The Older Americans Act (OAA), originally enacted in 1965, funds services that keep older Americans healthy and independent. The OAA supports a range of home and community-based services, such as meals-on-wheels and other nutrition programs, in-home assistance, transportation, legal aid, elder-abuse prevention, job training, senior centers, health promotion, benefits enrollment, and caregivers’ support.

In the Winter 2022 issue of Generations Journal, published by the American Society on Aging, guest editor and past chair of the ASA Board of Directors Richard Browdie and a group of experts take an in-depth look at the Older Americans Act. There is so much to know about this far-reaching law that Generations devoted an entire issue to the subject. What follows are links to thirteen articles that present a 360-degree perspective on this important piece of legislation.

1. On the Older Americans Act and Why We Need to Pay Attention to History
2. Vision: Meet Reality
3. The Older Americans Act from the Inside: An Interview with Deputy Assistant Secretary for Aging Edwin Walker
4. Success: An Original Area Agency on Aging at 50 Years
5. Title VI of the Older Americans Act: Past, Present, and Future
6. Reflections on Title VII 30 Years Later
7. Difficulties Demonstrating the Impact of OAA Programming and Glimmers of Hope
8. Understanding the OAA’s Purpose and Role in the Modern Life of Older Adults
9. Doing Business: A Pathway to Coordination
10. Balancing Mission and Momentum
11. At Almost 60, It’s Time for a Life Review of the Older Americans Act as it Approaches Eligibility Age
12. Advocacy and the OAA: The Environment Is Very Different These Days
13. The Older American’s Act: Looking Back and Thinking Forward.