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Baker Administration Celebrates Five Years of Accomplishments of the Governor’s Council to Address Aging in Massachusetts

September 22nd, 2022

In honor of the five-year anniversary of the Governor’s Council to Address Aging, Governor Charlie Baker, Secretary of Health and Human Services Marylou Sudders, and Secretary of Elder Affairs Elizabeth Chen joined Council Members and stakeholders at a celebratory meeting to reflect on the strides made to support healthy aging in Massachusetts.

Co-Chaired by Secretary Sudders and philanthropist Eileen Connors, the Governor’s Council to Address Aging was established via Executive Order in April 2017 with the goal of making the Commonwealth the most age-friendly state for people of all ages. Today’s final Council meeting under the Baker-Polito Administration was held at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where Governor Baker first signed the Executive Order that launched the Council. Continue reading →

AARP Announces Resource on ‘Discovering and Developing Missing Middle Housing’

September 21st, 2022

Created by AARP Livable Communities and Opticos Design, Discovering and Developing Missing Middle Housing provides age- and dementia friendly communities, local leaders, building and planning professionals, and involved community members with information about what Missing Middle Housing is, where it still exists, and why it’s time for communities nationwide to return this versatile residence type to America’s housing portfolio. Continue reading →

New Report Aims to Better Address Health Issues of Family Caregivers

September 21st, 2022

The report “Chronic Disease Family Caregiving: The Framework for Family Caregiving and Public Health,” was developed with support from The John A. Hartford Foundation and in partnership with the National Association of Chronic Disease Directors (NACDD). This framework is based on recognizing two main root level issues: that family caregiver health and wellness is an issue that must be addressed and that care coordination efforts are of particular concern as the complexity of care is increasing. Continue reading →

New Data Shows Where Funding for Affordable Connectivity Program is Being Spent

September 14th, 2022

With a new data dashboard, advocates and stakeholders working to advance digital equity can see state and local stats on where and how $14.2 billion in federal funding is being spent via the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP), which was designed to help American households pay for the monthly cost of their Internet subscription.

The Massachusetts Healthy Aging Collaborative encourages communities working to become more age- and dementia friendly to use the data to promote local engagement of older adults who may be eligible for the program promoting digital access. Continue reading →

AARP Livable Communities Team Requesting Experiences and Best Practices on Age-Friendly Communities in Mass.

September 14th, 2022

There is so much amazing work being done as part of the age- and dementia friendly movement in Massachusetts and AARP’s Livable Communities team is requesting that every network community (those recognized in the AARP age-friendly network) complete the Annual Survey of Age-Friendly Community Leaders to gain insight on those efforts (*Note: if your community is working together with other communities (regional approach), AARP only needs one response per region). Continue reading →

NADTC Conducting Survey to Guide Work Promoting Transportation for Older Adults, People with Disabilities

September 14th, 2022

The National Aging and Disability Transportation Center (NADTC) – a program of the Federal Transit Administration administered by Easterseals and USAging with guidance from ACL – wants to hear about challenges and promising practices in providing accessible transportation to older adults and people with disabilities. Survey responses will help influence the work NADTC does next year.

Take their brief survey by September 28 to share your thoughts.

FDA Approves Over-the-Counter Sale of Basic Hearing Aids

September 13th, 2022

According to AARP’s Public Policy Blog, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved over-the-counter sale of basic hearing aids for people with mild to moderate hearing loss via a  final rule taking effect 60 days from the date of publication (August 16).

This means that people will be able to buy these hearing aids in pharmacies, other retail stores, and online without a prescription. Allowing over-the-counter sale of these devices is expected to stimulate competition and bring down prices. Continue reading →

MHAC Contributes to Report ‘Care Work in Massachusetts: A Call for Racial and Economic Justice for a Neglected Sector’

September 7th, 2022

Care work has forever been critical to the health and basic functioning of our society. With the steady aging of our population, care jobs are also among the fastest growing in our economy. A new report from Boston indicators and SkillWorks with input from the Massachusetts Healthy Aging Collaborative (MHAC) discusses trends, data and policy solutions around improving the quality and conditions of care work through an equity lens. Continue reading →