Every May, the Administration for Community Living leads our nation’s observance of Older Americans Month (OAM). The theme for 2021 is "Communities of Strength." Older adults have built resilience and strength over their lives through successes, failures, joys, and...
NEWS
Mass. Residents Age 55+ and Those With One Medical Condition Become Eligible for COVID-19 Vaccine
As of Monday, April 5th, residents 55+ and residents with one certain medical condition are eligible to receive a COVID-19 vaccine at any of the Commonwealth’s over 300 vaccination locations, including 269 pharmacy locations. With this group, more than 1 million...
Age-Friendly Funding Alert: Tufts Health Plan Foundation, Boston Digital Equity Fund, Fallon Health, AARP Community Challenge
Periodically, the Massachusetts Healthy Aging Collaborative shares funding opportunities that advance inclusive, age- and dementia friendly community efforts along with policies, practices and initiatives that support healthy aging. Please see and share the...
New Data on Advance Care Planning During Pandemic Coincides with Preparations for Healthcare Decisions Day
As the toll of COVID-19 continues to climb, newly released poll data suggest an opportunity to use the pandemic as a prompt for discussing and documenting older adults’ wishes for care, in case of seriously illness or injury. Overall, 59% of the 50- to 80-year-olds...
Report from RWJF and Healthy Places by Design Recommends Community-Based Solutions to Improve Social Connectedness
To amplify learning around social isolation, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s (RWJF) Global Ideas for U.S. Solutions team invested in six projects that reached diverse places and people as well as a learning network coordinated by Healthy Places by Design. This...
Join MHAC for ‘Equity in Aging’ Webinar
Along with partners from AARP Massachusetts, the Public Health Institute of Western Mass., and UMass-Lowell, the Massachusetts Healthy Aging Collaborative (MHAC) is launching Equity in Aging, a statewide workgroup and webinar series that will inform and strengthen our...
Report: Growing Assistive Technology Awareness through State Programs, Partnerships, and Innovation
Building partnerships through collaboration between assistive technology programs and long-term services and supports (LTSS) agencies is one way to expand awareness and facilitate access to AT devices and services. The AARP Public Policy Institute produced a report in...
US HHS to Expand Access to COVID-19 Vaccines for Older Adults and People with Disabilities
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), through a partnership between the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Administration for Community Living (ACL), will provide nearly $100 million to help increase vaccinations among older...
Older Adult Population Driving Growth in Mass. ‘Dual Eligible’ Membership
According to Mass Medicaid Policy Institute's report, "A Primer on the Dual Eligible Population in Massachusetts," over the past five years, MassHealth dual eligible membership, which currently stands at 312,000 residents, has seen growth driven by its older...
Baker Administration Releases Phase 4 Updated Guidance to Health Care and Human Services Providers
As Massachusetts begins Phase 4, this week the Executive Office of Health and Human Services and respective agencies released a series of new guidance documents for health care and human service providers that supports the safe reopening of programs and provider sites...