Aging in Place: A Government Guide, Backed by Data

Webinar recap. Hosted by Polco, July 2026. Presented by Erin Caldwell, MSPH, Survey Research Specialist, and Michelle Kobayashi, MSPH, Executive Strategist.

America is getting older, fast. By 2040, about one in five Americans will be 65 or older, up from about one in eight in 2000. For most of the last century, the country's age profile looked like a pyramid, with many young people at the base and few older adults at the top. It is now flattening into a pillar. By 2060, women 85 and older are projected to be one of the largest demographic groups in the country.

That matters because most communities were built for the pyramid. They were planned around young families, big houses, and cars. They were not planned around people who want to stay in the places they love as they age.

In Polco's recent webinar, Erin Caldwell and Michelle Kobayashi walked through what it will take to change that. Their approach is different from most conversations about aging. Instead of hypothesizing about what older adults need, they start with what older adults actually tell us. The data comes from two Polco sources: the Community Assessment Survey for Older Adults (CASOA), which asks older residents to rate their community and report the problems they have faced in the past year, and GPAL, Polco's community livability database of more than 500 public indicators, including measures broken out specifically for older adults.

Here is the countdown they shared: eight things communities can do right now to help people age in place. One theme runs through all of them. These issues are deeply interconnected. Fix one, and you often help another.

8. Design for walkability, mobility, and everyday access

Successful aging depends on whether people can get where they need to go safely, comfortably, and independently. This is broader than buses. It includes sidewalks, safe crossings, and how close daily destinations are in the first place.

The CASOA data shows a clear gap. About 77% of older adults rate ease of travel by car positively, but only 30% say the same about public transportation. When driving is no longer an option, and about 3 in 10 report exactly that, the alternatives often are not there. Only 30% rate the availability of mixed-use neighborhoods positively, and the average commute is 26 minutes, well past the 15-minute-city ideal.

What to do

Encourage compact, mixed-use land use. Close sidewalk gaps and add safe crossings, shade, and lighting. Build complete streets. Invest in placemaking so people have somewhere worth going.

7. Promote safety and emergency preparedness

Safety is a foundation of well-being, and older adults feel it acutely. About 67% rate their community as safe, lower than residents of other ages. Nearly a third report being the victim of fraud or a scam in the past year. Scammers keep finding new ways in, and older adults are frequent targets.

Emergency preparedness is a growing concern too. Extreme weather events are more frequent, infrastructure is aging, and more homes are being built in high-risk areas. Standard emergency plans assume people can read a text alert and drive themselves out. That assumption fails vulnerable populations.

What to do

Strengthen fraud prevention and trusted reporting. Plan around older adults' real needs in emergencies. Make alerts accessible and actionable. Rebuild neighbor-to-neighbor check-in networks.

6. Invest in preventive health and mental health

Health systems focus on treating illness. Aging in place depends on prevention and support. Local governments are not expected to become health providers, but they can make prevention easier to reach.

The gaps are largest in mental health. Only 20% of older adults rate the availability of affordable, quality mental health care positively. Roughly 4 in 10 report problems with confusion, forgetfulness, or feeling depressed in the past year, and about 6 in 10 report a problem staying physically fit.

What to do

Bring screenings and vaccinations into familiar, trusted places. Expand affordable mental health access through counseling, peer support, and telehealth. Make healthy routines easier with low-cost fitness, walking programs, and nutrition support. Parks and recreation departments play a real role here.

5. Build connection, belonging, and purpose

Aging in place does not mean aging alone. Connection is not a nice-to-have. It is essential for staying independent.

Fewer than half of older adults rate their community positively on neighborliness, feeling welcome, or opportunities to gather. The problem side is stark: 38% report feeling lonely or isolated, and 34% say they do not have friends or family they can rely on. In a survey of city and county managers, placemaking scored lowest of all the community-connection measures, a sign of how much room there is to grow.

