[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 228 (Tuesday, November 29, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 71531-71534]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-23434]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES


Administration on Aging; 2005 White House Conference on Aging

AGENCY: Administration on Aging, HHS.

ACTION: Notice of meeting and final Annotated Agenda.

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SUMMARY: Pursuant to section 10(a) of the Federal Advisory Committee 
Act as amended (5 U.S.C. Appendix 2), notice is hereby given of the 
2005 White House Conference on Aging (WHCoA) meeting in December 2005 
and the final Annotated Agenda for the 2005 WHCoA. The Policy Committee 
approved this final Annotated Agenda during a meeting held by 
conference call on November 3, 2005. The Annotated Agenda covers six 
broad areas that reflect major issues facing older individuals now and 
for the next 10 years.
    The 2005 WHCoA will be open to the public. Individuals who wish to 
attend should call or email the contact person listed below in advance 
of the meeting and inform her of the day they wish to attend; since 
space for the public is limited, attendance will be on a first come 
first-served basis. Individuals who need special assistance, such as 
sign language interpretation or other reasonable accommodations, should 
inform the contact person of the type of assistance that is desired.

DATES: The 2005 White House Conference on Aging will take place from 
Sunday, December 11, 2005 to Wednesday, December 14, 2005.

ADDRESSES: The 2005 White House Conference on Aging will be held at the 
Marriott Wardman Park Hotel, 2660 Woodley Road, NW., Washington, DC 
20008.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Rada Spencer at (301) 443-2496, or e-
mail at [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Pursuant to the Older Americans Act 
Amendments of 2000 (Pub. L. 106-501, November 2000), the President will 
convene the White House Conference on Aging (WHCoA) not later than 
December 31, 2005. Specifically, the statute requires that the WHCoA 
shall gather individuals representing the spectrum of thought and 
experience in the field of aging to develop not more than 50 
recommendations to guide the President, Congress, and Federal agencies 
in serving older individuals. The 2005 WHCoA will be held at the 
Marriott Wardman Park Hotel in Washington, DC from Sunday, December 11, 
2005 to Wednesday, December 14, 2005. During its open meeting on 
October 1, 2004, the Policy Committee approved a proposed broad agenda, 
with the knowledge that work would continue on the Annotated Agenda. 
The broad agenda focused on six areas: Planning for the Future, 
Employment, Our Community, Health and Long-Term Living, Social 
Engagement, and Marketplace, and it was placed on the WHCoA Web site at 
http://www.whcoa.gov for public comment. The Policy Committee received 
comments from testimony and reports submitted from over 400 Listening 
Sessions, Solutions Forums, Mini-Conferences, and Independent Aging 
Agenda Events held and attended by approximately 130,000 individuals, 
as well as from unsolicited public comments to refine the proposed 
Annotated Agenda. Section 202 (b)(1) of the statute requires that the 
agenda for the WHCoA shall be published in the Federal Register not 
later than 30 days after the agenda is approved by the Policy 
Committee. The Policy Committee approved the final Annotated Agenda, 
dated November 3, 2005, during a meeting held by conference call on 
November 3, 2005. The six broad areas have been refined to read: (1) 
Planning Along the Lifespan, (2) The Workplace of the Future, (3) Our 
Community, (4) Health and Long-Term Living, (5) Civic Engagement and 
Social Engagement and (6) Technology and Innovation in an Emerging 
Senior/Boomer Marketplace. The entire text of the final Annotated 
Agenda is published as an Appendix to this notice.

    Dated: November 23, 2005.
Edwin L. Walker,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy and Programs.

Appendix 1--2005 White House Conference on Aging Annotated Agenda** 
Final--November 3, 2005

I. Planning Along the Lifespan

    Social Security, pensions, savings, and wages each serve an 
important role in ensuring financial security in retirement. A 
cornerstone of achieving financial security in retirement is planning 
throughout a lifetime. Effective savings incentives and financial 
education are essential planning tools. Starting to save for retirement 
as early as possible ensures the miracle of compound interest, and 
provides optimum leverage. However, accumulating savings by itself does 
not guarantee a secure retirement. Managing those assets through longer 
and longer lifespans is also a key component. Americans must plan and 
prepare for the risk of having assets depleted

[[Page 71532]]

because of a long term care episode or other financial crisis. 
Moreover, retirees must guard against becoming victims of financial 
fraud and exploitation. Enhanced financial literacy will help enable 
Americans to guard against risks and plan appropriately to achieve 
financial security in retirement.

