Hilary Appelman

AARP is making a post-pandemic push to combat loneliness and social isolation by hosting a series of in-person events, including a trip to the New England Botanic Garden, ice cream socials and an outing to the Cambridge Jazz Festival. A 2023 advisory from the U.S. surgeon general declared increasing loneliness, isolation and lack of connection to be a public health crisis.

AARP Arizona’s top legislative priority this year is pushing for improvements to the state’s long-term care system. AARP is looking for volunteers to help advocate at the Legislature, as well as for Arizonans willing to share their experiences with the state’s nursing homes and assisted-living facilities.

For the first time since AARP began publishing the Scorecard in 2011, more than half of Medicaid long-term care dollars nationwide for older adults and people with physical disabilities went to home- and community-based services instead of nursing homes and other institutions.

Ten entities in New York won AARP Community Challenge grants, totaling $96,000. The grants are part of AARP’s Livable Communities initiative; they fund quick-turnaround projects aimed at making areas more livable for people of all ages.

The need for family caregivers continues to rise in Washington, as the state contends with an aging population and a shortage of home care workers.

AARP Pennsylvania's new volunteer state president, Nora Dowd Eisenhower, 69, of Philadelphia, brings four decades of professional experience to the role. She says housing will be one of her top priorities.

Amid rising hate crimes against Asian Americans, a new AARP Maryland steering committee has met with state and national policymakers on how to address the problem.

After a series of falls in August 2020, Lisa Roberts’ husband, John, 65, spent 14 months recovering. He was finally discharged in a wheelchair last December to their Old Bridge Township home. He loves being home, but the physical therapy he was supposed to receive was cut back because of a worker shortage.

The shift to virtual health care during the coronavirus pandemic brought into focus the reality that many Pennsylvania residents lack technological literacy or access to high-speed internet—both problems that disproportionately affect the state’s older population.

Advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs) are trained to diagnose and treat patients, but the state requires the oversight of a doctor for them to prescribe medicine. Nurse practitioners say finding a physician to enter into an agreement with can be difficult and cost as much as $1,000 a month in fees.