engAGED Starts New Three-Year Project to Reduce Social Isolation Among Older Adults and Caregivers

The National Association of Area Agencies on Aging (n4a), which administers engAGED: The National Resource Center for Engaging Older Adults, is pleased to announce that it has received a new three-year grant from the Administration for Community Living (ACL) to expand and enhance the work of the Aging Network to address the social engagement of older Americans. The new grant will allow engAGED to expand our efforts to assist Aging Network organizations to develop and implement a broad array of strategies to socially engage and connect older adults in a variety of ways in communities across the nation.

This effort will be guided by an Advisory Committee comprised of experts from our many partner organizations that span the spectrum of entities that work with or directly touch the lives of older adults and can implement strategies that can help older adults stay connected to their communities. In addition to n4a and ACL, the Advisory Committee is comprised of representatives from:

  • National Association of Nutrition and Aging
    Services Programs

  • National Council on Aging

  • National Indian Council on Aging

  • National Recreation and Park Association

  • National Resource Center for Osher Lifelong
    Learning Institutes

  • Older Adults Technology Services (OATS)

  • SHIP National Technical Assistance Center

  • SMP National Resource Center

  • YMCA of the USA

  • Arts for the Aging

  • American Association of Service Coordinators

  • American Library Association, RUSA/RSS-Library Services to an Aging Population Committee

  • Diverse Elders Coalition

  • Generations United

  • Independent Living Research Utilization & the National Center for Aging and Disability at TIRR Memorial Hermann Research Center

  • National Alliance for Caregiving

With our partners, we will implement a comprehensive training and technical assistance strategy to help the Aging Network expand programming to specifically address social isolation and social engagement. engAGED will provide monthly webinars, newsletters and blogs; offer technical assistance calls for small group discussion and training opportunities; launch a database of best practices; and develop consumer brochures that your organization can co-brand. Stay tuned for an upcoming poll on social engagement priorities and needs of organizations serving older adults. We want to learn from you as we shape our training and technical assistance strategy!

Over the next phase of our work, stay connected with engAGED through our website, monthly newsletter and social media. Subscribe to our newsletter and find us on Twitter and Facebook for the latest resources, best practices and information! And let us know what else would be helpful in your organization’s social engagement work.

Brenda Luna Macedo