The Joint Center for Housing Studies and The Hastings Center partnered to explore lessons learned during the pandemic about supporting older adults dwelling in the community.
Our COVID RECAPP report, Advancing Housing and Health Equity for Older Adults: Pandemic Innovations and Policy Ideas, identifies housing-focused policies and practices developed by housing providers, advocates, government agencies, and older adults themselves to address a range of needs that arose during or were exacerbated by the pandemic, including loneliness; disruptions in access to food, supportive services, and healthcare; and challenges with housing affordability, safety, and accessibility.
Research
Advancing Housing and Health Equity for Older Adults: Pandemic Innovations and Policy Ideas
During the pandemic, many older adults faced social isolation and disruptions in access to food, medical care, and supportive services. In response, organizations that support older people improvised solutions to address these challenges. This report examines how these responses might improve housing and supports for older adults and address longstanding inequities.
Planning for the Extraordinary Requires Close Attention to the Ordinary: 2Life Communities’ Efforts to Protect Low-Income Older Adults During the Pandemic
Within the first few months of the pandemic, news reports began to describe the serious impacts of the coronavirus on older adults, especially those living in congregate settings. As the reality of the pandemic sank in, a nonprofit housing organization operating in the Boston area, 2Life Communities, was in overdrive implementing steps to safeguard the health and safety of its low-income residents and staff. This exploration of 2Life Communities profiles an institutional effort, outside the health care system, to meet the COVID-19 challenge.
Blogs
Service Coordinators Improved Resident Resilience During the Pandemic
The Place in “Aging in Place”: Housing Equity in Late Life
Lessons from the Pandemic to Advance Housing and Health Equity for America’s Older Adults
Housing with Services Kept Older Adults Safe During the Pandemic
Webinars
Part 1: Housing & Health Equity for Older Adults: Findings from the RECAPP Report
Part 2: Age-Friendly and Village Initiatives
Part 3: Helping Older Americans During the Pandemic: The Role of Service Coordinators
Team Members
Chris Herbert is Managing Director of the Joint Center for Housing Studies. He has extensive experience conducting research related to housing policy, particularly homeownership.
Jennifer Molinsky is Project Director of the Housing an Aging Society Program at the Center. Her current research projects focus on equitable access to livable communities, multigenerational housing, and the effect of housing and household configuration on older adults’ health. She currently serves on the Advisory Board of the Milken Institute Center for the Future of Aging.
Nancy Berlinger is a Research Scholar at The Hastings Center, a nonpartisan and nonprofit organization focused on bioethics. A key area of Nancy’s work focuses on the ethical and societal challenges arising from population aging. She was editor of special edition of The Hastings Center’s journal, What Makes a Good Life in Late Life? and has written on dementia and ethics.
Bailey Hu was a Research Assistant at the Center who worked on projects related to housing and older adults. Prior to joining the Center, she was a fellow at the City of Boston's Department of Neighborhood Development and an intern for City Councilor Annissa Essaibi-George. Her interests include policy evaluation and the unequal impacts of residential displacement.
Network Members
Andrea Austen, Seniors Services and Long-Term Care, City of Toronto
Rachel Bratt, Tufts University
Vanessa Campisi, Seniors Services and Long-Term Care, City of Toronto
Linda Couch, LeadingAge
Ann Forsyth, Harvard University Graduate School of Design
Emily Greenfield, Rutgers University School of Social Work
Elana Kieffer, Center for Healthy Aging at The New York Academy of Medicine
Robin Lipson, Executive Office of Elder Affairs for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts
Tam Perry, Wayne State University School of Social Work
Meghan Rose, LeadingAge California
Claudia Sanford, United Community Housing Coalition
Samara Scheckler, Joint Center for Housing Studies
Amy Schectman, 2Life Communities
Christine Sheppard, Wellesley Institute
Sarah Szanton, Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing
Shellae Versey, Fordham University
RECAPP is funded by a generous grant from RRF Foundation for Aging.
