Advocacy
Why have a legislative body of volunteers age 60+ to raise awareness of issues to ensure that older adults are empowered to age in health and with choice, independence, and dignity?
Well, who better to speak on behalf of older adults than a passionate, motivated group of older adults?
The NCSTHL was created to ensure that the issues most relevant to older adults across the state would be given a voice – a voice to encourage the NC General Assembly to pay attention to the gaps and shortages in supportive services for older adults, across the spectrum of those services and their delivery across the state.
The Heart of Our Advocacy Efforts
Mahatma Gandhi is credited with saying, “The true measure of any society can be found in how it treats its most vulnerable members.”
The NCSTHL is here to be the conscience of our society and the voice of the vulnerable and large population of older adults across our state. We are here to declare the importance of honoring the contributions of our elders and ensuring they are treated with dignity and respect.
Our mission is to present vital legislation priorities to the NCGA every two years, to ensure that the interests, well-being, and supportive services of older adults are being met and accommodated.
This will fulfill our vision of North Carolina being a great state in which to grow up, and a fantastic state in which to grow old!
The mission of the NCSTHL is to identify the most challenging issues facing older adults and bring legislative solutions to the attention of the NCGA so that legal remedies will be enacted for the protection of the interests of older adults.
What are the chief factors that can result in older adult vulnerability?
- Poverty
- Poor health
- Hunger
- Access to healthy foods
- Transportation
- Access to health care
- Access to the internet (going online for telehealth healthcare and to increase social interaction)
- Isolation
- Depression, anxiety, and other mental health issues
- Substance abuse
- Abuse
- Exploitation
- Being a caregiver for another adult
- Quality of and access to care in institutional settings (such as assisted living and skilled care facilities)
- Access to end-of-life care
Advocacy 1.0
Where to Start
The starting point for learning about issues impacting older adults is to learn about services that are already in place, their origins, and funding processes.
Support for aging services starts at the federal level with the Older Americans Act which authorizes funding distributed to each state.
The federal government provides an Older Americans Act: Overview and Funding document which details its provisions via the Library of Congress.
In North Carolina, the NC Department of Health and Human Services Division of Aging administers the funds received via the Older Americans Act from the federal government.
The funds are aggregated into the Home and Community Care Block Grant, which is explained more fully in the introductory publication, Community Resources and Connections.
In state fiscal year 2023-24, NC State Expenditure Report stated that expenses for services administered by the NC Division of Aging were approximately $ 102.6 million (excluding ARPA funds).
With a 60+ population of 2.6 million reported in 2023 by the NC State Aging Profile this nets to an index of approximately $39.50 per person spent on services that enable older adults to age in place in their communities.
The 2023 state expenditure for Medicaid institutional care in nursing homes was $ 1.464 billion, which nets to an index of $ 561.86 spent per person in long-term skilled care.
It is far more cost-effective to provide home- and community-based services to older adults than to place them in institutional care.
A core tenet of NCSTHL advocacy is to promote practices that empower older adults to live at home as long as possible.