Taking Out the Social Barriers to a Healthier Elderly Population

Alignment Health has officially published the results from its 2024 Social Threats to Aging Well in America survey, which was designed to explore the primary social and environmental factors, known as social determinants of health, preventing U.S. seniors from living healthier lives. According to certain reports, the stated survey had recruited more than 2,000 U.S. seniors aged 65 or older, and as for the results, they had aging in place (69%), lack of transportation and access to medical care (64%), and economic insecurity (56%) as the top three most-cited social barriers to good overall health among senior population. Talk about these headlining barriers on a slightly deeper level, we begin from the biggest one i.e. aging in place. With more and more seniors choosing to live independently and longer in their own homes, nearly seven out of 10 now consider aging in place a top social barrier to their health and well-being. In fact, among respondents who reported experiencing stress and anxiety in the past year, 22% ranked aging in place as the No. 1 factor causing the most stress or anxiety, while 45% ranked it among their top three stressors. Complimenting that would a faction of 67% respondents saying they would use benefits that support aging in place, if their health plan offered them in the next 12 months. These benefits markedly included making their homes safer, personal medical alerts, in-home health care visits, and non-medical companion care.

Next up, we have lack of transportation and access to care as the second biggest social threat to optimal senior care. You see, the sheer inability to physically get to and from doctor appointments, and medical services, poses a significant threat to a senior individual’s health, with almost two-thirds of them citing no reliable transportation as a top barrier. To go alongside that, more than 71%, indicated they would use transportation benefits, if their health plan offered in the next year. The problem becomes even more critical once you take into account how, among people who have never skipped medical care, nearly 50% said they may do so in the future due to lack of transportation and access to care.

“As an industry, we must pay close attention to what our nation’s seniors are telling us are the major roadblocks that impede their health so we can pinpoint solutions that help remove as many of those barriers as we can and ensure they thrive in their later years,” said Dr. John Kim, senior vice president, market management at Alignment Health and chief medical officer for Alignment Health Plan in California. “Our past research has informed the need to accelerate innovative partnerships for our growing member base, such as ones that address food insecurity or benefits that support at-home care.”

The third biggest social threat to come out of Alignment’s survey is economic insecurity. This particular threat can be better understood once you consider that most seniors are currently juggling between a fixed income but a rising cost of housing. Hence, the result is more than half of respondents (56%) ranking economic insecurity as their topmost concern, whereas on the other hand, 15% reported it as their top driver of stress or anxiety in the next 12 months. Furthermore, over 4 out of 10 (44%) seniors facing economic barriers said they were burdened by medical debt, and those who did have medical debt, 59% owed an amount equivalent to one month or more of living expenses. In case that wasn’t enough, the survey also discovered that an estimated 21% of seniors did not have or were unsure they had enough money to pay their medical expenses in the next year.

Among other details, 38% respondents deemed lacked of support, 33% mental health, 30% loneliness, as the next most significant social and environmental factors weighing heavily on today’s seniors in terms of their health and wellness. Beyond that, one in 5 seniors also cited cultural barriers (21%) and food insecurity (18%) as barriers to their health and well-being.

• By Editorial Panel
• 06 Mar 2025