PRI works to position AARP as
Policy, Research and International (PRI) is home to compelling research, public policy exploration and development, and global thought leadership on the key issues impacting people ages 50-plus and their families. We develop policy solutions and best-in-class strategic research and insights designed to significantly improve economic security, health care, and quality of life for older Americans.
Within PRI you’ll find the Office of Policy Development and Integration (OPDI), Policy and Brain Health, the AARP Public Policy Institute (PPI), AARP Research, AARP International, and Thought Leadership—all working together and across the enterprise to advance AARP’s social impact agenda on health security, financial resilience, and personal fulfillment.
We know that to effectively influence the right actors and drive action, our work must be evidence-based, credible and defendable. PRI’s research, policy analysis, and solutions serve to establish the evidence base for AARP’s advocacy, consumer outreach and education, and our products and services, positioning AARP as a leading source of trusted information on key topics and issues relevant to the needs of people 50-plus and their families.
We also recognize that to successfully advance enterprise strategies, we must approach issues with the mindset that we do not necessarily know all the answers and we need others to join with us. To that end, PRI engages both internal and external experts from across the country and around the globe to inform our research, policy analysis, and solutions.
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AARP’s public policies are central to our mission and serve as the foundation of our advocacy, service, and information. The development of our public policy positions is overseen by the AARP Board of Directors, with the policy development process led by the Office of Policy Development and Integration (OPDI). That process is grounded in "two-way" communication with AARP staff, our membership, and the public through:
Supported by PRI’s Policy and Brain Health team, the Global Council on Brain Health provides independent, evidence-based recommendations on how to reduce risks for cognitive decline as we age. The work of the Council supports AARP’s broader commitment to promoting healthy living and longevity.
Since its start in 2015, the Council has convened more than 180 leading experts from around the world, representing 26 countries and 87 universities and institutions. With their guidance and expertise, we have released detailed and informative reports on varied topics such as brain health supplements, brain games, delirium, the importance of social connections to brain health, the impact of music on brain health, and more. These reports have garnered mass media coverage and illustrate that debunking myths and letting people know what does not work is equally as important as educating them on the solutions.
As of January 2021, more than 136,000 residents and staff of U.S. nursing homes and long-term care facilities had died due to the COVID-19 pandemic, representing 36 percent of U.S. fatalities. The cumulative impact has been catastrophic, but the topline number obscures remarkable variation across both geography and time.
In order to provide the most recent data at the state level – what is happening now in nursing homes – the AARP Public Policy Institute, in collaboration with the Scripps Gerontology Center at Miami University, created the AARP Nursing Home COVID-19 Dashboard.
This tool provides monthly snapshots of the virus’s impact on nursing homes, residents, and staff, with the goal of quickly identifying specific areas of concern at the national and state levels. The tool examines five categories of impact:
The dashboard tracks one topline measure for each category over 7 four-week periods dating back to June 1, 2020 with an additional 38 data points available for more detail on impacts in the last four weeks, both cumulative and point-in-time.
Each month’s dashboard release is coordinated across the enterprise, including exclusive AARP.org reporting, national and state press releases, support materials developed by PPI and Campaigns, and technical assistance to state offices. The dashboard generates extensive media and policymaker interest, and anchors AARP advocacy efforts to push a 5-point plan to protect nursing home residents now and in the future.
In addition to flowing directly out into the broader world, PRI’s impact and work travel through other AARP channels, supporting teams across the enterprise with expert insight and information. The knowledge and insights derived from our research play a huge role in both AARP’s strategic long-term and day-to-day decision making about consumers, market and social forces, policies, and global trends. This evidence-based and consumer-driven decision making gives AARP a competitive advantage for developing programs, policies, products, and services that have the greatest impact on the lives of older people and their families.
Against the backdrop of an AARP brand equity score that, while generally stable, was lagging among younger non-members, AARP Research recognized the need to help spark a shift in that trend and to positively impact AARP’s value proposition perception across all groups. In partnership with Enterprise Strategy, we tested nearly 200 of our consumer-facing offerings—from products and services to content—evaluating their relative perceived value and impact on our Brand Equity score. This research, conducted among younger and older members as well as non-members, for the first time offered us a single-source read on key offerings across AARP, AARP Foundation, and ASI.
This Tangible Value Research has helped AARP clarify and bring greater focus to our benefits and influenced the direction of the Consumer Value Priority within the Enterprise Strategy. Findings have informed new member value discussions, guided ICM’s theme-month rollout, and underscored the need for greater product management capacity that Enterprise Strategy is discussing with different teams; in addition, they have been integrated into AARPx’s Experience Corridor Initiative.
