MEASURES OF AGING WITH DISABILITY IN U.S. SECONDARY DATA SETS: RESULTS OF A SCOPING REVIEW

2015 The gerontologist  
The aging of our society is well known, with policy makers and analysts forecasting enormous increases in people living with chronic illness and disabilities. Less well known is that services for older adults and younger people with disabilities -historically separated by different funding streams, service systems, and workforces -have increasingly merged. In the past ten years, the movement to combine services for older adults and younger persons with disabilities has accelerated and is now
more » ... lected in federal policy as well as the creation of a hybrid organizational entity -Aging and Disability Resource Centers (ADRCs) -designed to combine services for both populations. The decision to merge these entities together is multifaceted, and includes reasons such as streamlining services, easing access for consumers, and pooling resources. Using ADRCs as the principal organizational strategy to combine services has been challenging for a number of reasons. The purpose of this research was to examine the experiences in Massachusetts in using ADRCs to combine aging and disability services. This study employed institutional logics theory and used a qualitative research design to assess the state's efforts to develop a unified organizational philosophy for these services. Through this research, it became clear that there are substantial differences in orientation, beliefs, and approach between the two main types of organizations serving older adults and people with disabilities. Whether these differing service philosophies can be successfully integrated and how these new policies impact the workforce serving both populations is a critical policy issue, and the focus of this research. Purpose: Assistive devices, such as wheelchairs and canes, can increase mobility and independence for persons with 68th Annual Scientific Meeting 365 Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com
doi:10.1093/geront/gnv660.02 fatcat:4isf2e4jdzaavfeawshw2r2nsi