By Bonnie Brandl, Director of the National Clearinghouse for Abuse in Later Life This week, the National Adult Protective Services Association (NAPSA) hosted their annual conference, which brought together hundreds of APS workers and other professionals from a variety of disciplines to address the abuse of older adults and persons with disabilities. This year’s theme, Stronger Together: Celebrating 25 Years Protecting America’s Vulnerable Adults, provides an important opportunity to shed light on why we need a comprehensive community response to elder abuse.

As Sharon Lewis, deputy administrator for the Administration for Community Living (ACL), noted in her Disability Employment Awareness Month blog post earlier this month, working is about more than earning a paycheck. It gives purpose and structure to our lives. In the late 1990s, the Medicaid Buy-In program launched historic changes for workers with disabilities. For individuals suppressing their income to gain or maintain access to critical community-based supports, it was life changing.

Expect. Employ. Empower. Everyone deserves the opportunity to find and perform meaningful work. This includes older adults and people with even the most significant disabilities.

By Christopher Coleman, CEO and Founder of the Unconfined Life Institute

By Larissa Crossen, Administration for Community Living Program Specialist

As you may have read in the Federal Register or in media coverage of the announcement included in it last week, the Administration for Community Living has made some changes to our organization structure. This was done to better align missions and incorporate the Paralysis Resource Center and the State Health Insurance Assistance Programs (SHIP), which respectively moved from the CDC and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid to ACL earlier this year.

Residents' Rights Month is celebrated in October to honor those living in long-term care facilities, including nursing homes, assisted living, board and care, and retirement communities. It provides an opportunity for family members, ombudsmen, citizen advocates, facility staff, and others to focus awareness on the dignity, respect, and value of each individual resident. It also serves as a reminder to those living in a long-term care facility to learn about and exercise their rights.

Chronic health conditions are, unfortunately, often a part of the aging process. Ninety-two percent of people over age 65 live with at least one chronic health condition, such as diabetes, heart disease, arthritis, or cancer. Seventy-seven percent live with two or more such conditions. Chronic health conditions can create challenges that affect every aspect of a person’s life. However, learning to manage those conditions enables people to stay healthy, active, and engaged in their communities.

"Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food" is as true now as it was in 360 BC when Hippocrates gave this prescription to his patients. Good nutrition promotes health and helps prevent and manage many diseases such as diabetes, osteoporosis, heart disease, and high blood pressure. As the Older Americans Act’s largest health promotion program, the Elderly Nutrition Programs do more than just provide food. The purposes of the Elderly Nutrition Programs, which are administered by ACL, are

The Administration for Community Living (ACL) joins President Obama and Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius as we recognize May as Mental Health Awareness Month, reaffirming our commitment to building our understanding of mental illness, increasing access to treatment, and ensuring those who are struggling to know they are not alone.