A. Economic Incentives To Increase Retirement Savings

1. Individual savings; employer-based pension programs

B. Social Security Programs Now and for the Future

1. Principles to protect and strengthen Social Security

C. Protection from Catastrophic Loss

1. Long term care expenses, and ways to assist Baby Boomers and 
families in understanding the need to finance long-term care, through 
insurance and other options
2. Preventing financial fraud, abuse and exploitation: an integral part 
of elder and Boomer financial security

D. Financial Literacy Throughout the Life Cycle

1. Financial literacy to assist Americans in learning to start saving 
early and to manage assets to last through longer and longer 
retirements

II. The Workplace of the Future

    For many decades, there has been a younger workforce on the heels 
of those planning to retire. With declining birthrates those 
demographics will change dramatically and will have a tremendous impact 
on the workplace of the future. In addition, Americans are living 
longer which means they will need more assets for longer retirements or 
will need to work longer so that retirement assets last a lifetime. 
These two factors mean the workforce of the future will have to be 
thought about differently. Because the workforce is shrinking, older 
workers will be valuable members of the job bank of the future and, 
older workers will need the income that working longer will provide in 
order to fund their retirements. To ensure that employers have the 
workforce they need and to provide workers with opportunities to stay 
in the workforce, incentives will be needed to encourage employers to 
retain older workers and to encourage workers to stay in the workforce. 
Phased retirement offered ad hoc to a few employees today must be 
encouraged for the benefit of the employer and employee. Strategies for 
overcoming current unintended barriers to reaching these goals will be 
an important aspect of this Agenda item. Assistive technologies are 
another important component of helping workers remain in the workforce.

A. Opportunities for Older Workers

1. Employer incentives for retaining older workers and current 
disincentives that prevent employers from retaining older workers
2. Worker incentives to remain in the workforce and current 
disincentives to working longer
3. Phased retirement as an opportunity for the employee who wants to 
retire gradually and for the employer who wants to retain older workers
4. Assistive technology to help workers remain in the workforce
5. Strategies to prevent ageism/age discrimination from affecting 
opportunities for older workers

III. Our Community

    Safety, independence, access to a social network, and support by 
family and informal caregivers, as needed, are important components of 
a livable community and ``aging in place'' for older Americans. Aging 
in place means being able to grow older in the community of one's 
choosing with continued access to needed social and health support 
services. Many Baby Boomer parents left urban residences after World 
War II for suburban homes and now face living in an area where services 
are less accessible, especially to those who no longer drive. Some 
possible solutions include better coordination between public health, 
transportation, and aging networks, better information management 
systems, and helping older Americans drive safely longer, and providing 
additional transportation options for those who no longer can or wish 
to drive. Longer term solutions include building higher density 
neighborhoods which allow safe and convenient pedestrian access to 
services, better public transportation, and other transportation 
options. Additionally, resources and information must be readily 
obtainable especially during and after emergencies or disasters. 
Emergency preparedness and response must be given greater emphasis 
especially as it relates to those older individuals who face mobility 
challenges. Improved information management systems and coordination 
between health, social service, law enforcement, and other networks are 
especially critical in times of emergencies or disasters.

A. Coordinated Social and Health Services That Give the Elderly the 
Maximum Opportunity To Age in Place

1. Availability of community referral resources
2. Configuration of Senior Centers to appeal to the next generation of 
senior citizens
3. Coordination between health and aging networks
4. Accommodation of the differences between the Baby Boomer aging 
population and previous generations of the elderly
5. Emergency/disaster preparedness and response as it relates to older 
persons

B. Promote Support for Both Family and Informal Caregivers That Enables 
Adequate Quality and Supply of Services

1. Caregiver support: training, respite, information, referral, and 
needs assessment for family caregivers. Training and financial support 
for paid caregivers

C. Livable Communities That Enable the Elderly To Age in Place

1. Senior-friendly community and residential design
2. Protection from neglect and physical abuse
3. Senior-friendly roads designed to keep older drivers on the road, 
safely
4. Housing affordability and availability
5. Alternative modes of transportation
6. Expanded use of public transportation

IV. Health and Long Term Living

    Americans are living longer. That ever increasing life span, 
combined with the significant increase in the population reaching age 
65, as the Baby Boomers age, will be major factors in shaping health 
care policy for the next ten years and beyond. The entire spectrum of 
health care, physical and mental health, will be impacted by these two 
factors. Personal responsibility for life style choices and adherence 
to preventive care protocols are more important than ever in decreasing 
or eliminating the negative impact of preventable illnesses. When acute 
or chronic illnesses do occur, the issue of access to appropriate 
medical and mental health services will also need to address issues of 
coordination of care across multiple settings and continuity of care 
over time. Living longer while afflicted with chronic illnesses will 
also require attention to choices that maximize function, quality of 
life, and independence in the living environment of choice for the 
individual.
    Research, particularly more focused on issues associated with 
aging, and the

[[Page 71533]]

widespread dissemination and adoption of the information that the 
research reveals, will be a major contributor to the quality of health 
care. Quality in health care includes addressing issues of health 
disparities, cultural competencies, language barriers, health literacy, 
and patient safety. The concept of health is not the sole 
responsibility of the individual and the formal health care system, but 
it also includes the support provided by the aging network, multiple 
community organizations, improved information management systems, and 
the opportunity for meaningful social engagement. Issues of health care 
education of the population, in order to be integrally involved in 
heath care decisions and a health care workforce, sufficient in numbers 
and appropriately trained to address the special needs of the 
population are necessary ingredients for the success of any policy that 
is adopted.

