In June, the Colorado Council on Aging (CCOA) (formerly Colorado Senior Lobby) held its first annual conference in Colorado Springs. Radio host and Master of Ceremonies Adam Dempsey introduced the many speakers and panelists throughout the all-day hybrid event. Chairs Ed Leary and Jane Barnes gave a warm welcome to the attendees followed by a welcome message by Governor Jared Polis.
Governor Jared Polis
There were many speakers including state demographer Nancy Gedeon, who provided lots of statistics of Colorado’s changing population. Nancy gave the following highlights: Usually there are more births than deaths in Colorado, but the recent pandemic has really increased the amount of deaths. By 2030, the largest population will be residents over 65 years between 75-84 years with a 65% increase in their population growth. More Coloradoans over 65 years age between years 2000 to 2019 had a 400% increase in employment. In 2021, it was a 21% increase in employment. Interestingly, demand for all ages in workers is high! Firms need to be creative by giving more technical and housing assistance to keep up with the growth.
Megan Burke with the SCAN Foundation explained Coloradoans are living longer with the average age now being 79 years. Christian Itan & Chad Federwitz with CCOA indicated technology is helping to provide better communications among aging Coloradoans. They used several sailing terms such as current crosswinds which included new goals for the CCOA to work closer with the state legislature and their aging committees. Headwinds included ageism issues as a top priority.
State representatives Young & Bradfield explained legislation is important for older Coloradoans living longer as they will need help after retiring, in health, jobs, volunteering, financial security, abuse protection, housing needs, transportation, and technology.
Dr. Peg Nugent with CCOA indicated Colorado had over 11,200 deaths from the COVID pandemic affecting mainly residents over 60 years old. She mentioned caregivers had traumatic stress, compounded grief, & moral distress, thus needing help with their tasks.
The annual CCOA Allen Buckingham awards were given to Judy Martin with Garfield County and Barbara Lotz with City of Denver for their outstanding work.
Janine Vanderburg with Changing the Narrative interviewed the audience on common challenges and opportunities for retired adults. Several answers included affordable housing and long-term services, age discrimination, and having art classes.
Jana Lynott with AARP gave the Livability Index report which included all the cities and towns across the country on their website (https://livabilityindex.aarp.org). Jana reported 61 indicators across the categories of housing, neighborhoods, environment, health, transportation, opportunities, and engagement are measured to give the final livability index for each city or town.
The final panel discussion included Janine Vanderburg as moderator with panelists Erin Fisher with CO Area Agencies on Aging, Eileen Doherty with CO Gerontological Society, Claudia Menendez with City of Fort Collins, Andres Davies with CO Center on Aging, Andrea Kuwik with Bell Policy Center, Coral Cosway with Alzheimer’s Assn of CO, Jodi Waterhouse with UCH Anschutz Campus, and Kara Harvey with CO Dept. Human Services.
Answers to the question on what you see as headwinds from this morning’s presentation included ageism, policy changes, more education, state govt. more responsive on Medicaid issues, more local Senior Advisory Board collaboration, more diversity, sharing story telling with groups, wage increases for health workers, helping dementia patients, more federal govt. assistance, geriatric help at medical facilities, intergenerational connections and education, and more advocacy with community groups.
Conference closing remarks were given by chairs Itin and Federwitz on CCOA’s plans to review the day’s notes and make recommendations to the Board. Overall, The CCOA conference was very informative for their first one.