The Massachusetts Commission on Falls Prevention, which is led by staff at the state’s Department of Public Health, released their biennial legislative report with recommendations on improving how health care providers assess and refer older adults for risk of falls. Continue reading
Tag Archives: age-friendly communities
Tufts Health Plan and Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Officially Come Together
Harvard Pilgrim Health Care and Tufts Health Plan announced their organizations have formally combined, effective January 1, 2021, having received all regulatory approvals. Continue reading
MHAC: 2020 Year in Review
Creating an environment where a broad set of stakeholders can come together to address the needs of a community has never been more important and valuable than this past year. Continue reading
Facing a Pandemic: Grandfamilies Living Together During COVID-19 and Thriving Beyond
Nationwide, older adults are being cautioned to keep their distance from children because of the heightened risk of infection from COVID-19. But for some families—grandfamilies—that distance is impossible.
Facing a Pandemic: Families Living Together During COVID-19 and Thriving Beyond elevates the unique needs of grandfamilies amplified by the pandemic. These grandfamily caregivers are the first line of defense for children during the pandemic, having stepped in when parents cannot raise them for many reasons, including cases where children’s parents have died from the COVID-19 virus. Continue reading
Age-Friendly Winter Spaces Guide Aims to Help Communities Embrace Winter, Promote Physical Activity and Social Engagement
Through grant funding, collaboration, and technical support, communities across Massachusetts have an opportunity to support residents of all ages in remaining physically active and socially engaged this winter.
The pandemic has heightened the awareness and importance of social engagement, which cities and towns can promote with a new guide developed by the Executive Office of Elder Affairs, WalkBoston and the Massachusetts Healthy Aging Collaborative. Continue reading
Boston and New Bedford Featured in AARP’s Age-Friendly COVID-19 Response Highlights
Among the nation’s communities and local leaders on the frontlines of the global coronavirus pandemic are the more than 450 towns, cities, counties and states enrolled in the AARP Network of Age-Friendly States and Communities – 74 of which are in Massachusetts.
AARP highlighted COVID-19 response in age-friendly communities across the country and included examples from Boston and New Bedford. Continue reading
LGBT Aging 2025: Strategies for Achieving a Healthy and Thriving LGBT Older Adult Community in Massachusetts
A new report from The Fenway Institute finds that older LGBTQ adults in the Commonwealth report being diagnosed with depression at twice the rate of their straight, cisgender peers, and are twice as likely to fall and be injured in a fall over the past year.
It also finds that while older LGBTQ adults are more likely to hold a college degree, they are more likely to report having had difficulty paying for housing or food over the past year. LGBTQ older adults living in rural areas of the state expressed concern about the lack of options for LGBTQ-affirming health care, as well as their on-going experiences with strong anti-LGBTQ prejudice and harassment in public settings and senior housing. Continue reading
Lasell University, MGA Seek Info to Connect Students with Opportunities in Aging Services
The RoseMary B. Fuss Center for Research on Aging and Intergenerational Studies at Lasell University is working with the Massachusetts Gerontology Association (MGA) to raise awareness about careers in aging and explore ways to connect students at our colleges and universities to local internship and related opportunities in the field of aging. Continue reading
Mass. Attorney General’s Office Releases Report and Call to Action on Racial Justice and Equity in Health
Informed by data and stakeholder interviews, the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office released a report, “Building Toward Racial Justice and Equity in Health: A Call to Action,” meant to lay out ways stakeholders should come together to address the systemic health inequities facing people of color. Continue reading
MHAC Webinar Recording: A Conversation on Healthy Aging
Recently, leaders from the John A. Hartford Foundation, Milbank Memorial Fund, Mass. Healthy Aging Collaborative and four age- and dementia friendly community initiatives in Massachusetts joined together for a webinar titled “A Conversation on Healthy Aging.” Continue reading