This summer, MAAA staff joined aging services leaders from across the country at the USAging Conference to learn, connect and bring back new ideas for our communities. The annual conference brings together area agencies on aging, service providers and thought leaders to share innovative approaches to support older adults and caregivers. This year, more than 1,400 attendees gathered for over 100 sessions covering topics from volunteer engagement to artificial intelligence and everything in between.
While the sessions explored a wide range of challenges and opportunities, several common themes emerged that will help shape our work in the months ahead. Here’s what we heard:
Ready or Not, AI is Here
Several of this year’s sessions focused on the use of technology and AI specifically. We learned to use the term “AgeTech” for the rapidly growing ecosystem of digital products, services and software designed to support older adults and family caregivers. We heard from agencies using AI to reduce their administrative burden so they can focus more energy on the people they serve. They are also experimenting with using AI for front door information services and as a thought partner when exploring new strategies and services.
Keynote speaker Kunal Parikh encouraged service providers and AAAs to consider how AI can support—not supplant—the work they are doing. He cautioned against trying to use technology in place of the human interaction that will always be core to aging services.
Collaboration is the Way Forward
This wasn’t a new idea, but it surfaced repeatedly throughout the conference. Across presentations, workshops and conversations, there was broad agreement that area agencies on aging are most effective when they work closely with healthcare systems, government agencies, first responders and other organizations serving older adults and caregivers.
Community Care Hubs emerged as one example of this collaborative approach in action. Conference sessions showcased how these models can improve health outcomes while reducing healthcare costs. The Administration for Community Living recognized several care hubs through its Health at Home Challenge.
Minnesota was part of the conversation as well. A group of AAA leaders shared lessons from a pilot partnership between Minnesota area agencies on aging and county adult protective services. We’re following similar efforts across the country and will continue to share insights as we explore partnerships that improve the quality of life for older adults—stay tuned.
Helping the Helpers Remains Critical
As our population ages, informal and family caregivers will experience even greater pressures to support the older adults in their lives and their communities. We heard loud and clear that the aging network must respond with more supports for caregivers helping family, friends and neighbors age in place.
This year’s conference included an entire learning track focused on supporting caregivers, with sessions covering topics such as respite programming, social connections, caregiver navigation and support for grandparents raising grandchildren. We learned about caregiver resource hubs, coalitions and other partnerships that are helping to center caregivers within aging services.
AAAs Need to Step into the Spotlight
Several presenters talked about how area agencies on aging need to be more visible to better serve our nation’s aging population. Whether through awareness campaigns or marketing specific programs, we came away from the conference with examples of AAAs leveraging their expertise for greater impact, and ideas for how we can lend our voice to important conversations about public health issues that affect people of all ages.
More than a Meeting
Beyond the keynote speakers and the informative workshops, we found value in the hallway conversations and impromptu connections in the elevators or while waiting in line for coffee. Those unscripted moments sparked opportunities to compare challenges, share successes and learn how other organizations are approaching similar issues. Many of the ideas we brought home came not from a presentation slide, but from a candid conversation with a colleague from another part of the country.
Final Thought
This year’s conference was a powerful reminder that AAAs are more than a collection of standalone organizations. We are a network with a shared purpose: strengthening the social fabric of our communities so everyone can age with dignity, choice and connection.
Sharing ideas, testing new approaches and learning from one another advances our work locally and helps move the field of aging services forward. We returned home with new ideas, new connections and a renewed commitment to the older adults and caregivers we serve every day.