Aging Affects All of Us. What Does That Mean for You? (2024)

Coloradans are living longer. That’s welcome news for our families, our neighborhoods, and our state. As we age, we share with our loved ones and communities a lifetime of momentum built and energy to contribute.

Our collective longevity is also reshaping Colorado. As one of the fastest aging states in the country, the changes affect all of us regardless of age. There are a few places you may have noticed these shifts.

Thanks to a grant from NextFifty Initiative, we recently released Healthy Aging Promising Practices to identify successful aging policies and initiatives from across the country. In the coming months, we’ll expand this work with support and input from community partners, specifically Colorado Consumer Health Initiative (CCHI), as we develop and work to implement an actionable aging policy agenda.

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We’re already experiencing the impacts of Colorado’s shifting demographics—at our workplaces, in our homes, and throughout our communities. These changes are exposing both new opportunities and challenges for Colorado.

Leaders throughout the state have already begun building systems to take advantage of and meet the new needs of our aging population. Known for our innovation and resourcefulness, we can build upon these existing efforts to create an environment supportive of healthy aging.

While Colorado’s made substantial progress, work remains to meet the needs of our state’s changing demographics. Continuing challenges exist partly because the systems and structures supporting our aging population haven’t adequately evolved since they were first developed. Many are either overwhelmed by an increased need or haven’t adjusted to meet new challenges.

Fortunately, there are ways to strengthen our network of supports for aging Coloradans. We can do this by:

Many workplaces haven’t kept up with changing family and community realities. Specifically, many lack family friendly policies beneficial to workers who need time off to care for their own health or the health of their loved one. Policies like paid family and medical leave can help these workers by offering economic and employment security as they provide for their own needs, or those of their family.

In addition to paid family and medical leave, we can provide our unpaid caregivers with needed services and supports. This may come in the form of respite, training, or comprehensive needs assessments. While many caregivers already have access to these services in some form, we can do more to ensure supports are more affordable and accessible.

Direct service workers — including personal care, home health, and nursing facility aides — are critical to the aging landscape. Despite their importance, these workers often receive minimal wages, benefits, and training. As a result, there are highturnoverand vacancy rates within the field. When we lack well-trained, supported direct service workers, older adults suffer.

Fortunately, Colorado leaders have access to several tools which can help direct service workers thrive. Legislative action to raise Medicaid reimbursem*nt rates and require increases be passed to direct care workers can grow wages and benefits. Additional training, career pathways, and developing new advanced roles can also help the men and women supporting our older adults.

Preventative care is roundly recognized as vital to supporting good health. For many older adults, preventative care comes in the form of home and community-based services (HCBS), which can include help with personal care and transportation, or adult day services. Care provided in the home and community is often both cost-effective and in line with older adults’ preferences.

Organizations throughout Colorado are already providing excellent HCBS. This is seen in the work of state-wide agencies like the Area Agencies on Aging and Colorado Visiting Nurse Association, as well as local naturally occurring retirement communities (NORCs). We know these services are important, and Colorado can do more to invest in successful initiatives while continuing to explore new, innovative ways to provide preventative care for older adults.

Our built environment plays a vital role in whether we’re able to age in the community of our choice. Livable, age-friendly communities allow us to live healthy and meaningful lives. They enable access to needed resources and allow for continued connection to the people and causes we care about.

Fortunately, Colorado is a leader in developing livable spaces. In the fall of 2018, in recognition of our commitment to creating communities which allow people to live “easily and comfortably in their homes and communities as they age,” Colorado became one of only three states designated by AARP as Age-Friendly. We can continue this important work by supporting Lifelong Colorado and encouraging individual communities to invest resources in age-friendly initiatives.

Abuse of older adults — including physical, sexual, financial, and emotional abuse, as well as neglect and abandonment — impact 1 of every 10 adults over 60 who are living at home. This is a serious problem with long-lasting consequences, including physical harm, depression, and higher rates of hospitalization.

As worrisome as the problem is, we’re able to combat abuse of older adults. We can develop quality adult protective service programs and train law enforcement officials and caregivers to recognize the signs of abuse. While state leaders have passed laws and increased protections for older adults, work remains to create integrated and sustained initiatives, capable of ensuring the health and safety of all older Coloradans.

Sustainable funding for long-term care services is imperative to creating an ecosystem supportive of healthy aging. Long-term care is expensive, not just for the individual, but also for the state. Strained personal and state budgets endanger our ability to ensure the older adults of both today and tomorrow have the services they need to thrive.

As long-term care is paid by individuals and the state, the responsibility of creating sustainable financing streams fall to both parties. One way to grow individuals’ ability to afford long-term care is by increasing personal retirement savings options. Creating a Colorado Secure Savings Plan, which would offer individuals without an employer-sponsored retirement plan access to a state-sponsored option, can bolster individuals’ ability to afford future long-term care.