Mississippi’s Pioneering Path of an Age-Friendly Ecosystem

Posted on April 15, 2024 by Sara Kunkel

This entry is part 3 of 10 in the series May 2024

Mississippi’s public health sector is a leader in addressing the needs of its aging population through the adoption of the Age-Friendly Public Health Systems 6Cs Framework, which prioritizes multi-sector collaboration and represents a practical model that other states can use to promote equitable healthy aging.

The US public health sector is uniquely positioned to further improve the current infrastructure needed to adequately address the needs of an aging population. Public health departments can mobilize resources and foster the multi-sector partnerships necessary to build an age-friendly ecosystem that supports all of us as we age. The Age-Friendly Public Health Systems (AFPHS) movement promotes actions that meet the needs of all older adults, prioritizing those who are underserved and face disproportionate social, economic, and health impacts. This movement launched through a partnership between Trust for America’s Health and The John A. Hartford Foundation with a vision to activate the public health sector in strategically meeting the needs of older adults, better maintaining their independence and quality of life.

Mississippi offers an excellent example. Despite low per capita investments in public health, high-poverty rates and large rural populations, the state is pioneering change through the AFPHS 6Cs Framework, as highlighted in the commentary, “How Mississippi Is Changing Public Health.”

Mississippi’s age-friendly ecosystem includes the aging sector, Age-Friendly Health Systems, Age-Friendly Communities, Age-Friendly Universities, and Dementia Friendly Communities who are collaborating with a shared vision and mission to offer equitable healthy aging for Mississippi’s older adults.

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The 6Cs Framework (see Figure 1) for healthy aging includes:

Creating and leading policy changes
Connecting and convening multi-sector stakeholders
Coordinating existing supports and services
Collecting and translating relevant data
Communicating important public health information
Complementing existing health promoting program

States adopting the AFPHS initiative include Mississippi, Florida, Michigan, New York, and Washington. The Mississippi State Department of Health (MSDH) successfully used the 6Cs Framework and some of their actions include:

Engaging multiple agencies and sectors and coordinating existing efforts to promote healthy aging through MSDH’s Community Health Improvement unit
Forming an AFPHS Advisory Committee that supported the development of a state-wide action plan
Gathering new county-specific data that quantifies the unmet needs of older adults and documenting that in the state’s bi-annual Healthy Aging Data Report
Bridging partnerships with the Mississippi Public Health Association, Area Agencies on Aging, AARP, and faith communities that are promoting community engagement among older adults, age-friendly and intergenerational activities, and AARP age-friendly community recognition

On the Age-Friendly Public Health Systems: The Podcast episode, Building an Age-Friendly Ecosystem in Mississippi, Kina White, DrPH, MHSA, FACHE, Director of the Office of Community Health Improvement at the Mississippi State Department of Health, joins host, TFAH President and CEO J. Nadine Gracia, MD, MSCE, to highlight this work.

Mississippi’s experience can serve as a model for other states to reevaluate and enhance their public health strategies to focus on collaborations across health care systems and the aging sector. State and local health departments can position themselves to assess available services, identify gaps, seek partnerships with organizations providing existing services, pinpoint any data deficiencies in understanding their older adult population or service availability, and inquire about additional stakeholders who should be engaged in building an age-friendly ecosystem.

The AFPHS movement makes healthy aging a core function and facilitates transformation through health departments at all levels and of any size. Mississippi’s approach and application of the 6Cs Framework, described in further detail in this paper, highlights their actions to catalyze greater, coordinated strategies to advance healthy aging and health equity. AFPHS are dedicated to transforming siloed services into coordinated, sustainable support systems that foster healthy aging.

Author Profile

Sara Kunkel: Sara Kunkel, MPH, is studying at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health where she focuses on health policy research and analysis. As a graduate intern at The John A. Hartford Foundation, a philanthropic healthcare organization, she supports communications and program area projects to advance healthy aging.