For more information, contact ivenkat@aarp.org
As the pandemic accelerated and turned into an unprecedented crisis in February and March of 2020, AARP Research moved quickly to gain an understanding of consumers’ evolving concerns, needs, and behaviors in order to inform and guide AARP’s response. The team launched a multi-pronged effort that informed the enterprise’s work, including development of a robust set of COVID-19 tracking topical surveys, synthesis of salient highlights from third-party studies, an expanded set of tools from the AARP Library including alerts and newsletters, and data analysis using the U.S. Census tool and other large databases. Perhaps most significantly, the team developed the AARP COVID Tracker InfoNet page, a regularly updated landing page housing the most recent information on the pandemic and its impact across the full range of issues. Topics covered include financial security, health care and caregiving, social connection, technology, and impacts to AARP’s brand. Where possible, analyses focused on deeper dives on sub-group populations of interest, such as the financial ramifications of the pandemic among African-American and Hispanic-American populations. Reports highlighted difficulties in paying bills, loss of work or other income, and concerns about affording treatment or testing for COVID-19.
As people live longer and healthier lives, they are fueling economic growth and contributing to communities well past the traditional retirement age. To document these contributions, PRI’s Thought Leadership team produced a research series looking at the ways people who are 50 and older both impact and are impacted by our economies.
Released in 2019, The Longevity Economy® Outlook report revealed that the 50-plus age cohort contributes $8.3 trillion to the U.S. economy each year, or 40 percent of the U.S. Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Moreover, across the country people who are 50-plus contribute $745 billion worth of unpaid activities such as volunteering and caregiving. The overall contribution of the 50-plus population’s economic and societal impact was worth slightly more than $9 trillion in 2018. These research findings were highlighted as part of AARP’s presence at the Consumer Electronics Show 2020, led by CEO Jo Ann Jenkins.
Yet older Americans are being held back from contributing more, with age Discrimination costing the U.S. economy $850 billion in 2018, our research has shown. Our follow-up report, The Economic Impact of Age Discrimination, found that in a "no-age bias economy,"" the potential economic contribution of the 50-plus age cohort could increase by $3.9 trillion, translating to a GDP contribution of $32.1 trillion by 2050.
Longevity Economy Outlook releases continue. Most recently, the Thought Leadership team released a series of state profiles looking at the economic and societal contributions of older Americans by state. Insights from this research have been used by AARP State Offices to push their advocacy agendas.
Powerful conversations are where ideas are exchanged, breakthroughs are produced, and progress is made. PRI drives conversations with key influencers, policy leaders, and industry executives on critical topics like the multi-generational workforce, human rights for older populations, and building equity and inclusion in longevity.
These conversations on emerging issues position AARP as a go-to leader and lead to new relationships, collaborations, and action with thought leaders in business, policy, and the non-profit community, inspiring change and increasing the demand for new ideas and solutions.
Throughout 2020 and continuing into 2021, PRI’s Thought Leadership and International teams launched the Build Equity series to frame, elevate and drive solutions to address the COVID-19 global pandemic and increasing demands for racial justice and equity. Through this ongoing series of virtual conversations, AARP engaged leading experts, thought leaders, and influencers in a dialogue on how we can ensure all people—regardless of race, income, or life stage—have the opportunity to make the most of a longer and healthier life and have meaningful access to all of the opportunities, services, and things they need to enable them to thrive.
In 2020, the virtual series reached nearly 7,500 participants from 25 countries with more than 40,000 viewers visiting the Build Equity website, generating a range of ideas and solutions primed for further exploration and potential implementation.
Building on the series, in October 2020 we convened a two-day summit, Moving Forward: Reimagining How We Invest in Health, Wealth, & Aging. This summit demonstrated AARP’s role as a key convener in surfacing bold ideas and practical solutions to eradicate the entrenched disparities and inequality that for generations have obstructed opportunity and inhibited the ability of members of certain communities to live longer, healthier lives.
The summit featured a roster of premier speakers. AARP CEO JoAnn Jenkins interviewed Gen. Colin Powell on the importance of leadership in addressing inequity, while business leader (and NBA icon) Earvin “Magic” Johnson engaged in a conversation with Edna Kane-Williams, AARP SVP of Multicultural Leadership, to offer insights on how the pandemic is affecting small businesses in communities of color and what his company is doing to support them.
For nearly 40 years, AARP has been engaged in advocacy at the United Nations, where we play a leading role in working with government representatives, businesses, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to champion the challenges and opportunities of global aging.
Led by AARP International, AARP has had official Consultative Status with the UN Economic and Social Commission since 1987 and has collaborated with the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs for the past 14 years to cohost an annual briefing series during the sessions of the Commission for Social Development. This is an impactful platform because the Commission brings together thought leaders, academics, high-level government officials, and members of the business community to discuss innovations and trends related to the megatrend of global aging in areas including the workforce, retirement, livable communities, health, and finance. Last year, AARP CEO Jo Ann Jenkins keynoted the event alongside the President of the UN General Assembly.
