LeverAGE

LeverAGE, the newest podcast from the American Society on Aging (ASA), is about the politics of aging. This show will focus on politics, policy, and advocacy in aging. This inaugural episode is about voting and voter suppression and features Peter Kaldes, President and CEO of ASA, Leanne Clark-Shirley, ASA's Vice President of Programs and Thought Leadership, and an interview with Hilary O. Shelton, Director to the NAACP's Washington Bureau / Senior Vice President for Advocacy and Policy.
Older adults are critical to our democracy—they vote more than anyone else, volunteer for campaigns and staff our polling stations. But some in power seem to want to suppress their impact. Peter interviewed Hilary O. Shelton on August 6, which was the 55th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act. This is the law that enforces the 14th and 15th Amendments and protects citizens’ rights to vote. It prohibits any law that discriminates against racial minorities and ended literacy tests as a qualifier for casting a vote. But how are such protections holding up out in 2020? And how can we all work to fight voter suppression?

Alan Gutterman, a long-term partner and senior counsel in law firms, recently launched the Older Person’s Rights Project to advance awareness of the challenges and opportunities inherent in our increased longevity. In this podcast he speaks with Mick Smyer, who runs Growing Greener, Climate Action for a Warming World, and was Guest Editor of a recent Generations Journal issue on Climate Change, about how older adults can become more involved in solutions around climate change issues, rather than, as we so often see in the news, being solely passive victims of its impacts.

Alan Gutterman recently launched the Older Person’s Rights Project to advance awareness of the challenges and opportunities inherent in our increased longevity. In this podcast, he speaks with Karl Pillemer, professor in the Department of Psychology and professor of Gerontology in Medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine, about what motivates people to get involved in advocating for climate issues, overcoming ageism, being open to intergenerational activities, and rethinking approaches to bringing older adults into the fold.

The Administration for Community Living (ACL) released the comprehensive 2022 National Strategy to Support Family Caregivers in September, with hundreds of actionable recommendations and tactics for federal and state agencies, communities, employers and families. Spend a few minutes with The John A. Hartford Foundation’s Vice President Rani Snyder, ASA Board Member and Health and Well-being Advisory Council co-chair, as she talks with ASA’s Leanne Clark-Shirley about the strategy, how it came to life and why it’s important for you to weigh in.
2022 National Strategy to Support Family Caregivers & Call to Action https://acl.gov/CaregiverStrategy

Submit comments to the national strategy here: https://acl.gov/CaregiverStrategy/Comments

Loneliness affects more than one-third of adults, and as we age, experiencing loneliness can increase our risk of adverse emotional and physical health outcomes. Programmatic interventions to decrease loneliness and isolation are growing, but what policy solutions are there to tackle this problem? Daneen Sekoni from the Coalition to End Social Isolation and Loneliness joins ASA’s Leanne Clark-Shirley to frame loneliness as a policy issue and talk about about the importance of building a comprehensive, coordinated public/private strategy that supports social connectedness for older Americans.
To learn more:

• CESIL’s Virtual Advocacy Day: https://www.endsocialisolation.org/virtual-advocacy-day
• Generations Journal - Come Together: Preventing Social Isolation and Loneliness https://generations.asaging.org/fall-2020
• Foundation for Social Connection: https://www.social-connection.org/
• Far From Alone: https://farfromalone.com/
• Senior Healthy Living Survey by Silver Sneakers https://www.tivityhealth.com/senior-healthy-living-survey/recent-survey-results/