CDC Site

CDC'S HEALTHY AGING WEBSITE CDC Healthy Aging CDC's Healthy Aging Website CDC's Healthy Aging Website The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) website (2011a) was designed to function as a ready reference covering most of the health issues confronted by aging adults and their caregivers. A diverse set of topics are covered, including descriptions of aging-related diseases and treatments, preventative services, chronic diseases and their management, statistics, and how to financially prepare for aging-related health problems.

This resource is designed to provide a fairly comprehensive, up-to-date, information resource for both caregivers and patients, although comprehending the more technical material will require patients to be college-educated and English-literate. Informational Resources Provided Featured at the top of the page is report titled the "Healthy Brain Initiative," which represents a program started after Congressional leaders provided funding to the CDC to focus on aging-related cognitive health issues (CDC, 2011b, p. 2).

Building upon the substantial research that had been conducted through the National Institutes of Health's initiative called the "Decade of the Brain," which ran between 1990 and 2000 (Library of Congress, 2000), the CDC brought together information and resources from a number of public agencies and private organizations to help identify what is known and what still needs to be discovered. The result of this 18-month program is a 33-page report describing what they found (CDC, 2011b), which can serve as an excellent resource for health policy makers and interested caregivers and patients.

This is especially relevant because Alzheimer's disease has risen to become the 6th leading cause of death for adults aged 18 and older (CDC, 2011b, p. 4). At the top of the page is also a window with three links, including one to an online continuing education course on how to prepare for the possibility that a patient will lose the ability to make important health decisions (CDC, 2011a, "e-learning").

Another link takes the viewer to an information resource page for the CDC's Healthy Aging Research Network, a consortium of public and private health centers collecting demographic and health information for researchers (CDC, 2011a, "Resources"). At the bottom of the page is a link to a report describing currently recommended clinical preventive measures for the elderly population, including immunizations and screenings (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Administration on Aging, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services [CDC], 2011c).

Information is provided at the end of the report for what weaknesses currently exist in aging adult preventative care services and the recommended steps to address these gaps (CDC, 2011c, p. 24-25). In the middle of the page is a large number of links taking the viewer to information resource pages for diverse, aging-related topics (CDC, 2011a). The intended audience is professional caregivers, patients and concerned others.

Probably the most relevant links for caregivers is the one titled "Caregiving," "Chronic Disease Management and Advance Care Planning," and "Clinical Preventative Services." Three additional information reports are provided to the right of these links. Summary The "Healthy Aging" website represents an official government information clearinghouse on aging-related health issues for a wide audience. However, the website is obviously intended to be more than just an information clearinghouse.

For example, much of the information is evidence-based and is therefore intended to provide professional caregivers with best practice guidance for disease management and preventive services. In addition, several research reports published by the CDC and collaborators help to highlight.