Andrew West

2021-2022 | Los Angeles County - Workforce Development, Aging and Community Services

ANDREW WEST is a researcher and strategist focused on developing and promoting policies and practices that build age-friendly communities. He consults with nonprofit organizations and local governments on aging services and healthy aging strategies. Previously he served as project manager for Age-Friendly Albuquerque, a citywide initiative that developed an age-friendly action plan and earned Albuquerque an age-friendly designation from AARP and the World Health Organization.

Andrew holds a B.A. in communication studies from UCLA, an M.A. in communication studies from Cal State Northridge, and a Ph.D. in health communication from the University of New Mexico.

Project

Los Angeles County is already home to a large population of older adults, and by 2030 more than 2 million people—over 18 percent of the L.A. County population—will be older adults. This wave of demographic change prompted local leaders to create a program called Purposeful Aging Los Angeles (PALA), which made 34 recommendations to address older adult’s opportunities for employment, access to technology and internet communications, health disparities, disaster preparedness, and the homelessness crisis. FUSE will implement these recommendations, leading a multi-year effort to improve the lives of today’s older adults, ultimately transforming Los Angeles into one of the most age-friendly areas in the world.