What to do

Create low-barrier, recurring ways to gather, including intergenerational programs. Invest in welcoming public spaces like libraries, parks, and community centers. Connect older adults to purpose through skilled volunteering and mentoring, not just filling a seat. Rebuild neighbor-to-neighbor support.

4. Make information and services easier to navigate

Older adults and caregivers face a maze of programs, eligibility rules, and agencies. The challenge is not a lack of information. It is finding the right information and trusting it.

The gap is striking. Only 25% rate the availability of information about resources for older adults positively, yet 75% report a problem simply not knowing what services exist in their community. As Erin shared, her father found the support he needed to care for her mother at home only after attending a county resource fair. The help was there. Finding it was the hard part. And as Michelle noted, most people do not go looking until they are already in crisis.

What to do

Create one trusted entry point. Use navigators and warm handoffs instead of dropping a brochure and walking away. Use plain language and multiple formats. Bring information to people through libraries, health providers, and trusted partners.

3. Expand caregiving and supportive services

Informal caregivers are the backbone of aging in place. Family, friends, and neighbors fill the gaps that public funding cannot. Without them, the system would fail.

The formal options are thin. Only 22% of older adults rate long-term care options positively, and just 14% rate daytime care options positively. Meanwhile caregivers carry real strain, with roughly a quarter to a third reporting physical, emotional, or financial burden. GPAL data adds another layer: 27% of older adults are grandparents helping to care for their grandchildren, and among grandparents 60 and older who are responsible for raising their grandkids, 55% are people of color.

What to do

Expand respite and daytime care. Support and equip family caregivers with training and peer support. Bring practical help into the home, from meals to chores. Connect families to programs they do not know exist.

2. Strengthen employment and financial security

Many older adults are working longer, by choice, by necessity, or both. But the opportunities are limited, and the financial pressure is real.

Only about 2 in 10 rate the quality, variety, or skill-building side of older-adult employment positively. Nearly half report trouble affording daily expenses or property taxes in the past year. This is a generational shift. The silent generation often had pensions. Baby boomers and Gen X largely do not, so income matters more than ever.

What to do

Expand flexible and encore employment. Offer training, coaching, and age-inclusive hiring. Strengthen financial and benefits guidance. Connect eligible residents to property-tax relief, utility help, and food and medication assistance.

1. Create housing that works for every stage of aging

Housing and financial security effectively tied for the top spot. They have outpaced nearly every other issue in recent years.

Aging in place does not have to mean staying in the exact same house. It can mean staying in the same community, in a home that fits. The trouble is those homes barely exist. Only 22% of older adults rate the variety of housing options positively, 18% rate affordable quality housing positively, and just 16% rate accessible housing positively. GPAL data shows 34% of older adult homeowners are housing cost-burdened, higher than the 28% rate for homeowners overall. And about 6 in 10 report trouble with home upkeep, from heavy housework to yard maintenance.

Small problems have big consequences. A missed lightbulb, an unmowed yard, or a fall from a ladder can be the trigger that moves someone out of their home for good.

What to do

Expand housing choices through density, multifamily homes, and accessory dwelling units. Design for accessibility with no-step entries, single-floor living, and wider doorways. Preserve affordability through tax relief, rental assistance, and repair programs. Bring services like rides, meals, and safety modifications into the home.

The bottom line: it takes a village

No community has enough money to do all of this alone, and federal aging funds do not stretch to cover housing. But money is not the only lever. Communities can convene and catalyze. Employers can offer flexible roles and caregiving support. Faith-based groups, nonprofits, and neighbors all have a part to play.

The stakes are hard to overstate. One projection shared during the session suggested that without change, a single state could eventually see its entire budget consumed by nursing home costs. The goal of aging policy has always been to keep people out of nursing homes and in their communities. That takes planning now.

The good news, as Michelle put it, is that none of this is inevitable. We have a say in it. And the first step is listening to what older residents are actually telling us.

Hear from the older adults in your community

CASOA and GPAL turn the voices and lived experience of older residents into a clear roadmap your community can act on. See where you stand, benchmark against communities nationwide, and build a plan grounded in real data.