Barnstable County is proud to announce its official enrollment as the 960th community in the AARP Network of Age-Friendly States and Communities and the 122nd such recognition in Massachusetts. The initiative is led by Barnstable County Human Services and the Healthy Aging Cape Cod coalition that includes councils on aging, Cape Cod Commission, Cape Cod Regional Transit Authority and many others.
The AARP age-friendly network encourages states, counties, cities, towns, and rural areas to understand and prepare for the rapid aging of the nation’s population. Through this initiative, elected officials and community leaders work together to strengthen their community’s features and services that foster livable communities, from childhood through retirement.
The County’s report entitled COVID-19 Pandemic Response to Older Adults on Cape Cod: After-Action Report and Recommendations (September 2022), funded by Point32Health Foundation, documents the primary unmet needs of transportation, food access, access to testing, vaccination, medical care and prescriptions, the technology divide, and the cascading effects on life and health of social isolation experienced by older adults on Cape Cod. These impacts were felt regardless of financial status. Unmet needs were identified among older adults and disabled persons across the socio-economic continuum.
With the 15 communities on Cape Cod working collaboratively on an age- and dementia friendly regional initiative, they join other regional efforts in Massachusetts that cover nearly 200 cities and towns working to improve healthy aging.