Key to our efforts at the UN over the last several years has been the integration of aging and issues related to older persons into the implementation of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development – the so-called "Sustainable Development Goals" – a global plan of action undertaken and agreed to by all 193 UN Member States.
And most recently, AARP leveraged its influence at the UN to produce a virtual fireside chat featuring AARP CEO Jo Ann Jenkins and United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres, who discussed COVID-19 and its global impact on older populations. This educational video was translated into six languages and was seen by over 100,000 people.
AARP – led by AARP International – partners with international organizations such as the World Economic Forum (WEF) to bring the issues of longevity and aging to global influencers and foster an exchange on health and wellness, economic security, age-friendly communities, and the multigenerational workforce.
Starting in 2016, AARP International embarked on a multi-year effort with WEF designed to infuse issues related to longevity and aging into WEF’s agenda. This began with our multi-year presence at the WEF annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland, led by CEO Jo Ann Jenkins and other AARP executives including EVP Debra Whitman, who leads PRI as AARP’s chief public policy officer, and AARP Board Chair Joan Ruff. Through events hosted by AARP, WEF, and others, we brought our message to world leaders in technology, business, media, and government.
WEF’s inclusion of aging and longevity on the agenda of its annual meeting, due in large part to the establishment of AARP’s ongoing relationship with the organization, resulted in a number of important programs. One example is the Living, Learning and Earning Longer initiative, a learning collaborative, done in partnership with the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development and WEF that engages global employers to identify and share multigenerational, age-inclusive workforce practices.
Another example: AARP collaborated with WEF and the National Academy of Medicine on a five-part dialogue series about COVID-19 and aging societies, brought together experts from government, academia, civil society, foundations, and the private sector to consider key issues faced by older adults, and highlight opportunities for action on aging and health. The series led to a paper from the WEF Global Future Council on Longevity, outlining its major themes and solutions. The Global Future Council on Longevity is co-chaired by PRI’s EVP Debra Whitman, who also contributed a blog to WEF shining a light on the cracks in the long-term care system laid bare by the COVID-19 pandemic .
PRI engages a variety of sectors, enlisting key partners in those sectors, and investing in strategies and tactics designed to grow our influence and advance our efforts toward improving the lives of older people and their families. This includes working with such external stakeholders as employers, members of the financial services industry, leading non-profit organizations, policy leaders and academics, and global non-governmental organizations. We work to build relationships that result in the kind of two-way engagement that not only educates key groups, but allows us to learn from them and partner to advance our shared goals.
Changing demographics are creating both a workplace and marketplace that is more age-diverse than ever before. Many companies now have four and even five generations working side by side. Employers who take the right steps can leverage the multi-generational workforce as a key to success.
In partnership with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and World Economic Forum, AARP—led by the AARP International team—is promoting age diversity and inclusion in the workplace through the Living, Learning and Earning Longer learning collaborative. As of early 2021, we’ve engaged more than 50 global employers representing over 2 million employees and a trillion dollars in revenue.
When we first envisioned the project, we knew that there were trailblazing employers out there who were starting to embrace practices that allow age diversity to flourish. But these companies were still the exception, and we knew we needed more like them.
Employers told us they need tools and knowledge they can act on. So we developed an interactive digital platform, Growing with Age, to equip global employers with tools, research, and resources to help them recognize the benefits of, and build support for, multigenerational workforces.
One out of five older adults are victims of financial exploitation, and the average victim loses $120,000. In most cases of exploitation, the financial industry can serve as a first line of defense to prevent financial exploitation, and report it if it happens.
To address this need, the Public Policy Institute collaborated with banks, credit unions, investment firms, and other financial industry partners to develop a training for front line employees to identify, stop, and report suspected cases of financial exploitation. With input from over 2,000 financial professionals, and strategic partnerships with industry leaders as well as state and national trade associations, we launched BankSafe, a gamified, self-paced training program specifically designed for banks, credit unions, and financial advisor professionals.
Researchers from Virginia Tech Center for Gerontology, in partnership with AARP Research, have found that the training led to a 133 percent increase in knowledge regarding exploitation and four times greater employee confidence in being able to recognize, prevent, and report cases of financial exploitation. The training also led to substantial savings, with the BankSafe-trained group saving 16 times more money from financial exploitation than a group that did not take the BankSafe training.
Since launching in 2019, the BankSafe training for the financial industry has better protected over 13 million consumers and saved them nearly $31 million dollars from financial exploitation.
For years, our research has told us that people prefer to live and age in their homes and communities. In response to that understanding, the Public Policy Institute has developed analysis and policy solutions aimed at helping communities improve factors that help people “age in place” including housing, transportation, and neighborhoods. In 2015, we launched a practical tool, the AARP Livability Index. Based on our extensive quantitative and qualitative research, it was the world’s first nationwide, neighborhood-based index measuring the ability of communities to support a high quality of life for people of all ages, incomes, and abilities. The Index, updated in 2018, combines on-the-ground metrics with tracking of selected state and local policies that help improve conditions on the ground now and into the future.
