Tag Archives: public policy

MAPC Seeks Feedback on MetroCommon2050, the Greater Boston Region’s Long Term Plan

May 19th, 2021

MetroCommon2050 is Greater Boston’s next long-range regional plan. It’s a plan for all of the 101 cities and towns and countless neighborhoods of the region of the Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC).

Through research and community engagement, MAPC gathered opinions from thousands throughout the region, including people of different ages, backgrounds, racial and ethnic backgrounds, walks of life, and perspectives. This allowed us to confirm that the goals in MetroCommon reflect Greater Boston’s hopes and dreams and that our view of the problems that need to be solved is correct.   Continue reading →

AARP and Congress for the New Urbanism Release ‘A Handbook for Improved Neighborhoods’

May 19th, 2021

A new toolkit developed by  AARP Livable Communities and the Congress for the New Urbanism called  Enabling Better Places: A Handbook for Improved Neighborhoods provides options for communities to consider as they identify and select small-scale, incremental policy changes that can be made without overhauling entire zoning codes and land use policies.

This toolkit could be especially useful in the relatively new context of the Housing Choice Law, which reduced the number of votes required to enact certain kinds of zoning ordinances and bylaws from a ⅔ supermajority to a simple majority, among other changes. Continue reading →

AP-NORC Survey: Long-Term Care in America and Americans Preference to ‘Age at Home’

May 4th, 2021

Given the choice, a sizable majority of the public would prefer to receive long-term care in a home setting as they age rather than move into a nursing home, according to a new study from The AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research and funded by The SCAN Foundation.

Overall, 88% percent of adults favor getting ongoing living assistance in their own home or in a loved one’s home. Just 2% would want to age in a nursing home and 10% prefer a senior community. Continue reading →

N4A, engAGED Recognize Age Strong Boston’s Civic Academy as a Best Practice for Keeping Older Adults Engaged

September 23rd, 2020

engAGED: The National Resource Center for Engaging Older Adults is a national effort to increase social engagement among older adults. Administered by the National Association of Area Agencies on Aging (n4a) with funding from the U.S. Administration for Community
Living—and in collaboration with Generations United, Older Adults Technology Services (OATS) and Osher Lifelong Learning Institutes—engAGED identifies and disseminates information about emerging trends, resources and replication strategies that the Aging
Network can customize to engage older adults in their communities. Continue reading →

MHAC’s COVID-19 Updates and Resources: 8/27/20

August 27th, 2020

In addition to an evolving COVID-19 resource page, MHAC is continuing to collect and share updates on COVID-19 from state government, federal agencies like the Centers for Disease Control, and other key stakeholders.

These updates are to help and inform a wide range of individuals and partners, including communities working to become more age- and dementia friendly.

Please see the latest updates below: Continue reading →

How Healthy Aging Data Report Can Contribute to Fight Against COVID-19 in Massachusetts

April 22nd, 2020

Thanks to the research team at UMass-Boston’s Gerontology Institute with support from the Tufts Health Plan Foundation, the public can access the Healthy Aging Data Report with community profiles on all 351 cities and towns in the state on the Massachusetts Healthy Aging Collaborative website.

Now, that research team developed additional data to aid local leaders as well as Age-and Dementia Friendly coalitions in addressing COVID-19. Continue reading →

Home Alone Revisited: Family Caregivers Providing Complex Care

April 17th, 2019

AARP’s Public Policy Institute announced a follow-up study that builds on the landmark Home Alone study, which was the first national look at how family caregivers are managing medical/nursing tasks, such as managing medications, changing dressings, and other tasks in the home setting, that are typically performed by trained professionals in hospitals.

The new study – called Home Alone Revisited, focuses on cross-generational and multicultural caregivers and provides a list of 10 recommendations based on their findings.

Continue reading →