Housing, Healthcare and Social Services Top List of Community Needs as U.S. Population Ages
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Sept. 26, 2024 — Most Americans agree their community is in need of more affordable housing, healthcare and social supports and services to help residents remain living independently as they age, according to a new survey from West Health and Gallup. Sixty-five percent of Americans perceive a need for more affordable housing and 60% say there is a need for more affordable healthcare and social supports and services.
The new West Health-Gallup research comes as the federal government, community leaders and advocates, nonprofits and other stakeholders work to develop a National Plan on Aging, a set of age-friendly practice and policy recommendations for addressing the growing needs of America’s aging population over the next decade, which according to previous research, most Americans (66%) do not believe the country is ready to handle. By 2030, older adults will make up nearly 21% of the population and, for the first time in U.S. history, outnumber people under 18.
“America is facing a profound demographic shift that requires new thinking and smart planning that cuts across multiple sectors from housing and healthcare to transportation and social services,” said Timothy A. Lash, President, West Health, a nonprofit focused on healthcare and aging. “This survey shows Americans sense the need, and now policy makers need to sense the urgency and develop plans that better reflect an older America.”
In addition to medical care and housing, the survey found one in five adults perceive a “major need” for more mental health services (22%), which just 16% say they find “very easy” to access in their communities. While men and women report roughly the same sense of ease of access, women are nearly twice as likely as men to say their community has a major need for mental health services (28% vs. 16%, respectively). Conversely, nearly a third of respondents (32%) say it is very easy to access physical healthcare, and only 16% say more is a major need in their communities.
“These findings demonstrate the American public is well aware of the need to be better prepared as the population ages,” said Dan Witters, senior researcher at Gallup. “Now it’s a question of what policymakers and other stakeholders will do to address the need and the urgency.”
Methodology
The West Health-Gallup Survey was conducted by web June 3 to June 18, 2024, with a 2,180 representative sample of U.S. adults aged 18 and older, living in all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia as a part of the Gallup Panel, a probability based panel of about 100,000 adults nationwide.
About West Health
Solely funded by philanthropists Gary and Mary West, West Health is a family of nonprofit and nonpartisan organizations including the Gary and Mary West Foundation and Gary and Mary West Health Institute in San Diego, and the Gary and Mary West Health Policy Center in Washington, D.C. West Health is dedicated to lowering healthcare costs to enable seniors to successfully age in place with access to high-quality, affordable health and support services that preserve and protect their dignity, quality of life and independence. Learn more at westhealth.org and follow @westhealth.
About Gallup
Gallup delivers analytics and advice to help leaders and organizations solve their most pressing problems. Combining more than 80 years of experience with its global reach, Gallup knows more about the attitudes and behaviors of employees, customers, students and citizens than any other organization in the world.
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