Mac users: Increase text size by holding command and +. Decrease text size by holding command and -.By Elizabeth Costello, JSI; Project Manager, www.mahealthyagingcollaborative.org
Have you explored the Massachusetts Healthy Aging Data Report or downloaded your city or town’s Community Profile? How are you using the data report to improve the health of older adults in your community? Learn how members of the Healthy Aging Collaborative are taking action in their communities.
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By Allison Hackbarth, JSI Research & Training Institute, Inc. – Project Manager, Massachusetts Adult Immunization Coalition
Did you know that August is National Immunization Awareness Month? Now is the perfect time to get the word out about the importance of vaccinations for adults. National Immunization Awareness Month, held each August, provides an opportunity to highlight the value of immunization across the lifespan. Continue reading
By Beth Soltzberg, Program Coordinator, Jewish Family & Children’s Services
“After he was diagnosed, all of our friends disappeared.” These were the words of a guest at Jewish Family & Children’s Service (JF&CS)’ Memory Café about her husband’s diagnosis with Alzheimer’s. We have heard variations on this statement many times from participants in our Alzheimer’s Family Support Program and our Parkinson’s Family Support Program. As the new video by the Tufts Health Plan Foundation, Ethos AgeWell West Roxbury, ITNGreaterBoston, and Mystic Valley Elder Services states so eloquently, social isolation is “the most significant risk factor for people as they age.” I’m quoting Dale Mitchell, the executive director of Ethos, whose statement opens the video. Continue reading
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
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
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
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
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
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
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