Conclusions

    Due to the Federal Government legitimizing the needs of the older adult (60 plus) through legislation passed in 1965, the Aging Network has grown from those early steps in adding Medicare and Medicaid to Social Security and the many programs offered within the Older Americans Act, to a fairly comprehensive set of offerings from both the public and private sectors. The seniors living within Davis County, Utah, find themselves a part of this ever-growing network.

    However, this aging network is still not complete, especially when viewed from special populations within the older adult generations, such as those with certain medical conditions or those without children living close by. To many older adults viewing the network, it may look like a cafeteria with many offerings, but not necessarily the ones that fulfill their needs. This analogy supposes that the older adult has found the cafeteria and dares to enter into it, which some older adults avoid in trying to maintain their independence. However, to those who are aware of it, and know how to access it, the offerings are fair and are usually appreciated to the point that the users often donate funds toward their continued operation.

     There are concerns about the future of the Aging Network, most especially when the World War II Baby Boomers begin to retire in large numbers after 2010. With the large influx of these people, the network may begin to be torn in places, especially with the legitimization of the Social Security problems being openly discussed by the President of the United States. Nevertheless, the Davis County Aging Network strives through its various components to achieve important goals in serving the older population.

    This paper has shown that the older family is served from within extended families and neighborhoods, through local levels, state levels, and national levels of both public and private enterprises. Due to the scope of this paper, it has not shown the reciprocity that older families have on all of these other systems. It may well be found, when reciprocity is more fully understood, that older families themselves have the resources in knowledge and drive to help in finding solutions to the future insolvency of such problems as the funding of Social Security and other areas that are the hot topics in aging today.