New Office of Healthy Aging Will Support Well-Being of Tennessee's Growing Population of Older Adults

NASHVILLE  – The Tennessee Department of Health is announcing today the creation of an Office of Healthy Aging to promote partnerships and public health practices supporting the well-being of the state’s 1.6 million adults aged 60 and older, a rapidly growing group now one-quarter of Tennessee’s population.

“Our goal is to create innovative strategies, policies, and programs over the next 15-to-20 years to meet the evolving needs of aging Tennesseans,” said Tennessee Health Commissioner Ralph Alvarado, MD, FACP. “This effort will also require the active involvement of our age-friendly ecosystem partners to enhance the health and well-being of older adults.”

At its outset, TDH’s Office of Healthy Aging is prioritizing two key areas to support older Tennesseans – creating age-friendly public health systems and expanding the infrastructure supporting dementia care and services statewide.

In August, Trust for America’s Health recognized the 19 county health departments in the territory of TDH’s West Regional Office for their commitment to providing health programs and services responsive to the needs of older adults.

TFAH’s Age-Friendly Public Health Systems program evaluates local efforts to ensure older adults are considered in needs assessments and health improvement plans and profiles and there is collaboration across sectors – area agencies on aging and disability, faith-religious communities, medical and behavioral health systems, and community social service organizations – to provide older adults with access to healthy aging activities.

The Office of Health Aging is currently working to expand the TFAH program and recognition to other TDH regions, including TDH’s Northeast, Mid-Cumberland, and Upper Cumberland Regional Offices.
To address the growing public health challenge of dementia, including support for the state’s 129,000 residents with Alzheimer’s and related dementias, the Office of Healthy Aging is implementing several initiatives to include:

• Pursuing federal CDC funding to strengthen Tennessee’s infrastructure for dementia care and services;
• Establishing a new State Dementia Director position to coordinate efforts across agencies;
• Training healthcare providers in early dementia detection and diagnosis through the Tennessee Dementia ECHO Program in partnership with Vanderbilt University Medical Center;
• Establishing the Tennessee Dementia Navigator Program with local health departments;
• Coordinating efforts with faith-based organizations and leaders statewide on providing dementia and caregiving services through the engAGING Communities initiative with the University of Tennessee Chattanooga School of Nursing; and,
• Enhancing East Tennessee State University’s Multi-Sector Plan for Aging Dashboard to track aging trends.

“Working together with academia, healthcare systems, communities, the Tennessee Department of Disability and Aging, our sister departments with State government, we can address the unique needs of older adults and foster in Tennessee a supportive environment for healthy aging,” Dr. Alvarado said.

Click for more information about the Office of Healthy Aging.