Long-term outcomes:Reduction in Unmet Health and Social Needs
Among older adults who experience difficulty with their daily activities, many continue to have unmet needs. As the number of older adults who use health and social service systems increases because of coordinated care, a reduction in unmet needs among older adults and caregivers should occur.
Among Older Adults Who Experience Difficulty With Their Daily Activities
About two thirds of older Californians reported that their needs were not fully met
About 15 percent of older adults went without needed groceries or personal items.
Five in ten older adults stayed home because of difficulties going out on their own.
Older Adults Whose Services Met All Needs
Roughly 2 in 3 older Californians who experience difficulty with their daily activities had needs in 2020 that were not fully met by health and social service systems.
In 2020, just over one in three (37 percent) of older Californians who experience difficulty with daily activities reported that their current services and supports met all of their needs. It is possible the COVID-19 pandemic affected receipt of needed services. Given the lack of historical data, this measure will be important to track over time.
Older adults who were White, had higher incomes, spoke English at home, were female, or who lived in urban areas were more likely to report their needs were fully met.
Accelerated Action:
If California maintains current trends, the expectation would be that only about 35 percent of these older adults will have all of their needs met in 2030. Accelerating action would realize a goal of 42 percent.
Older Adults Who Went Without Groceries or Personal Care Items
About 15 percent of older adults — more than 1.4 million people — went without groceries or personal items in 2020. This is roughly equivalent to the population of San Diego, California.
Between 2019 and 2020, the percentage of older Californians with difficulties in daily activities who went without groceries or personal items decreased.
In 2020, older adults living in urban areas, living below the federal poverty line, identifying as female or reporting their race as other single race were more likely to report going without needed groceries.
Accelerated Action:
If California maintains current trends, the expectation would be for about 18 percent of these older adults to go without groceries or personal items in 2030. Accelerating action by 20 percent to address this unmet need would realize a goal of 14 percent. Given the lack of historical data, this measure will be important to track over time.
Older Adults Who Stayed Home Due to Difficulties Going Out on Their Own
Roughly half of all older Californians who experience difficulties with daily activities stayed home in 2020 because of difficulties going out on their own.
In 2020, almost half (48 percent) of Californians ages 60 and older reported staying home because of difficulties going out on their own. This may be due to functional limitations or lack of transportation, for example. It is possible the COVID-19 pandemic contributed to this ability. Given the lack of historical data, this measure will be important to track over time.
Older adults who identified as more than one race, other single race, or non-Hispanic White, or who had lower incomes were more likely to report needing to stay home.
Accelerated Action:
If California maintains current trends, the expectation would be for about 48 percent of these older adults to stay home due to difficulties getting out on their own in 2030. Accelerating action to improve this by 20 percent would result in a goal of 39 percent.
Call to Action!
Want to learn how you can help make a difference? Consider the following activities and ideas.
Funders
- Support development of innovative, sustainable solutions that will not rely on ongoing grant funding to address unmet needs.
- Support collection and sharing of data on unmet social needs and ensure adequate sample sizes to allow for more accurate estimates and data disaggregation by race or small geographic areas.
- Fund evaluations of existing programs that seek to address unmet needs to identify programs that are successful and those that need improvement.
Policymakers
- Strengthen policies designed to address unmet health-related social needs among older adults, with a focus on marginalized communities and closing gaps in disparities across race, ethnicity, language, gender, income, and geography.
- Take data on health-related social needs currently captured in electronic health records and make them publicly available. Too much data is currently behind paywalls, precluding use for decision-making.
- Ensure federal, state, and local programs are designed to address the unmet social needs of older adults. Program availability alone is not sufficient; programs must also be effective at addressing fundamental needs and sustaining that support.
Advocates
- Call attention to unmet social needs of older adults as a widespread problem and champion sharing data on unmet social needs for public benefit.
- Advocate for the spread and scale of effective solutions to address unmet need.
- Use plain language and compelling stories to convey what these substantial unmet needs mean for California’s diverse families and economy.