The White House Conference on Aging: Two Years Later

Abstract

The volume entitled Post-White House Conference on Aging Reports 1973, “Towards a New Attitude on Aging,” lists the White House Conference of 1971 recommendations, the Administration's response, and the response to the Administration by a Post-Conference Study Panel. It gives an accounting as to the progress made since that time. The voluminous report of 860 pages attempts to analyze to what extent the promises of the White House Conference have been fulfilled. It can be concluded that any implementation of the recommendations has been guided more by the principle of expediency rather than by a real desire to integrate the aging into the mainstream of American life. An analysis of the recommendations regarding income and actual efforts to meet these recommendations illustrates the shortcomings of the White House Conference promises, as do the responses to the recommendations with regard to social services and housing. These serve merely as illustrations. Most glaring, however, is the lack of coordination of policies on the federal and state levels which is exemplified with regard to training and administration of programs.