Expanding Affordable Housing Plus Services: Overview

More older adults live in federally subsidized housing than in nursing homes. Yet, many are frail or disabled and have numerous chronic illnesses. Without support, many of these seniors end up in nursing homes despite their desire to stay independent.

Affordable Housing Plus Services (AHPS) strategies enable low- and modest-income seniors to remain in their own apartments as long as possible by integrating independent, multi-unit, subsidized housing with health and supportive services.

IFAS and its partners are seeking to strengthen the evidence base on the role AHPS can play in cost-effectively meeting some of the nation's long-term care needs.

Work in this area includes:

• Preparing and disseminating studies of AHPS programs and how they work.
• Evaluating the impact of these programs.
• Identifying policy and practice barriers that impede implementation and replication and examining how they can be overcome.
• Developing and implementing new AHPS models.

Selected Accomplishments

Analyzed how senior housing communities in Colorado helped residents maintain their independence. In a project funded by the Retirement Research and Greystone Foundations, IFAS examined how three senior housing communities in Colorado foster independent living among their aging residents in the face of growing frailty and/or disability. Learn more

Developed an inventory of AHPS strategies and programs. IFAS researchers documented the characteristics of a wide range of AHPS programs-largely initiated by publicly assisted housing providers-including strategies used to link residents to health and supportive services, services offered and program funding. Learn more

Convened four invitational workshops to explore the potential of AHPS strategies. In collaboration with the U.S. Departments of Health & Human Services and Housing & Urban Development and the A.M. McGregor Home, IFAS brought together stakeholders from the worlds of affordable housing and aging services policy and practice to consider the implications of expanding AHPS for meeting long-term care needs. Learn more

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