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Expanding Job Opportunities for Older Americans
Sustainable Employment Opportunities for Older Adults: Overview
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Heard & Learned

Key research, findings, and work products from the project
Below, we share key insights and research findings from our Expanding Job Opportunities for Older Americans project, focusing primarily on the following tools and methods that we used to gain insights and create a tri-sector solution:
The Discovery and Innovation Process, a summary of research and interview findings and methodology artifacts from the project
Spotlight Map, in which we gather input from Spotlight Interviews with individuals with deep knowledge within the impact areas. Information is displayed in an interactive mind map for synthesis and ease of sharing.
System maps, in which we visualize drivers and dynamics that influence the economic security of older Americans. We used these maps to decide where to focus the project for potential solutions.
Impact Journeys, in which we map sequential points in the journey in an impact area from the perspective of the impacted person(s). This process helps visualize the bottlenecks and identify potential solution pathways.

Discovery and Innovation Process

This document summarizes research and interview findings and methodology artifacts from the project.
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Download Discovery and Innovation Process
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Explore the Spotlight Map

The Spotlight Map below reflects what we heard and learned from over 30 Spotlight Interviews conducted with people with experience and knowledge from all sectors and facets of economic security and employment of older adults in the U.S. The information is organized around themes that emerged in the interviews, such as financial inclusion, public benefits, healthcare, and employment opportunities.

Fig 1.
Spotlight Map
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Explore the System Maps

The system maps below illustrate high-level drivers and dynamics that influence economic security (and insecurity) for older Americans. We used these to identify possible points of intervention. Below are a simplified version and more detailed version.

Fig 2.
Simplified System Map: Generational Financial Security
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Fig 3.
Detailed System Map: Generational Financial Security
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Explore the Impact Journeys

The Impact Journey is a tool that maps sequential points in an individual’s journey within an impact area from the perspective of the impacted person(s) and helps surface obstacles, pain points, successes, gaps, and opportunities. Events/milestones are visualized sequentially and layered with relevant information such as engaged organizations, resources, statistics, policies, etc.
Two impact journeys are included below: a comprehensive journey map that we created early in the project to identify possible focus areas within the general issue of economic security for older adults, and a journey map focused on the employment experience of older adults.

Fig 4.
Comprehensive Impact Journey of Economic Security for Older Adults
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Fig 5.
Impact Journey of Employment for Older Adults
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Sources and Methodology

These insights and work products presented are the result of extensive desk research and Spotlight Interviews with more than 30 organizations across sectors between July 2021 and January 2022. The Spotlight Interview is a tool designed to gather input from people with deep knowledge in the space and identify key, specific barriers, or opportunities, in their work. Interviewees could be managers and practitioners in government agencies, researchers from foundations and think tanks, people with lived experience, or an individual working in any sector with insight. The interview includes questions the prompt exploration of the impact area from different perspectives and reimagining how each sector might be engaged. The insights gathered reveal the key areas that are ripe for innovation that can unlock opportunities for outsized impact.
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If you or your organization is interested in helping pilot one of our programs in your community, please
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