Most See Need to Help Aging Residents Live Independently

Editor’s Note: The research detailed below was conducted in partnership with West Health, a family of nonprofit and nonpartisan organizations focused on lowering healthcare costs and successful aging.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Sixty percent of Americans agree that more needs to be done to improve the availability of health and social services in their community for residents to live independently as they age, according to a new study from West Health and Gallup. This sentiment is higher among women (68%) than men (52%).
The West Health-Gallup survey was conducted online June 3-18, 2024, with a nationally representative sample of 2,180 U.S. adults aged 18 and older who are members of the Gallup Panel™, a probability-based panel of about 100,000 adults living in all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia.
Affordable housing intended to support living independently for older Americans is also high on the list of perceived community needs. Nearly two-thirds agree (65%, including 37% who “strongly agree”) that more is needed to help older residents live self-sufficiently. This sentiment rises to 72% among women and to 73% among those in households earning less than $48,000 per year.
Differences also exist in how Americans perceive the need for and access to physical health and mental health services in their community. About one in five (22%) see a “major need” for accessible mental health services, compared with 16% for physical health services. Nearly a third (32%), in contrast, report that physical health services are “very easy” to access, compared with just 16% who say the same about mental health services, underscoring key differences between the two.
While men and women report roughly the same sense of ease of access to mental healthcare, women are nearly twice as likely as men to say their community has a major need for mental health services (28% vs. 16%, respectively).
By 2030, the U.S. Census Bureau projects that there will be more Americans aged 65 and older (71.2 million) than under 18 (69.1 million) for the first time in U.S. history, with the older group making up nearly 21% of the total population. Along with this shift comes the need for strategic planning to accommodate new and growing demands in housing, social services and healthcare.
This unique demographic shift is the reason Congress directed the development of a national set of recommendations for advancing healthy aging and age-friendly communities. This research supports the federal government’s National Plan on Aging through the Interagency Coordinating Committee on Healthy Aging and Age-Friendly Communities. The work is done in coordination with the National Plan on Aging Community Engagement Collaborative, which includes three nonprofit partners: West Health, The John A. Hartford Foundation and The SCAN Foundation.
The National Plan on Aging comes as the majority of U.S. adults see a need in their community for more affordable housing and accessible health and social services to support long-term independent living. Potentially adding urgency to the situation is recent research that shows 66% of adults (including 69% of those aged 50 to 64) believe the U.S. is unprepared to care for its aging population over the next 10 years. Only 4% strongly agree the U.S. is prepared to do so.
Mental health also stands out as a major issue over the next decade. Recent research summarized in the West Health-Gallup 2024 Survey on Aging in America report shows Americans aged 50 and older are more likely to perceive their mental health has worsened (24%) than improved (19%) in the past three years. In addition, a majority of U.S. adults (56%) say the next generation of Americans will be “much worse off” or “somewhat worse off” than their generation when it comes to mental health and happiness. Just 16% say the next generation will have better mental health. With the perceived need for enhanced mental health social services outweighing the ease of accessing what is currently available, the importance of addressing mental health in the U.S. continues to loom large.
To stay up to date with the latest Gallup News insights and updates, follow us on X @Gallup.
Learn more about how the Gallup Panel works.