Earlier this month, Tennessee Sen. Rusty Crowe received the Southeastern Association of Area Agencies on Aging (SE4A) Aging Impact Award for 2019. The award was presented to him at the SE4A Annual Conference which took place at Nashville’s Gaylord Opryland Convention Center.
Crowe was given this honor in recognition for his endeavors to help seniors. Every year another individual is chosen who has “made a significant impact on the quality of life for older adults through advocacy, public policy, program development and cultural enhancement.”
Crowe has been very active in the legislation that he is both promoting and sponsoring legislation which will enhance the quality of life for local senior citizens. This work is conducted within his role as Chairman of the Senate Health and Welfare Committee. For example, the legislation which led to the creation of the State Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementia Advisory Council to scrutinize existing industries, services and resources for patients and caregivers, while monitoring the fluctuating needs of the patients themselves. He also:
- Set up the 2016 provision to check on those working with those in hospice care;
- Accelerated the Elderly and Vulnerable Adult Protection Acts of 2017, 2018 and 2019 (raising penalties for elderly abuse);
- Established the Senior Financial Protection and Securities Modernization Act of 2017.
He strongly believes in the importance of providing for the elderly, pointing out that:
“It’s good for people to support public policy for seniors because we are all getting older. It is so tough for people who have to be caregivers, and the Alzheimer’s numbers are so great now, almost everyone knows someone who has Alzheimer’s or some related dementia. “You could say Tennessee is taking the lead on this because a lot of states are looking at what we’ve done. [He added that he was] honored … to be picked for this award.”
