White House Conference on Aging: New program and initiative roundup

The White House Conference on Aging focuses on issues Americans face as they plan for retirement and issues surrounding senior care. The conference was held July 13 in Washington, D.C., and several new programs and initiatives were introduced to help improve the quality of life for the nation's aging population. All information was provided by a press release from the White House.

• Aging.gov launches, which provides seniors, their families, friends and other caregivers a one-stop resource for government-wide information on helping seniors retain their independence in safe, fulfilling ways. Aging.gov "links to a broad spectrum of Federal information, including how to find local services and resources in your community for everything from healthy aging to elder justice to long-term care, as well as how to find key information on vital programs such as Social Security and Medicare."
•  By September 2015, federal data relevant to older Americans will be available on data.gov. It will be updated regularly with new datasets on aging.
• A new proposed rule from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) was introduced that will update, for the first time in 25 years, the quality and safety requirements for nursing homes and skilled nursing facilities. 
• A new proposed rule from the U.S. Department of Agriculture was introduced that would help increase access to critical nutrition for homebound seniors with disabilities.
• The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced an update to the National Plan to Address Alzheimer's Disease. One plan includes the formation of an Alzheimer's Disease and Related Dementias training curriculum next year.

To read more about what happened at the White House Conference on Aging, click here. Check out U.S. News & World Report coverage here.

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Megan Combs

Megan Combs was Associate Editor of I Advance Senior Care / Long Term Living from 2013-2018.