507 Voices Reveal Gaps in Planning and Systems for People Aging Without Reliable Support
By Ailene Gerhardt, MA, BCPA, CSA®, Founder, Beacon Patient Solutions LLC & Navigating Solo Network, Host, The Navigating Solo™ Podcast
Today, Navigating Solo™ Network is releasing a new white paper, Navigating Solo: What 507 Voices Reveal About Planning, Support, and Systems for Solo Aging, based on the 2026 Navigating Solo™ Community Snapshot Survey.
The survey gathered responses from 507 people about planning concerns, barriers, support, confidence, emotional experience, professional resources, community, and the systems they may need to rely on as they age.
The findings reinforce the importance of individual preparation, but they also point to something larger: even thoughtful planning can become difficult when the people, professional resources, services, and systems needed to carry out a plan are unavailable or assume that family support will be there.
What 507 respondents told us
Three findings help illustrate the complexity of the planning landscape:
95.9% of respondents identified at least two planning concerns, and 86.0% identified three or more.
Only 28.2% described themselves as somewhat or very confident in their solo aging plan.
65.3% identified systems not designed for people without immediate family as a barrier to planning, while 43.4% identified systems not designed for people without caregivers.
Together, these findings suggest that solo aging planning is rarely about one issue at a time. Health, housing, finances, decision-making, transportation, social connection, trusted help, and emergency preparation often intersect.
A broader way to think about solo aging
The paper also proposes moving beyond definitions of solo aging based primarily on whether someone lives alone, is partnered, or has children.
Instead, it considers solo aging as a planning context that can arise whenever reliable support cannot be assumed.
That circumstance can exist across different living arrangements, family structures, partnership statuses, and life situations.
This shifts the focus from simply asking:
Who is in someone’s life?
to asking:
What support is actually available, appropriate, capable, and accessible when it is needed?
Four concepts introduced in the paper
The findings informed several concepts designed to help individuals, professionals, organizations, and systems think more precisely about what effective solo aging planning and support require.
Architecture of Support
An intentional structure of trusted people, skilled professionals, clearly understood roles, practical services, communication pathways, and backup options that help make a plan workable.
Meaningful Access
A resource does not become useful simply because it exists. Meaningful Access asks whether needed support is available, appropriate, capable, and affordable when it is actually needed.
Solo Aging Support Premium
The additional financial burden that can arise when support functions others may receive through family or personal relationships must instead be purchased.
Solo-Aware
An approach that asks what support is actually available rather than assuming it from family structure or relationship status.
Beyond individual preparation
The paper also asks healthcare organizations, aging services, legal and financial professionals, community organizations, and other systems to examine the assumptions embedded in forms, language, service requirements, and processes, and to create alternative pathways when necessary informal support is unavailable.
As I write in the paper:
“People can prepare thoughtfully and still encounter systems, services, and professional practices that assume someone else will be available to help.”
That is why the work is not simply about encouraging people to plan more.
It is also about asking whether the environments they must navigate are prepared to function when reliable support cannot be assumed.
Explore the White Paper
The full white paper, one-page Executive Brief, and downloadable figures are now available at: NavigatingSolo.com/2026whitepaper
The survey was designed as a community snapshot rather than a nationally representative study. Participation was voluntary and self-selected, and the full paper discusses the methodology and limitations in detail.
The paper closes with a premise that I hope will continue to shape the conversation:
Solo aging is not a crisis to be solved. It is a reality to be supported.
For media inquiries:
Ailene Gerhardt, MA, BCPA, CSA®
Founder, Navigating Solo™ Network
Beacon Patient Solutions LLC
ailene@beaconpatientsolutions.com