The Livability Index serves as a useful tool to support AARP’s work in influencing local officials on policies that can improve communities, and it is also a valuable asset in helping inform location decisions that both individuals and businesses make. Recently, both the public and private sectors have begun to use the tool. The U.S. Department of Defense uses Livability scores to locate high-profile military commands, and the National Association of REALTORS® has agreed to incorporate the Index into a private tool that their members use beginning in spring of 2021.
Much of our work is focused on generating research insights, advancing conversations, developing evidence-based solutions, and performing policy analysis to address the challenges faced by people as they age. Our impact only grows when we identify opportunities to go one step further—that is, to translate our solutions, insights, and thought leadership into practice. Such action reaches beyond decision makers and straight to individuals, creating real-life impact for people. It can translate to significant improvement in the economic security, health, and quality of life of the aging population.
While financial security means different things to different people, AARP found that consumers often equate financial wellbeing with having control over their financial lives. To address this need, the Public Policy Institute, through its leadership of the Enterprise issue area of Savings and Planning, collaborated with enterprise partners to develop AARP Money Map – an online direct-to-consumer experience to drive lasting change in people’s financial lives.
The first solution for AARP Money Map came out of research showing that nearly 50 percent of adults ages 30 and older experienced an unexpected financial challenge in the last 12 months, and, for those that did face such a challenge, about 44 percent said it took or will take them more than six months to recover. Thus, the first solution for AARP Money Map, launched in November 2019, focuses on helping consumers cope with unplanned expenses. To date, about 50,000 users have created a plan for paying an unplanned expense, and about two-thirds reported that they completed at least one action on their plan.
In July 2020, AARP launched a second solution for Money Map, which focuses on another major consumer financial challenge: paying down debt. AARP will continue to build out solutions for Money Map and create a unified user experience to empower users to take meaningful action in their financial lives.
The AARP Public Policy Institute’s (PPI) landmark 2012 study and report, Home Alone: Family Caregivers Providing Complex Care, funded by The John A. Hartford Foundation, fundamentally changed and expanded the previously limited view of caregiver responsibilities. The research showed that half of all family caregivers – 24 million people – perform medical/nursing tasks like administering multiple medications and monitoring side effects, giving injections, managing complicated wound care, administering tube feedings, and more—all with very little instruction or support from health care professionals. The 2019 Home Alone Revisited: Family Caregivers Providing Complex Care study update, also funded by The John A. Harford Foundation, and supported by AARP Research, reinforced the findings and also took an intentional look at African American/Black, Hispanic/Latino and Asian American Pacific Islanders family caregivers. Further ground was broken by documenting the pervasive issue of social isolation in family caregiving, particularly among Black family caregivers.
PPI and AARP’s advocacy team translated this the Home Alone research directly into policy change, resulting in the model state legislation known as The Caregiver Advise, Record, Enable (CARE) Act. The CARE Act promotes better hospital communication with family caregivers through four key tenets, including the identification of those caregivers in the electronic health record and instructing them on the complex care they often are expected to perform at home after hospital discharge. As of January 2021, the legislation has been adopted in 44 states and territories. The speed of which research was translated into policy and then to enactment has been remarkable; it was made possible by AARP state offices, which engaged with thousands of consumers to highlight their personal stories concerning their caregiving experience and the complex nature of their work.
Long-term services and supports (LTSS) consist of a broad range of day-to-day help needed by people with long-term conditions, disabilities, or frailty. The AARP LTSS State Scorecard is a compilation of data and analysis that showcases measures of state performance for creating a high-quality system of care. The goal of the LTSS Scorecard is to provide comparable state data to drive progress toward improvement in services for older adults and people with physical disabilities, and their family caregivers. The focus is on state-level data as the U.S. does not have a national system to address LTSS needs.
Led by the Public Policy Institute (PPI) in collaboration with The AARP Foundation, the Commonwealth Foundation and the SCAN Foundation, the Scorecard is a cross-enterprise effort that helps states advocate on LTSS issues, track their state’s progress over time, identify areas of improvement, spark key conversations, and, ultimately, improve lives. The fourth edition of the Scorecard was released in late 2020, and PPI continues to provide support and technical assistance to AARP State Offices to drive progress. Tangible impact of the LTSS Scorecard can be seen, for example, in California, where the state is planning to incorporate its Scorecard rankings in its Master Plan for Aging data dashboard. Additionally, the Health Policy Institute of Ohio is using the Scorecard for many of the indicators related to access to care that they are tracking for the Ohio State Plan on Aging.
