“If we do not change course, we risk losing an entire generation of older Americans.”

April 29, 2020 Washington DC – From Katie Smith Sloan, president and CEO ofLeadingAge, the association of nonprofit providers of aging services:

Our society has let down older Americans, and people are dying because of government inaction. All Americans should be angry that our leaders have ignored and abandoned so many of our most vulnerable citizens facing the COVID threat.

Today, LeadingAge stepped up its urgent campaign to press the federal government to include the entire continuum of services for older adults in its response to the COVID-19 virus—and to ensure that the millions of older adults who live outside of nursing homes are not left out.

The coronavirus crisis continues to pose a grave and growing threat to millions of older adults and the people who care for them—in nursing homes, assisted living, affordable housing for older adults, senior housing, life plan communities, hospices, and in our homes and communities.

In Apr. 29, 2020 letters to Vice President Pence, FEMA and the Department of Homeland Security, we demand that they ensure that all aging services providers–not just nursing homes—receive meaningful amounts of personal protective equipment (PPE), as well as effective and efficient testing, and a comprehensive approach to supporting older adults and the workers who care for them.

Efforts to reopen our communities must first ensure adequate protection, testing, and medical supplies for older Americans regardless of where they are housed. Otherwise, our communities will be ground zero for a new wave of preventable deaths and illnesses—which will further tax our beleaguered hospitals and health and long term care care providers.

Aging services organizations haven’t been able to get what they need to fight off this vicious virus, the most dangerous our country has seen in a century. If we do not change course, we risk losing an entire generation of older Americans.

We represent more than 5,000 aging-focused organizations that touch millions of lives every day. Alongside our members and 38 state partners, we address critical issues by blending applied research, advocacy, education, and community-building. We bring together the most inventive minds in our field to support older adults as they age wherever they call home. We make America a better place to grow old. For more information: www.leadingage.org