This year, the theme for Older Americans Month is “Blaze a Trail.” During Older Americans Month 2016, the Administration for Community Living is using this opportunity to raise awareness about important issues facing older adults and to show the ways that older Americans are advocating for themselves, their peers, and their communities. In addition, VisionAware is highlighting the American Academy of Ophthalmology’s new resource, Eye Care for Older Adults.
AFB Initiates the 21st Century National Agenda on Aging and Vision Loss
Most significantly, the American Foundation for the Blind (AFB) is joining in the Older Americans Month “Blaze a Trail” campaign by initiating the “21st Century National Agenda on Aging and Vision Loss.”
AFB began a national conversation on aging and vision loss over a year ago in anticipation of the White House Conference on Aging. As noted in our post on the outcome of the conference, AFB and other stakeholders have been extremely concerned that aging and vision loss issues have not been addressed in any significant way on a national level: “Older persons with vision problems should not be sidelined or forgotten because of their inability to engage – due to transportation issues, lack of technology access, and/or lack of vision rehabilitation services.”
Join the AFB 21st Century National Agenda on Aging and Vision Loss Movement!
As a result of the findings and concerns raised through the past initiative, AFB is hosting a teleconference call on May 5 to discuss the 21st Century National Agenda on Aging and Vision Loss and to broaden input from across our field to reach consensus around the key goals of an Agenda.
You are invited to join the teleconference on Thursday afternoon, May 5, 2016, from 2:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m., Eastern. There is no cost to join the conversation. Come with your ideas and your commitment to work collaboratively with us as we chart a future course for this critical initiative.
To RSVP, send an email to Sarah Malaier, AFB’s Programs and Policy Coordinator, at SMalaier@afb.net. Simply indicate in your message that you would like to participate in the May 5 teleconference call concerning the 21st Century National Agenda on Aging and Vision Loss. Instructions for dialing into the conference call will be sent well before the call to all those who RSVP. Please join and help us “Blaze a Trail.”
More about the Administration for Community Living
The mission of the Administration for Community Living is to maximize the independence, well-being, and health of older adults, people with disabilities across the lifespan, and their families and caregivers.
All Americans—including people with disabilities and older adults—should be able to live at home with the supports they need, participating in communities that value their contributions. To help meet these needs, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has created a new organization: the Administration for Community Living (ACL).
ACL brings together the efforts and achievements of the Administration on Aging, the Administration on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, and the Department of Health and Human Services Office on Disability to serve as the Federal agency responsible for increasing access to community supports, while focusing attention and resources on the unique needs of older Americans and people with disabilities across the lifespan.