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1991.11.18 :  Awards -- Aging Discretionary Funds

Contact:  Dr. Alfred Duncker (202) 619-0441
November 18, 1991

     HHS Commissioner on Aging Joyce T. Berry, Ph.D., today
announced that 57 national and local non-profit organizations,
state and local governmental units, and institutions of higher
education have been awarded grants totaling $5 million in the
annual Administration on Aging Discretionary Funds Program to
develop eldercare service systems.                                
               "These projects," said Commissioner Berry, "will
contribute significantly to our efforts to focus the attention of
our nation on the need for better systems of eldercare services."
   The projects will conduct activities in the following areas:

o    Sixteen grants were awarded to Area Agencies on Aging to
     support community organizations which develop Community
     Eldercare Coalitions in six communities per project.  These
     coalitions will demonstrate that, through coalition
     building, non-traditional approaches can and will help to
     increase the availability of home and community-based
     eldercare services.

o    Seven national aging organizations were awarded grants to
     develop new eldercare initiatives designed to address the
     home and community-based care needs of older persons at risk
     and to expand public awareness relevant to the problems and
     issues concerning eldercare.

o    Eleven national organizations whose predominant focus is not
     aging were awarded grants to promote awareness among their
     members, as well as the general public, of the need to take
     action now to prepare for an aging society.

o    A National Academy on Aging was funded at Syracuse
     University to bring together leaders in American society to
     discuss and debate strategies regarding how they and their
     organizations can better address the challenges of an aging
     society.

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o    The National Association of State Units on Aging was funded
     to implement a project to promote greater dissemination and
     utilization of the results of AoA-supported research,
     demonstration, and training projects, especially those
     relating to eldercare.

o    Four projects were funded to demonstrate innovative
     approaches for increasing the supply of home care workers
     and for improving the quality of the services which they
     provide.

o    Eight institutions of higher education were awarded grants
     to promote incorporation of eldercare concepts in the
     curricula of appropriate disciplines and professions.

o    Five grants were awarded for minority management training in
     aging.  These projects will assist minority professionals to
     work as trainees in managerial or administrative positions
     with the goal of ultimate placement of the trainee as a
     manager or administrator in an agency involved in aging.

o    Four grants were awarded to support doctoral dissertation
     research in subjects related to eldercare.

       The Administration on Aging, an agency of the Department
of Health and Human Services, serves as a focal point within the
federal government for the needs and concerns of older people.


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