It’s hard to ignore that we are squarely in the election season. Candidates for offices at all levels of government are announcing, campaigning, and raising money. They are talking about what they will do if they are elected. They are making speeches and talking to voters. They are visiting small towns across America. Yet, sorely absent from many of those speeches and remarks is a recognition that our society is growing old and we need a policy agenda aimed at improving the lives of older adults. The issues we care most about as organizations that serve and support people as they age remain unaddressed. The tremendous need to enact a new approach to paying for long-term care can no longer be ignored.
In a recent blog post, “The Strange Political Silence on Elder Care,” Grace Gedye asks, “And could long-term care go from being a sleeper issue to one that boosts a candidate out of the 2020 pack?” We need to jolt long-term care financing, affordable senior housing, and others from being sleeper issues to ones that do just that. This holds true for races at all levels. It’s an issue for mayors and county commissioners alike. Aging impacts everyone.
Congressional hearings on these critical issues have been held intermittently since 1971. Think tanks and commissions have studied the problems, but little has been done. Solutions are piecemeal and won’t hold up under the projected growth of the older adult population. We applaud Hawaii and Washington state who have acted to address LTSS financing and refused to wait for a federal solution. But this slow progress simply won’t be enough.
This issue alone demands a national solution.
Last week, we launched a non-partisan, non-political Twitter campaign, #DearCandidate, which aims to get our issues into the public discourse in this election cycle. During last Thursday’s Democratic debate, LeadingAge staff followed the live discussions on stage and where possible, tied those discussions back to issues that we care deeply about: workforce, LTSS financing, caregiving, ageism, and affordable housing. Using the hashtag #DearCandidate, we tweeted and tracked our impact during the 3-hour debate and the next day. We were blown away by the response. The potential reach of our tweets and those of 22 unique contributors had a potential reach of 72,000 followers—more than double our total Twitter following. It seems that we’ve struck a nerve.
Between now and November 2020, we will be dogged about pursuing our goal of educating and building awareness around issues impacting those who care for and support older adults. We will encourage candidates at all levels and from all parties to make sure that aging takes center stage.
Follow us and join the #DearCandidate conversation as we regularly tweet about what it means to be a society that is aging and the policies that are critical to ensure that our grandmothers and grandfathers, mothers, fathers, aunts, and uncles can grow old with dignity and choice. Our hope is that candidates sit up and take notice and see this as the critical issue for voters that it truly is.