engAGED Community Toolkit

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The number of adults in the United States age 65 and older is expected to grow from 46 million today to more than 70 million in 2030—a 52 percent increase in just over 10 years. This growth in the number of older adults over such a relatively short period of time should be the impetus to transform how our society thinks about the assets of older adults—and how communities can harness the tremendous resource they represent to make positive change.

Further, as the national dialogue on the impact of social isolation grows, many are beginning to analyze new and innovative ways to address social isolation among older adults. Increasing the number and types of activities that incorporate older adults, and encouraging social engagement are just a few ways to reduce social isolation.

engAGED: The National Resource Center for Engaging Older Adults has developed a toolkit to assist the Aging Network as it identifies approaches and develops effective practices to overcome obstacles and increase the social engagement of older adults.

Materials in the toolkit explain the impact of social isolation, describe ways to increase social engagement and explain the benefits of social engagement for older adults—and their communities. The best part is that each resource included in the toolkit can be customized with the contact information of local organizations!

Don’t forget the other fact sheets that engAGED has developed on ways older adults can connect to the community through lifelong learning, technology, the arts and intergenerational activities.