Oklahoma’s ‘aging plan’ to address needed care for older adults

Deborah Shropshire, executive director of the Oklahoma Department of Human Services, speaks to an audience in Oklahoma City at an event announcing the state's 10 year "Aging Our Way Oklahoma" plan on June 25, 2024. (Photo by Emma Murphy/Oklahoma Voice)

OKLAHOMA CITY – Adults over the age of 60 are expected to outnumber children for the first time in Oklahoma by 2034, according to the Oklahoma Department of Human Services.

The agency unveiled a 10-year plan on Tuesday to improve care for older adults and to strengthen the infrastructure for the aging population.

Deborah Shropshire, executive director of the Oklahoma Department of Human Services, said that with the growing population of older adults the state lacks the infrastructure to support the care needed for them like it does for children.

With over 650,000 older adults recorded in the state in 2020 by the U.S. Census Bureau, the Oklahoma Department of Human Services projects that number will increase by over 21% by 2034.

According to a survey from the Oklahoma Department of Human Services, some of older adults’ biggest challenges include not enough money post-retirement, lack of affordable housing and not knowing how to access the services available to them.

The plan, “Aging Our Way Oklahoma,” provides 13 goals with pathways to achieve them. Included in the targeted goals are affordable housing, transportation, social connection and the workforce.

Jeromy Buchanan, director of aging services at the Oklahoma Department of Human Services, said to achieve progress in this plan, public agencies and the private sector will need to work together to help older Oklahomans.

“This is not something Oklahoma Human Services can do alone,” Buchanan said. “It’s really going to take all of us together.”

Some partners for this plan include: AARP, the Alzheimer’s Association, the Oklahoma Department of Transportation, the Oklahoma State Department of Health, among many others. When it comes to funding the plan, Shropshire said that each partner will have to commit some of their own funds.

Transportation, Buchanan said, is necessary for every older adult to travel to medical appointments, grocery stores and be part of their own communities.

Buchanan said the state’s lacking infrastructure. Oklahoma has 3,000 child care centers but only 21 adult day centers, Buchanan said. An adult center provides a supervised community setting for older adults while caregivers are at work or dealing with other responsibilities.

He said the number of adult day cares does not need to match the number of child care centers, but the disparity in available care demonstrates that the state is “not ready” for the number of people that need care.

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