A. Access to Affordable, High Quality Services

1. Development of a comprehensive, coordinated long term care strategy 
across the continuum of care, including benefits, living wills, end-of-
life care, and health measures (in conjunction with Planning Along the 
Lifespan long term care issues)
2. Connecting evidence-based and comparative-based research with 
delivery of care
3. Aligning payment policies with the continuum of care

B. Healthy Lifestyles, Prevention, and Disease Management

1. Prevention: Education and lifestyle modifications
2. Disease management programs
3. Appropriate treatment for and education on alcohol and substance 
abuse and mental health
4. Provider and consumer education about disease prevention and mental 
health

C. Delivery of Quality Care and Promotion of Maximum Independence for 
Individuals With Chronic Conditions

1. Ensuring existence of a reliable, adequately trained, and culturally 
competent workforce
2. Providing maximum independence and non-institutional care
3. Ensuring appropriate care for seniors with disabilities
4. Addressing the shortage of paid workers for elder care and services

D. Use of Information To Improve All Health Care Services

1. Resources to make informed health care decisions
2. Medical research on aging issues
3. Appropriate use of health information technology
4. Sharing client information across multiple management systems

E. Affordable, Defined Health Benefits, Including Mental Health 
Benefits, Through Medicare, Medicaid, and Other Federal and State 
Health Care Programs

1. Ensuring adequate access to State and Federal health care programs

V. Civic Engagement and Social Engagement

    Social engagement is crucial to the physical and psychological 
well-being of elderly citizens. Being engaged in such activity is 
important for older persons in maintaining physical vigor and for 
getting the type of social interaction and mental stimulation necessary 
to continue living a full, robust life. It is an equally important way 
in which senior citizens can contribute to their communities. There are 
a wide range of available activities that may be helpful individually, 
to other citizens and more generally, to sustain the quality of civic 
life. There are opportunities for volunteers in hospitals, schools, and 
museums, and with religious and service organizations, as well as in 
many other non-institutional settings. Key questions to be addressed 
regarding Baby Boomers as they age are what will be their level of 
participation in volunteerism, what types of activities will attract 
them, and how to remove barriers that prevent older Americans from 
volunteering in their communities.

A. Integration of the Elderly With the Non-Elderly Community

1. Strategies for changing attitudes toward aging/intergenerational 
dynamics
2. Creation of Baby Boomer volunteer opportunities
3. Promoting expanded opportunities for companionship and leisure to 
reduce isolation and loneliness

B. Effective Individual Adaptation to the Conditions of Aging

1. Increasing physical activity among the elderly
2. Continuing higher education for the older learner, including 
computer literacy training

VI. Technology and Innovation in an Emerging Senior/Boomer Marketplace

    There are an increasing number of new products and operational 
practices that intend to help the elderly cope with challenges that 
affect their mobility, independence, and quality of life. They include 
personal mobility and communication devices, housing and vehicle 
design, and pharmaceutical advances. Some of these are beginning to be 
marketed and others are in development. But some with potentially 
dramatic impacts on older persons, and the rest of the population, are 
completely unknown. For example, at the 1981 White House Conference, 
would it have been predicted that by 2005, cell phones, the Internet, 
or CDs and DVDs would be in such common use? Over the next 20 years as 
Baby Boomers comprise the large majority of the elderly population, the 
marketplace affecting them will change in ways that will make their 
lives easier but may in other ways, make their lives more complicated.

A. Promoting New Products, Technology and New Ways of Marketing That 
Will Be Helpful/Useful to the Older Consumer

1. Developing creative products to support independence
2. Creating awareness of available technologies
3. Designing technology products that assist the broadest range of 
consumers
4. Assure the innovative and competitive leadership of American 
technology to meet rapidly-increasing global demand for aging-related 
products and services
5. Establishing a public, private and intergovernmental partnership to 
harmonize the patchwork of different Federal, State, and local 
policies, rules, regulations, standards, and codes that complicate and 
sometimes impede demand for and distribution of technology products and 
services
6. Assuring rational technology policies that stimulate innovation and 
investment

    **Cross cutting issues: Issue development should include 
consideration of differences among the following variables: socio-
economic, disability/non-disability, rural/urban, minority, 
cultural, linguistic competencies/literacy, age cohort (e.g., 55-65, 
65-75, 75-85, 85+), and global aging. It should also include 
consideration of strategies for changing attitudes toward aging. 
Research intending to increase the ability to cope with the 
conditions of aging and best practices should be identified.

