Social Work Policy: Aging

"The Senate Special Committee on Aging was first established in 1961 as a temporary committee. It was granted permanent status on February 1, 1977. While special committees have no legislative authority, they can study issues, conduct oversight of programs, and investigate reports of fraud and waste."

The White House Conference on Aging occurs once a decade to make aging policy recommendations to the President and Congress, and to assist the public and private sectors in promoting dignity, health, independence and economic security of current and future generations of older persons.

"The mission of AoA is to develop a comprehensive, coordinated and cost-effective system of home and community-based services that helps elderly individuals maintain their health and independence in their homes and communities."

"The Federal Interagency Forum on Aging-Related Statistics (Forum) was initially established in 1986, with the goal of bringing together Federal agencies that share a common interest in improving aging-related data. The Forum has played a key role by critically evaluating existing data resources and limitations, stimulating new database development, encouraging cooperation and data sharing among Federal agencies, and preparing collaborative statistical reports."

"Since 1974, the NIA -- one of the 27 Institutes and Centers of the NIH -- has been at the forefront of the Nation's research activities dedicated to understanding the nature of aging, supporting the health and well being of older adults, and extending healthy, active years of life for more people."

"The Michigan Office of Services to the Aging is your state resource for information on aging in Michigan."

"Founded in 1975, the AAA Association is the public policy, training and advocacy office for Michigan's AAAs. This site offers information on conferences for professionals, educational and advocacy events at the State Capitol, publications for seniors and professionals on public policy issues, general information about AAAs in Michigan, and more."

"AARP is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization with a membership that helps people age 50 and over have independence, choice and control in ways that are beneficial and affordable to them and society as a whole, ways that help people 50 and over improve their lives."

"The Alliance for Retired Americans is a nationwide organization, founded in May 2001, with three million members working together to make their voices heard in the laws, policies, politics, and institutions that shape our lives."

"Founded in 1954 as the Western Gerontological Society, the American Society on Aging is an association of diverse individuals bound by a common goal: to support the commitment and enhance the knowledge and skills of those who seek to improve the quality of life of older adults and their families. The membership of ASA is multidisciplinary and inclusive of professionals who are concerned with the physical, emotional, social, economic and spiritual aspects of aging."

"The National Council on Aging (NCOA) is a nonprofit service and advocacy organization headquartered in Washington, DC. We are a national voice for older Americans and the community organizations that serve them. We bring together nonprofit organizations, businesses, and government to develop creative solutions that improve the lives of all older adults. "

"In Go Grandriders, a group of 17 senior citizens, many of them learn how to ride a motorcycle for the first time, embark on what may be the most daring adventures of their lives: a 13-day-entirely-on-motorcycle tour around the island of Taiwan. Among these 17 Grandriders, two have had cancer, four need hearing aids, five suffer from high blood pressure, eight have coronary disease, and every one of them has symptoms of joint degeneration. However, at the youthful age of 80 plus, they dare to ride on scooters and feel the land they have lived all their lives." [publisher's description]

"This documentary examines the personal and social impact of the impending retirement of America's 77 million Baby Boomers." [publisher's description]

"MOM'S HOME A film by Maureen Judge Here is a compassionate and intimate documentary about aging mothers who live with their adult daughters. The stories realistically portray the pain of loneliness, the ailments, and the difficult financial circumstances experienced by many single, widowed and divorced women who make up a large percentage of the aging population." [publisher's description]

"In Danville, California, Lee Gorewitz wanders on a soul-searching odyssey through her Alzheimer’s & Dementia care unit. Confined by the limits of her physical boundaries, she scavenges for reminders of her life in the outside world. Yet her search is for more than a word, or a memory, or a familiar face. It is a quest for understanding.A total immersion into the fragmented day-to-day experience of mental illness, You're Looking at Me Like I Live Here and I Don't is the first Alzheimer's documentary filmed exclusively in an Alzheimer’s & Dementia care unit, and the first told from the perspective of someone suffering from Alzheimer’s disease." [publisher's description]