Utah’s Division of Aging outlines WISE initiative, to develop 10-year master plan on aging

The Division of Aging and Adult Services on June 15 described a multi-year effort to develop a statewide 10-year master plan for aging under the governor’s WISE initiative, an acronym the division said stands for Wealth, Independence, Security and Engagement.

Nels Holmgren, Division Director, said the initiative grew from listening sessions held statewide and is intended to synthesize existing planning efforts rather than replace them. “This 10 year plan that the governor has commissioned from us is not designed to supplant or to replace any of those plans, but rather to bring them together,” Holmgren said.

Holmgren said the process included in-person listening sessions designed to reach older adults, caregivers, providers and local policymakers across the state. The Division will form four working groups to perform deeper topic analyses using synthesized feedback from the sessions. He provided an outline for the timeline: the working groups will meet through the winter, a draft plan is expected in roughly a year, followed by a spring 2026 public comment period and a planned publication in summer 2026.

Holmgren tied the WISE initiative to issues covered at the conference: “Obviously, today as we discuss elder abuse issues and these concepts that fits very clearly into the security area of this initiative,” he said, and he listed other consistent themes identified in the sessions, including fraud prevention, connections to mental-health services and improving access to resources in rural areas.

Holmgren noted existing federal and local plans — the Division’s four-year plan, AAA plans and multi-sector aging plans — and emphasized the governor’s charge to create a consolidated ten-year roadmap to help state agencies and communities set benchmarks and goals.

He also described outreach channels for continuing public feedback, including a forthcoming video and multiple ways to submit written comments, and invited stakeholders to volunteer for the working groups when called upon.

Holmgren said he had raised the WISE initiative at meetings on Capitol Hill and was watching federal funding dynamics but expressed cautious optimism that key programs will remain supported. “As of right now, things feel fairly secure, and we will need to monitor that,” he said.

Holmgren closed by encouraging continued input: he described the initiative as “not at the beginning and not at the end. We're kind of at the end of the beginning, and we're moving forward from that.”