Appendix 2--White House Conference on Aging Program Agenda

Saturday, December 10, 2005

6 p.m.-9 p.m. Conference Registration
    Location: Just off hotel lobby

Sunday, December 11, 2005

10 a.m.-10 p.m. Conference Registration

[[Page 71534]]

    Location: Just off hotel lobby
Pre-Conference Events
10 a.m.-12:30 p.m.

Get Involved: A White House Conference on Aging Service Project

    Organized by the Corporation for National and Community Service and 
the Washington, DC Jewish Community Center.
    A service project to help repair and weatherize a Washington, DC 
building that serves Latino seniors.
    All delegates are invited to participate, but space is limited. To 
register as a volunteer for the event, call Lavinia Balaci at 
202.777.3246 or e-mail [email protected]. 1:30 p.m.-4 p.m.

Healthy Living Celebration!!

Coordinator: President's Council on Physical Fitness
Presenters:

[squf] Melissa Johnson, Executive Director, President's Council on 
Physical Fitness and Sports
[squf] Mollie Katzen, renowned healthy cookbook author, ``Moosewood 
Cookbook''
[squf] Mark Zeug, Chairman, National Senior Games Association
[squf] Dot Richardson, Olympian and Board Member, President's Council 
on Physical Fitness and Sports

Simultaneous Fitness Sessions:

[squf] Ya-La Dancing
[squf] Theraband
[squf] Tai Chi
[squf] Line Dancing

Fitness Recognition Ceremony

3:30 p.m.-5:30 p.m. BY INVITATION ONLY

Roundtable on Global Aging

    Moderator: Richard Jackson, Ph.D.
    Director, Global Aging Initiative
    Center for Strategic and International Studies, Washington, DC
    The 21st Century burgeons in a new era of global aging in 
industrialized and industrializing nations.

4 p.m.-6 p.m. Top 50 Resolution Voting
5:30 p.m.-6 p.m. Exhibition Hall Ribbon Cutting

Evening Welcoming Reception

Organized by the Corporation for National and Community Service

Monday, December 12, 2005

5:30 a.m.-7:30 a.m. Continental Breakfast Buffet
6 a.m.-Noon Conference Registration
    Location: Just off Hotel Lobby
9 a.m.-10:30 a.m. Opening Plenary
11 a.m.-1 p.m. Top 50 Resolution Voting
Noon-1 p.m. Box Lunch
1 p.m.-5 p.m.

Presentation & Discussion of Policy Tracks

[squf] Health and Long Term Living: The Honorable Mark McClellan, M.D., 
Ph.D., Administrator, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
[squf] Planning Along the Lifespan: The Honorable Hal Daub, J.D.
[squf] Workplace of the Future: Ken Dychtwald, Ph.D., President, Age 
Wave
[squf] Civic Engagement and Social Engagement, David Eisner, CEO, 
Corporation for National and Community Service
[squf] Our Community (confirmation pending)
[squf] Technology and Innovation in an Emerging Senior/Boomer 
Marketplace (confirmation pending)

5 p.m.-6:30 p.m. Final Opportunity to Vote for Top 50 Resolutions
7 p.m.-9 p.m. Networking Receptions

Tuesday, December 13, 2005

6:30 a.m.-8 a.m. Continental Breakfast Buffet
8:30 a.m.-11 a.m.

Morning Resolution Implementation Strategy Sessions (Facilitated)

[squf] Planning Along the Lifespan
[squf] Workplace of the Future
[squf] Our Community
[squf] Health and Long Term Living
[squf] Civic Engagement and Social Engagement
[squf] Technology and Innovation in an Emerging Senior/Boomer 
Marketplace
11 a.m.-Noon Box Lunch
Noon-2:30 p.m.

Afternoon Resolution Implementation Strategy Sessions (Facilitated)

[squf] Planning Along the Lifespan
[squf] Workplace of the Future
[squf] Our Community
[squf] Health and Long Term Living
[squf] Civic Engagement and Social Engagement
[squf] Technology and Innovation in an Emerging Senior/Boomer 
Marketplace
3 p.m.-5:30 p.m.

Afternoon Resolution Implementation Strategy Sessions (Facilitated)

[squf] Planning Along the Lifespan
[squf] Workplace of the Future
[squf] Our Community
[squf] Health and Long Term Living
[squf] Civic Engagement and Social Engagement
[squf] Technology and Innovation in an Emerging Senior/Boomer 
Marketplace

Dinner Plans Being Finalized

Wednesday, December 14, 2005

6:30 a.m.-8 a.m. Continental Breakfast Buffet
8:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. Closing Plenary Session and Luncheon

[FR Doc. 05-23434 Filed 11-28-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4154-01-P