Abstract

This is an organizational analysis of Louisiana’s Aging Network. The actors in a network may represent individuals, organizations, programs, or other entities (Luke and Harris, 2007). In this study, the network actors include: federal, state, and local government agencies, community-based organizations, for-profit and not-for-profit health service providers in Louisiana. Network analysis is used to describe the linkages among organizations that provide support for the State’s senior residents, aged 60 and over. Also described are: the position of network actors, properties of network subgroups, and complete network characteristics. The aging network makes resources available to residents and helps them obtain services from providers who are part of the network. The unique structure of Louisiana’s Aging Network, where half of the State’s sixty-four parishes have thirty-two independent planning and service areas, while the other half of the parishes were grouped into four multi-parish planning and service areas, calls for explanation of policy design. Analysis of key variables for relevant populations and financial resources suggests that the aging network in Louisiana appears to be equitable in organization and distribution among its parishes. These findings should be of interest to researchers and practitioners concerned with aging issues.