NYSOFA's Four-Year Plan 2024-2027

As the state's designated unit on aging, NYSOFA is responsible for developing and administering a multi-year State Plan on Aging that provides goals and objectives related to assisting older residents, their families, and caregivers. The federally required Four-Year Plan is submitted to the Administration on Community Living (ACL) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), outlining how NYSOFA and its network will address federal priorities for older adults in several focus areas: 

• Long term care reform
• Continuing to address COVID-19
• Targeting and equity – supporting individuals of greatest social and economic need
• Building system capacity
• Caregiving supports

In May and June of 2023, NYSOFA held a series of public information sessions throughout New York State for input on the draft plan. The final plan was submitted to ACL in July and received conditional approval in September 2023. 

Read the Final Four-Year Plan 2023-27

As part of the Four-Year Plan, NYSOFA announced a statewide Community Assessment Survey of Older Adults that has received over 26,000 responses. The survey assesses core age-friendly principles, including overall community quality and belonging, availability of information, productive activities, health and wellness, community design and land use, and more. The survey results include over 100 data points and provide important background for our Four-Year Plan. A sample of some preliminary results is below.

Overall Health

• 72% of older adults considered their overall physical health to be “excellent or good” and 82% considered their overall mental health/emotional wellbeing to be “excellent or good.”

Overall Community

• Respondents answered several questions rating their community, with 77% calling it an “excellent or good” place to life, and 50% calling it an “excellent or good” place to retire.
• 71% of older adults said they are very “likely/somewhat likely” to remain in their community throughout retirement. Nearly 70% of older adults have lived in their community for 20 years or more.

Housing

• Housing was identified as a priority area of need, with 39% of older adults indicating some problem finding housing that “suits their needs.”

Transportation and Ease of Travel

• Respondents provided a mix of results on ease of travel, depending on the mode (i.e., public transportation, car, walkability, and more).
• In general, 73% of respondents rated their community as “excellent or good” when it comes to the ease of “getting to places they like to visit.”

Economic opportunity

• 31% of older adults felt they had “excellent or good” opportunities to build work skills (69% said these opportunities were “fair/poor”).
• 19% of older adults felt the quality of their employment opportunities was “excellent or good” (81% said these opportunities were “fair/poor”).

Engagement and Recreation

• Older adults were split in their assessment about engagement and recreation opportunities.
• 50% of older adults said recreation opportunities were “excellent or good,” 44% said opportunities to participate in community matters were “excellent or good,” and 33% said that opportunities to enroll in skill building or personal enrichment classes were “excellent or good.”

Concerns about daily activities

• When it comes to “doing heavy or intense housework,” 34% of older adults said this activity was “not a problem,” 29% said it was a "minor problem," and 37% said it was a "moderate or major problem.”
• When it comes to “maintaining their home,” 41% said this activity was "not a problem," 27% said it was a "minor problem," and 31% said it was a "moderate or major problem.”
• Regarding the “ability to drive," 76% said it was "not a problem," 7% said it was a "minor problem," and 17% said it was a "moderate or major problem."

Availability of resources

• Depending on the specific question, between 71% and 76% of respondents had concerns about the availability of resources like financial/legal planning, daycare for older adults, and availability of quality mental health, ranking these as “fair or poor.”

Services and Care

• Respondents identified some problems with falling or injury in the home (33%); finding affordable health insurance (39%); getting needed health care (38%); getting needed vision care (36%); maintaining a healthy diet (47%); or affording medications (38%).

Social isolation

• 83% of older adults said feeling lonely or isolated was either “not a problem” (for 60% of respondents) or a “minor problem” (for 23% of respondents), with similar results for feelings of depression, boredom, or having friends/family to rely upon.

Crime and Social Inclusion

• While only 18% of older adults said that “being a victim of crime” is a “minor” or “moderate/major” problem, 27% had concerns about “being a victim of fraud/scams,” 26% had concerns about “being discriminated against due to age,” and 46% felt like their “voice was not heard in the community.”

Caregiving

• 33% of older adults are providing some uncompensated care to someone older than 55, including 15% who are doing so for 1-3 hours per week, 9% for 4-10 hours per week, 2% for 11 to 19 hours per week, and 7% for 20 or more hours per week.
• Between 21% and 25% of older adults felt physically, emotionally, or financially burdened by the role of uncompensated caregiving.

Hospitalizations and Long Term Care

• 79% of older adults had not been hospitalized in the past 12 months.
• 97% had not needed long term care in a facility (i.e., nursing home or rehab) during the last 12 months.
• 68% did not have injuries from falls in the last 12 months, with 27% experiencing some injury 1 to 2 times, and 4% experiencing some injury 3 or more times.