Harrisburg, PA – The Pennsylvania Department of Aging (PDA) today announced that Aging Together in PA, a year-long initiative with public broadcasting stations WVIA and WITF has received an Excellence in Broadcasting award from the Pennsylvania Association of Broadcasters. The award recognizes significant creative and production achievements of Pennsylvania broadcast stations.
“As part of our commitment to leading much-needed conversations about aging, we reached out to philanthropic partners and to our partners in public broadcasting, whose mission it is to educate, inform, and inspire on the most meaningful issues touching our lives,” said Secretary of Aging Jason Kavulich. “We are so proud that the product of this collaboration, Aging Together in PA, has been recognized by Pennsylvania’s premiere broadcasting organization as a tool to help all of us converse, listen and learn about aging in Pennsylvania and envision what it can look like, if we work together.”
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From L to R: John Cosgrove, CEO, AllOne Foundation & Charities; Secretary of Aging Jason Kavulich; Carla McCabe, President & CEO, WVIA; Jesse Ergott, Chief Advancement Officer, AllOne Foundation & Charities; and Ben Payavis, Chief Content Officer & Executive Producer, WVIA.
Supported by PDA and AllOne Foundation & Charities, Aging Together in PA created comprehensive program and digital content for the Pennsylvania public broadcasting stations to build awareness and drive discussion about resources for Pennsylvania’s rapidly growing older population.
Short documentary videos, available for viewing here, explore issues such as ageism, elder justice, caregiving, scams, housing, transportation, creating age-friendly communities, age-friendly communities and much more. The initiative began and concluded with live town halls airing on PBS stations covering every region of Pennsylvania. During these community events, panels of policymakers and older adults discussed the challenges of staying independent as we age for older adults and families, and how collaborations across state agencies and local communities can support healthy aging.
The topics covered in Aging Together in PA reflect the priorities identified by more than 20,000 older adults, advocates and experts who participated in the development of Aging Our Way, PA – Pennsylvania’s strategic 10-year plan designed to meet the needs of the Commonwealth’s older adults and improve services for this rapidly growing population. Launched by the Shapiro administration in May 2024, Aging Our Way, PA is collaborating with multiple sectors – including other state agencies, foundations, non-profits and public media – to envision and build an age-friendly Pennsylvania.
Currently, Pennsylvania is home to 3.4 million older adults aged 60 and over, the fifth highest older adult population in the country. The population represents 1 in 4 Pennsylvanians and in less than five years, it will represent 1 in 3 and is expected to outnumber every other age group.