It’s no secret that communities worldwide are experiencing a demographic shift, with older adults soon outnumbering younger generations. In the U.S., the Census Bureau projects that by 2034, adults ages 65 and older will outnumber children younger than 18 for the first time in history.
West Health has worked with federal and state agencies to facilitate aging-focused planning, and a common challenge consistently emerges: How can local leaders and community advocates quickly access a snapshot of their community’s aging demographics and needs?
It starts with data. Data is essential to understand where a community is regarding age and other demographics, how it compares to others, and where it’s headed.
Assembling a rich array of data into a more complete picture of aging in America is the ambitious goal of the National Aging Readiness dashboard, part of West Health’s Mosaic— a new digital platform offering advanced research capabilities, data visualizations, and key insights and analyses from top experts on the impact of healthcare practice, policy and affordability on aging in America.
The National Aging Readiness dashboard is designed to help professionals working with and on behalf of older adults, including developing or implementing Multisector Plans for Aging, have the data they need to prepare for and support the older adult population. It is an interactive resource that allows leaders in aging to uncover insights that emerge from connecting multiple data sources across a wide array of domains on national and state levels.
A One-Stop Shop for Data on Aging in the United States
The National Aging Readiness dashboard aggregates data from various sources, with additional sources to be added over time.
- Census Bureau’s American Community Survey
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS)
- Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) National Health Expenditures Data
- Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Homelessness Point-in-Time Count
- National Housing Preservation Database
Key Domains Covered in the Dashboard
Each of the following domains can be viewed at national and state levels, with an “Explore the Data” feature that allows users to tailor their analysis by geography, demographics and other characteristics. Useful data visualizations can be created and downloaded to support policy development, storytelling, and progress monitoring related to these domains.
- Policy Activity. This section provides information about each state’s MPA activity, including links to key documents and sites.
- Demographics. Population data by age, race and ethnicity, household, and disability are available here.
- Economic Security. This section provides data about older adults’ income sources and financial challenges.
- Healthcare Coverage and Access. Data on sources of health insurance and access to care are available here, including elements of access to care based on internet access and experiences of discrimination.
- Health Status. This section includes various measures of older adults’ health status, including data on the prevalence of multiple chronic conditions.
- Healthcare Costs. Data on total healthcare spending, including per capita Medicare spending and older adults’ out-of-pocket spending, are available here.
- Mental Health. This section includes data on wellness measures such as life satisfaction, social isolation, stress, and depression.
- Caregiving. Data about paid and unpaid caregiving are available here.
- The Dementia Challenge. This section provides data on cognitive difficulties, cognitive decline, caregiving and dementia, and dementia-related mortality.
- Housing and Homelessness. Data about housing costs, access to affordable housing, and the prevalence of homelessness are available here.
- Transportation. This section provides data on access to public and private vehicles and the impacts of unreliable access to transportation.
Moving Forward, Together
The National Aging Readiness dashboard is intended to be a comprehensive source and centralized hub for local, state and federal leaders in aging to easily access information about growing older in America. It is a living resource that will expand over time, incorporating additional data sources, indicators and interactive features with regular updates as more data becomes available.
We welcome feedback on how this tool could be improved and how it might align with other data initiatives to drive meaningful, data-informed improvements for older adults and their families. By working together, we can ensure our communities are not just responding to demographic shifts but actively preparing for a future that supports everyone at all stages of life.
Learn More at On Aging
To learn more about the National Aging Readiness (NAR) dashboard, please attend a stakeholder session at ASA’s On Aging conference in Orlando, Fla., in April. The session will be held on Wed., April 23, from 9:30–11:00 a.m. ET. You will hear from West Health leaders about the dashboard and from state leaders on how they are using data in their work.
Zia Agha, MD, is chief medical officer at the Gary and Mary West Foundation and at West Health Institute. Amy Herr, MHS, PMP, is the Director of Health Policy for the nonprofit, nonpartisan West Health Policy Center.
Illustration credit: Shutterstock/Siberian Art
