory committees for the NPA.
Tactic: Engage with other sectors: In the early stages of California MPA development, The SCAN Foundation partnered with other philanthropic organizations to create the MPA Fund to support the research and consensus-building needed for implementation. Massachusetts created the Council to Address Aging to engage stakeholders from the public, private, technology, and business sectors and identify their MPA goals outside of state government. When operationalizing the NPA, the federal government should consider how best to engage other sectors in ownership and implementation of the plan.
Recommendation 3: Build Upon and Support State MPA Implementation
As elevated in examples above, many states are in the process of developing or implementing MPAs, all with varying approaches and at different stages. There are lessons learned that states could share with the federal government as it shapes its NPA.
Tactic: Connecting to and coordinating the work of state MPAs: As they begin to operationalize the NPA, the ICC should build on their prior work to ensure the Strategic Framework was informed by state and local MPA efforts. NPA implementation itself should strive to incorporate the best practices of successful state and local MPA activity. The ICC should consider convening a stakeholder advisory committee made up of states that are implementing MPAs to advise on NPA coordination strategy and state-level MPA implementation.
The NPA is a critical opportunity to improve the systems of care that we all need as we age. While the Strategic Framework provides a visionary foundation for the NPA, in order to be successful, the NPA will need to be actionable, reflective of older American’s needs, and coordinated with state MPA activity, and engage multiple sectors. The ongoing engagement of stakeholders, utilization of data to track progress, and fostering partnerships across various sectors will be crucial for the NPA’s successful implementation. Through these efforts, the NPA can become a robust and responsive blueprint that supports all Americans as they age, ensuring that communities are better equipped to meet the evolving needs of older adults.