Housing, health care and social services top list of community needs as US population ages

Most Americans agree their community is in need of more affordable housing, health care and social support, and services to help residents remain living independently as they age, according to a new survey from West Health and Gallup. Sixty-five percent of Americans perceive a need for more affordable housing, and 60% say there is a need for more affordable health care and social support and services.

The new West Health-Gallup research comes as the federal government, community leaders and advocates, nonprofits and other stakeholders work to develop a National Plan on Aging, a set of age-friendly practice and policy recommendations for addressing the growing needs of America’s aging population over the next decade, which according to previous research, most Americans (66%) do not believe the country is ready to handle. By 2030, older adults will make up nearly 21% of the population, and for the first time in U.S. history, outnumber people under 18.

“America is facing a profound demographic shift that requires new thinking and smart planning that cuts across multiple sectors from housing and health care to transportation and social services,” said Timothy A. Lash, President, West Health, a nonprofit focused on health care and aging. “This survey shows Americans sense the need, and now policy makers need to sense the urgency and develop plans that better reflect an older America.”

In addition to medical care and housing, the survey found one in five adults perceive a “major need” for more mental health services (22%), which just 16% say they find “very easy” to access in their communities. While men and women report roughly the same sense of ease of access, women are nearly twice as likely as men to say their community has a major need for mental health services (28% vs. 16%, respectively). Conversely, nearly a third of respondents (32%) say it is very easy to access physical health care, and only 16% say more is a major need in their communities.

“These findings demonstrate the American public is well aware of the need to be better prepared as the population ages,” said Dan Witters, senior researcher at Gallup. “Now it’s a question of what policymakers and other stakeholders will do to address the need and the urgency.”

The West Health-Gallup Survey was conducted by the web from June 3 to June 18, 2024, with a 2,180 representative sample of U.S. adults aged 18 and older, living in all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia as a part of the Gallup Panel, a probability based panel of about 100,000 adults nationwide.

Provided by
West Health Institute