As part of its plan for the future of aging, the Pennsylvania Department of Aging (PDA) is creating new opportunities for senior community centers to welcome current visitors and attract new ones. 

In Pennsylvania, senior community centers (SCCs) are neighborhood spaces that help active, independent older adults stay well through connection, activities, and access to resources. The PDA is partnering with the National Center to Reframe Aging (NCRA), the leading organization dedicated to ending ageism in America, to reframe the conversation about senior centers.

This exciting partnership is exploring new communication approaches to position Pennsylvania’s 400+ senior centers as recognizable, in-person community hubs that connect older Pennsylvanians to vital resources, services, and their broader communities. 

Despite playing a vital role in the health and well-being of older adults, perceptions of senior centers are often shaped by stereotypes, misunderstandings, and lack of knowledge. Outdated ideas about aging continue to shape perceptions and limit the investment these centers deserve.

This project’s foundation is built on two facts: 

1. Senior community centers are vital community resources that need to be better understood and valued.
2. While we improve our communications, we also need to look for opportunities to modernize SCCs.

By considering these interlinked facts and reframing the conversation, stronger community support and policy change is being created for senior centers as vital spaces where older people can be active, connected, and valued.

Our partnership responds to a key tactic in Aging Our Way, PA: A Plan for Lifelong Independence, Pennsylvania’s 10-year multi-sector plan designed to meet the needs and preferences of older adults across the Commonwealth. A key tactic in the plan calls for research on older adult and near older adult preferences to inform an action plan to reframe senior community centers and congregate meals to better promote membership and participation. When PDA developed Aging Our Way, PA, it listened to people in all 67 counties in the Commonwealth about the desire to reimagine senior centers. This project is one step in making this desire a reality.

Understanding how to reach older adults

Beginning in 2025, PDA and NCRA collaborated with key communities of interest and older Pennsylvanians to better understand perceptions and increase public awareness, engagement, and investment. An advisory committee, composed of older adults and professionals working in the aging space, was formed and is helping guide the process. To gather input on the current state of senior centers, this project engages leaders from across the network and older adults who participate at local centers.

We are looking at how we work with senior community centers across Pennsylvania in a very different way, by educating ourselves on what people want us to be approaching them with, and why they are not participating at senior centers at the levels that we have seen the older population grow. PDA has tried different approaches.

Everyone continues to sit at the table to try and find a solution. Now that we're taking a step back and understanding the “why” behind it all, understanding new approaches, we can reach the people that we have been missing.

How the project explored what people think about senior centers

A three-phase project has explored perceptions of senior centers, current communications about senior centers, and best strategies to communicate, promote and strengthen senior community centers.

Phase 1 mapped the terrain in Pennsylvania and consisted of a statewide survey of aging network professionals to better understand the current practices of senior community centers regarding branding, communications, marketing, services/activities, participation levels, and satisfaction. NCRA developed a report of survey findings  and distributed it to senior community centers and other stakeholders in PA in the fall of 2025.

Phase 2 focused on developing the strategy and is informed by the Phase 1 survey findings. Earlier this year, The FrameWorks Institute conducted stakeholder interviews, experimental surveys, and focus groups with a representative sample of Pennsylvania residents, to identify and test effective ways to reframe how the public understands and values senior centers. The partners produced a strategic brief with communication recommendations for senior community centers.

Lastly, Phase 3 is equipping the network by creating and disseminating practical tools, education materials, and an action plan to help the network implement the new framing strategies and support policy changes. 

How the findings can empower all senior centers

What is particularly exciting about this project is that we are bridging a gap by creating evidence-based communication strategies, tools, and insights that empower senior centers and the broader aging network to tell a more accurate and compelling story about the role of senior community centers in Pennsylvania communities. 

NCRA believes this investment from the PDA is kickstarting a national conversation on senior community centers and setting a groundbreaking example for other states in highlighting their importance and value. Research and recommendations can help organizations and policymakers increase awareness, reduce stigma, expand participation, and strengthen public support for senior community centers.

We hosted a Community Conversation event in Philadelphia to showcase research and communication guidance from this project that help maximize the potential of senior community centers as vibrant community spaces—similar to libraries or parks—where older adults can stay active and independent.

We were joined by Renee Cunningham, president of the Pennsylvania Association of Senior Centers and Executive Director of Center in the Park, a senior community center in Philadelphia.

“This is a defining moment for senior centers," Cunningham said. "There will be a before and after this project.

Senior community centers have spent years trying different approaches to rebranding and communicating our value, but this research finally helps us understand what has been missing.

"The work has always been there," Cunningham said. "What changes now is our ability to talk about that work in ways that resonate, inspire action, and not only help more people see our centers as essential community assets, but also see themselves in senior community centers.”

For more insights from this groundbreaking partnership and a deeper understanding of how research-based communication strategies transform the way aging services organizations talk about our work and the people we serve, view the National Center to Reframe Aging's webinar,  Reframing Communications About Senior Centers: Lessons Learned from Pennsylvania.   

About 

The Pennsylvania Department of Aging serves as the state unit on aging, advocating for the interests of all older Pennsylvanians, overseeing an array of benefits, services, and programs that are made available through its network of 52 local Area Agencies on Aging (AAAs), which cover the Commonwealth's 67 counties. PDA provides a wide array of services and programs intended to help older Pennsylvanians live and thrive in their homes and communities for as long as possible.  

The National Center to Reframe Aging is dedicated to ending ageism by advancing a complete story about aging in America. The center is the trusted source for proven communication strategies and tools to effectively frame aging issues. It is the nation’s leading organization, cultivating an active community of individuals and organizations to spread awareness of unproductive attitudes towards aging and influence policies and programs that benefit all of us as we age. Led by the Gerontological Society of America, the National Center acts on behalf of and amplifies the efforts of the ten Leaders of Aging Organizations. Support for the National Center comes from Archstone Foundation, The John A. Hartford Foundation, RRF Foundation for Aging, and The SCAN Foundation.  

Photo at Center in the Park Copyright Rebecca Drobis for NCOA use only