For too long we have witnessed the impact of excluding older people in responses to climate change, conflict, and humanitarian disasters. Ageism must no longer be ignored.
Developing Age Friendly Towns revolves around the ethos that if you design for the young, you exclude the old, but if you design for the old, you include everyone.
Decent pay, training, and a professional identity enhance staff retention, accountability, and quality assurance. In this way, PMC has become an empowering career option for women in neighborhoods where steady employment is very limited.
While the current emergency is not yet over, we are all starting to imagine what a post-pandemic world could look like. In fact, there is much talk about a new normal. I would argue, however, that we have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to build a better normal. We owe it to all those who have suffered to apply the lessons we have learned thus far.
In early 2021, California launched its bold 10-year Master Plan for Aging. The Master Plan provides an inclusive and equitable framework for transforming aging for individuals, families, and communities as the changing demographics inevitably shape the future of California.