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Walking in the middle of the street—Community Design and Healthy Aging

July 28th, 2014

By Dillon Sussman, Senior Planner, Pioneer Valley Planning Commission

One of the joys of being a land planner is that what I learn at work helps me understand how communities function and why people act the way they do. Here’s an example. A year ago I moved from one neighborhood to another in the same city. One of the first things that struck me was the difference in pedestrian behavior. In my old neighborhood, we walked on the sidewalk. In the new one, people usually walk in the street. Continue reading →

The Big Idea in 4 Minutes: Coming of Age in Aging America

July 21st, 2014

By Nora Moreno Cargie, Executive Director, Tufts Health Plan Foundation; Vice President, Corporate Citizenship, Tufts Health Plan

My husband and I often quip, when asked where we’re from, that we were born, raised and ruined all within the city limits of Chicago. So we were both surprised when I said yes to the notion of moving to Boston. The decision was a big one, but not a difficult one. The work is compelling and challenging—starting a new life, in a new city, in a new field is exciting but risky. Bostonians, I’ve read, can be cold and unwelcoming. This has not been my experience. Continue reading →

Chronic Disease Self-Management Training at the Department of Revenue

July 15th, 2014

Cross-posted from WellMASS
By Ana Karchmer, CDSME Program Coordinator, MA Executive Office of Elder Affairs

Many of us have to deal with one or more chronic health conditions. Learning how to successfully manage our conditions is key to living active and productive lives. Regardless of the particular illness we might have, we all have similar emotions when dealing with chronic illnesses. We might feel angry, depressed, anxious, frustrated, and afraid. Sometimes, we may wish we had a set of “tools” we could use to help us deal with these unpleasant emotions. Continue reading →

Getting Your Message Out to Get Results

June 23rd, 2014

By Brianne Miers, Senior Manager, Marketing and Communications, Root Cause

Most non-profit organizations are constantly struggling with how to balance the need to get the word out on the good work they do with the realities of their limited staff time and funding. Recognizing this was the case for many of its grantees, the Tufts Health Plan Foundation invited me and several other experts to deliver a workshop one morning last week. Our goal was to provide the nearly 50 attendees from Massachusetts and Rhode Island nonprofits with some concrete advice on how to tackle a variety of communications challenges. Continue reading →

Aging with HIV

June 13th, 2014

by Stewart Landers, Director, U.S. Health Services, JSI Boston

While combination anti-retroviral therapy (ART) has transformed HIV from a killer into a chronic disease, it has created a large and growing group of people aging with HIV. People aged 50 and older accounted for almost one quarter (24 percent, 288,700) of the estimated 1.2 million people living with HIV infection in the U.S. in 2012. In addition, the CDC reported that in 2013, people aged 50 and older accounted for 21 percent (8,575) of the estimated 47,352 AIDS diagnoses in the United States. Continue reading →

Caregiving NOW: A Network on the Web for Minnesota Caregivers

April 1st, 2014

By Elizabeth Costello, JSI; Project Manager, www.mahealthyagingcollaborative.org

Just as websites and online communities like the Massachusetts Healthy Aging Collaborative can provide a platform for healthy aging professionals to engage, connect, and share information, they are also useful for other groups who can benefit from peer support, such as caregivers. Continue reading →

Making the Case for Aging in Community at the ASA Conference

March 31st, 2014

Cross-posted from Jewish Community Housing for the Elderly
By Amy Schectman, President and CEO, Jewish Community Housing for the Elderly
I attended a wonderful American Society on Aging conference. I learned many things and reinforced my knowledge of other areas. At the session I co-led with Ruth Palombo from the Tufts Health Foundation, we asked attendees to offer their suggestion on what we presented as a conundrum for professionals in our field: Continue reading →

A Healthy Aging Movement

February 26th, 2014

By Michael Doonan, PhD, Executive Director, Massachusetts Health Policy Forum

Something exciting is happening. There is growing action, energy, and engagement of people and organizations to make Massachusetts a leader in healthy aging. The goal is nothing short of reducing isolation, banishing ageism, and promoting active and engaged lifestyles and opportunities throughout the lifespan. Continue reading →

Purpose, Purpose, Purpose

February 24th, 2014

By Ruth Palombo, Senior Health Policy Officer, Tufts Health Plan Foundation
I just got back from a wonderful conference on positive aging sponsored by the Institute for the Ages in Sarasota, FL. My mind is still swirling. One theme that so many of the speakers addressed was purpose – having a reason to get up every day. It seems so simple, but often we become very distracted and lose sight of what is important and what matters most in our lives. Continue reading →

Bigger Frames for Healthy Aging

February 11th, 2014

By Walter Leutz, Heller School, Brandeis University
Last week I went to a meeting of the Healthy Living Center of Excellence advisory board meeting, and I met fellow board member George Iannuzzo, who is a graduate of the Chronic Disease Self-management Program. He is on the board in part to represent the CDSMP experience, and he did it well – pointing to his dog-eared CDSMP class book as his bible and relating how his CDSMP group has transitioned into a social support group that has continued and expanded three years after the class ended. He was an articulate and forceful embodiment of the learning, empowerment and social support that these groups foster. Continue reading →

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