Key Resources

The Orange County Older Adult Dashboard is a project of the Orange County Health Aging Initiative (OCHAI), a subcommittee of the Orange County Aging Services Collaborative. It offers values and comparisons for over 70 health, social, and economic indicators for Orange County's older adults. And can be viewed by different locations by selecting Orange County or a city, ZIP code, or census tract.

Discriminatory policies and practices have led Black people to be more likely to live in poverty, more likely to face unemployment, and have fewer financial resources like savings or property than their white counterparts. As a result, African American households are more than twice as likely to struggle with hunger as white, non-Hispanic households.

The California Health Interview Survey (CHIS) is the nation's largest state health survey and a critical source of data on Californians as well as on the state's various racial and ethnic groups. Policymakers, researchers, health experts, members of the media and others depend on CHIS for credible and comprehensive data on the health of Californians. Requires a login to learn about fresh fruit in neighbourhood, social life impairment, health insurance coverage for 65+ etc.

Interactive data resource from California Health & Human Services (CHHS) detailing employment, CalFresh, In Home Support Services (IHSS) and Health Insurance data, arranged by age, race, sex and income among other metrics (2018). 10.5% of Medi-Cal were 65+; 5.9% of CalFresh were 65+; 32,333 total enrolled in home supportive services: 60.3% were 65+, 28.3% were 18-64, 11.4% under 18.

Reviews on Senior Centers in Orange County. Because Senior Centers are part of the city associations, there is no one central organising data base for them. Yelp, however, has 130+ reviews of different centers in Orange County.

This report provides statistics on food security in U.S. households throughout 2020 based on the Current Population Survey Food Security Supplement data collected in December 2020. An estimated 89.5 % of U.S. households were food secure throughout the entire year. The remaining households (10.5 %) were food insecure at least some time during the year, including 3.9% with very low food security.

The 2021-22 Enacted Budget includes significant new investments to advance the goals of the Master Plan for Aging (released on January 6, 2021). The Master Plan sets forth five goals for 2030 and, for 2021-2022, commits to implement over 100 specific initiatives – all to advance housing for all ages and stages; health care reimagined; inclusion and equity, not isolation; caregiving that works; and affording aging.

Adult Day Service Centers often serve specialized populations, which include Alzheimer’s patients, specific cultural groups, developmentally disabled adults over 18 and the frail elderly population. (This is a list of Orange County Day Centers)

The Master Plan for Aging (MPA) launched in January 2021 and now has six months of progress to report, thanks to all the public, partner, and stakeholder engagement and commitment to an age-, disability- and Alzheimer’s- friendly California. The report is a PDF with highlights listed against the individual goals.

The NSHAP-COVID Study—an extension of the National Social Life, Health and Aging Project (NSHAP) conducted by NORC at the University of Chicago—surveyed community-dwelling adults who are part of the NSHAP panel in fall 2020. Preliminary results from the first 1,284 respondents (interviewed from September 14 to October 26, 2020) aged 55-99 are presented here, and compared to data collected from the same respondents in 2015–16.

Adults of varying levels of need are able to live independently through Meals on Wheels. This pdf provides data on the 1 million nourishing meals served, keeping over 12000 older adults in their homes.

The COVID-19 pandemic and widespread recognition of historic and systemic racism that disproportionately impact Americans that are Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC). COVID-related hospitalization rates for nonHispanic, Black and Indigenous persons are five times that of non-Hispanic white persons.

Approximately one in ten U.S. adults are victims of fraud each year, and self-reported fraud loss complaints to the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) Consumer Sentinel Network increased by about 34 % from 2017 to 2018. All participants in this two-phase study reported a fraud to BBB Scam TrackerSM, an online fraud reporting tool of the Better Business Bureau.

This report constructed a typology of social isolation using data from the National Health and Aging Trends Study (NHATS) and estimated the prevalence and correlates of social isolation among community-dwelling older adults. In 2011, 24% of self-responding, community-dwelling older adults (65+ years), approximately 7.7 million people, were characterized as socially isolated, including 1.3 million (4%) who were characterized as severely socially isolated.

In Fiscal Year 2018-19, SSA served over one in four Orange County residents on a monthly basis, during a time of continued changes in state and federal regulations, as well as self-directed changes to improve and enhance our service delivery. Operating from 19 office locations throughout the County and working to deploy staff to hard-to-reach populations throughout the community, SSA worked to ensure individuals and families have access to the critical services they need.

To answer the question, “Do social isolation and loneliness in the elderly lead to increased suicide rates?” a literature review was conducted using 163 PubMed and 66 PsycINFO studies. After a thorough screening, nine studies were deemed appropriate for this study. It is not clear which risk factor leads to an increase in suicidal thoughts and attempts, however most studies contemplated loneliness and isolation as a covariant. Loneliness and isolation seem to be relevant factors for suicidal ideation.

This is a snapshot of older Americans in 2017. It was developed by the Administration on Aging (AoA), Administration for Community Living, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, using data from: National Center for Health Statistics, National Health Interview Survey, U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey.

The COVID-19 pandemic has spurred a rise in social isolation and loneliness*, reaching epidemic proportions. Two-thirds of U.S. adults report experiencing social isolation and more than half (66%) agree that the COVID-19 pandemic has caused their anxiety level to increase, yet many are not turning to anyone for help.

Ethnic minority elders have high levels of social isolation and loneliness. Assumptions about the family providing enough social support exist in the literature, contradicting ethnic minority elders’ reported levels of isolation and loneliness. While structural barriers influence feelings of isolation and loneliness, limited information exists about the role of cultural factors such as acculturation and family values.

The Orange County Veterans Study, conducted by the USC School of Social Work Center for Innovation and Research on Veterans & Military Families (CIR), is an effort to provide data-driven recommendations for serving the population of veterans residing in Orange County, California. Service members encounter a series of needs as they transition out of the military into civilian communities.

Between 1995 - 2010 the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation prison population aged over 55 increased by 500%. In 2010 there were 10,969 people aged over 55 incarcerated in state’s prison system. That number is expected to triple to over 30,000 by 2020. Older prisoners face significant challenges aging in an environment illequipped to meet their unique needs.