Health & Medicine Policy Research Group’s Center for Long-term Care Reform and Illinois Aging Together campaign are dedicated to advancing policies and structures that improve the conditions in which Illinoisans live, work, play, and age across the life course. Through our work, it is crucial for us to stay abreast of current events, developments, and stories in the aging and health sectors–and beyond.

Below are some of the recent articles that we found most pertinent to our work:

More livable, more equitable (Marc Blesoff, Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest)

“The organization and policies we have in place for aging were developed when most people retired at 65 and died a few years later. Today that “few years later” is now 25-30 years. Hopefully, the commission will be able to think outside the box and transcend bureaucracy. But just doing more of what we’ve been doing for the past 60 years definitely will not suffice.” 

The Gift of Experience vs. the Stress of Isolation: Older People Share How They’ve Made It Through the Pandemic (Judith Graham and Rani Snyder, Kaiser Health Network and John A. Hartford Foundation) 

“Older adults have suffered more illness and death from covid-19 than any other group. How are they faring as the pandemic enters its third year? KFF’s Kaiser Health News (KHN) and The John A. Hartford Foundation explored that question in depth in a 90-minute interactive web event on Feb. 23, 2022.” 

Texas Governor Pushes to Investigate Medical Treatments for Trans Youth as ‘Child Abuse’ (Azeen Ghorayshi, New York Times) 

“While it’s unclear whether the order could be enforced, medical providers and child welfare advocates condemned the move as dangerous.” 

Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACES) and trauma throughout the life course are highly influential on the way we live, work, play, and age. The targeted attacks, legislative and otherwise, against LGBTQ+ communities have extremely adverse implications for the health and wellness of LGBTQ+ individuals, both in the immediate future and as they age. Illinois Aging Together is in solidarity with trans youth and their families and the broader LGBTQ+ community against dangerous policies and legislation that continue to be introduced across the country.  

 Making History Matter: From Abstract Truth to Critical Engagement (Theresa Miller, Andrew Volmert, Mia Aassar, Emilie L’Hote, April Callen, Frameworks) 

“This report and its recommendations are designed to give historians, educators, and advocates the tools to more cohesively and convincingly communicate about history—to build an understanding of what inclusive history looks like, why critically engaging with our nation’s past, including past injustices, is necessary, and why history is important for all of us.” 

Systemic Racism and Health Equity (Braveman P,  Arkin E,  Proctor D,  Kauh T, and Holm N, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation)  

“Systemic racism damages the health of people of color, and can also damage the health and well-being of virtually the entire society in which it operates.” 

 These Climate Scientists Are Fed Up and Ready to Go on Strike (Raymond Zhong, New York Times) 

“Evidence on global warming is piling up. Nations aren’t acting. Some researchers are asking what difference more reports will make.”