Hawaii State Plan on Aging – 2011-2015

Overview

By 2035, nearly one-third (29.7 percent) of the population of Hawaii will be age 60+ and female-dominant. In preparation for this aging demographic, the Hawaii Executive Office of Aging created and submitted its state age plan per the requirements of the Older Americans Act.

Key Points

Hawaii has a substantial number of those aging with the potential of slipping below the poverty line. The plan focuses on responses that integrate elders while building team momentum across generational lines.

Other plan highlights include:

• Hawaii has a plan to integrate elders into emergency and disaster planning. This both honors long-held native traditions of seeking the input of elders, as well as, garners the continued support and advancement of locals (page 39).
  
• The University of Hawaii Center on Aging conducted training with nine professionals from the Hawaii Aging Network. The result was the creation of a team with a shared strategic approach to Hawaii’s age shift challenges.
  
• Hawaii continues to wrestle with poverty issues as its aging population increases and more female widows live without any additional means of financial support.
  

Hawaii has opted to include the older population not just as a survey source, but also as advocates. Local governments should consider what influence elders in their own region could have on future planning.

How to Use

One important way to use this plan is to consider how the simultaneous training of one age department team might lead to better planning. Because nine professionals from the Hawaii Aging Network went through extensive training together, they were able to formulate a shared strategic approach. Outcomes may include effective strategy because everyone on the team had a role in the process of developing said strategy. Local governments should consider the impact this type of shared training process can have on team unity, coordination, and understanding.

View full report: Hawaii State Plan on Aging Federal Fiscal Year – 2011-2015 (PDF – 2.9 MB)