Age- and Dementia Friendly Massachusetts

Creating communities to grow up and grow old together

Age- and Dementia Friendly Massachusetts is a powerful movement, coordinated by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, to make communities more welcoming and livable for older adults and people of all ages. Over 200 Massachusetts cities and towns are exploring ways to become more age- and dementia-friendly.

ReiMAgine Aging is a multi-year state plan that brings together key leaders in state & local government, health care, housing, transportation, and community and philanthropic organizations to create cities & towns where people can grow up and grow old together. Excitingly, the movement empowers older persons to have a leading voice in creating ways to live well, work and volunteer in their community.

MA Age- and Dementia Friendly Integration Toolkit is a great place to start to help make your community welcome for people of all ages and abilities. Learn more in Resources below.

Honoring Choices Partners and Health Care Planning Ambassadors are taking part in Age-and Dementia Friendly MA and New England!

Honoring Choices Partners & Ambassadors

Make a plan for quality care all through your life

Being part of an age- and dementia friendly or livable community means ensuring adults & families can access key services, quality health care, affordable housing options, reliable transportation, and have open spaces to gather together. For adults 50 & older, it also means being able to live as independently as possible, and work and volunteer in their community.

The Honoring Choices Community Partners and Health Care Planning Ambassadors strengthen communities by helping adults, 18 years old and older, make a personal health care plan and connect to essential care to improve healthy living. Over 500 trained Ambassadors have become the eyes and ears of their community. They confidently help adults complete a Health Care Proxy and Personal Directive using the Getting Started Tool Kit, address barriers such as language, culture and ability, and help to improve community resources so all adults can access lifelong quality care.

The Alzheimer Association and Honoring Choices have partnered to provide the Ambassadors with a packet of information and tools to help engage adults with memory concerns in planning conversations. The Ambassadors also inform adults, families and caregivers about the supportive network of Memory Cafés throughout Massachusetts, thanks to our partnership with Dementia Friends MA and Jewish Family and Children's Services.

Age- and Dementia Friendly Framingham

Ambassadors help improve access to equitable care

Age- and Dementia Friendly Framingham coalition members, from the council on aging, housing, transportation, public health, assisted living and community groups, became Health Care Planning Ambassadors to confidently:

ENGAGE adults in planning discussions to complete a Health Care Proxy & Personal Directive;
LISTEN to consumer feedback to identify real-life barriers and create a more livable community;
CONNECT adults to needed care, using vital feedback to improve access to quality equitable care.

Each coalition member brings the Ambassador Program and Tool Kits back to their individual organizations to train staff and volunteers and host fun & informative community events.

Working with Lauren R. Pratt, MPH, REHS/RS, Community Health Program Coordinator, Honoring Choices supports Age-and Dementia Friendly Framingham's collective goal to elevate the voice and knowledge of older persons and help shape and improve community resources.

Recently Age- Dementia Friendly Framingham (ADFF), and the ADFF coalition members had a great idea. They suggested HCM make a bilingual “I Have A Health Care Proxy” wallet card for their Spanish, Portuguese and Chinese speaking residents, to name an Agent on the backside of the card to be contacted in an emergency. The ADFF Ambassadors now can provide culturally sensitive conversations with a packet of translated documents and wallet cards, to help Framingham residents make a plan and receive equitable care in their community.

To host a no-cost Ambassador Workshop for your Age- and Dementia Friendly group, contact Ellen DiPaola, edipaola@honoringchoicesmass.com

New England Healthy Living Collective

6 New England states working together

Honoring Choices has joined forces with the Age –and Dementia Dementia Friendly and health care leaders across New England, to support more livable communities and improve access to health care information and equitable care. Thanks to a generous grant from Tufts Health Plan Foundation, Honoring Choices is convening key leaders from 6 states to share their deep expertise and successful programs to help transcend the barriers of race, language, culture & ability, while improving access to care through better transportation, housing options, nutrition programs and community services. Together, we can flex a New England muscle to improve high quality care for all adults living and traveling in New England.

New England Healthy Living Collective webpage includes-

Free, downloadable state-specific health care planning tools and documents
State-by-state resources to access local care
Come join the NE Collective. Everyone is welcome! Learn more here.

Resources

Free information, tools and local events

Come join the movement! You can download free information, tool kits and learn how to get involved. Please let us know how you are helping your community become age-and dementia friendly, and we'll post your information here. Contact Ellen, edipaola@honoringchoicesmass.com

ReiMAgine Aging, Commonwealth of Massachusetts

ReiMAgine Aging is the Age-Friendly Massachusetts Action Plan. It serves as the state’s multiyear plan to make the Commonwealth, as a whole, more age- and dementia-friendly. The goal is to amplify, align and coordinate local, regional and statewide efforts to create a welcoming and livable Commonwealth as residents grow up and grow older together. In accordance with the recommendations of the Governor's Council to Address Aging in Massachusetts, the Commonwealth became the second state in the nation to join AARP's Network of Age-Friendly States and Communities. The statewide initiative commits Massachusetts to thinking innovatively and differently about aging and being a great place to grow up and grow older together.

Gov. Baker announces MA as second state to join AARP's Network of Age- Friendly States and Communities
ReiMAgine Aging Action Plan
Age-and Dementia Friendly-One Page Summary
Event: June 26, 2019 ReiMAgine Aging Community Summit, Worcester, MA. Register Here.

MA Age -and Dementia Friendly Intergration Toolkit

The MA Executive Office of Elder Affairs provides this exciting toolkit designed for anyone working to make their community welcoming for people of all ages and abilities. The toolkit makes it easier to integrate age- and dementia friendly activities saving both time and resources. It does this by bringing together information from both the age- and dementia friendly movements and directing users to helpful guidance, examples, and case studies that illustrate how to streamline and achieve the goals of both movements no matter where the community is in the planning process.

Massachusetts Age- and Dementia Friendly Integration Toolkit

AARP's Network of Age-Friendly States And Communities

The AARP Network of Age-Friendly States and Communities serves as a catalyst to educate, encourage, promote and recognize improvements that make communities supportive for residents of all ages. The network provides cities, towns, counties and states throughout the U.S. with the resources to become more age-friendly by tapping into national and global research, planning models and best practices. Age-friendly or livable communities have walkable streets, housing and transportation options, access to key services and opportunities for residents to participate in community activities. In January 2018 Governor Baker announced that Massachusetts had enrolled in the AARP Network of Age-Friendly Communities, making MA the second state to do so in the nation.

AARP Network of Age-Friendly Communities
Massachusetts Towns & Cities list here.

Massachusetts Healthy Aging Collaborative

The Massachusetts Healthy Aging Collaborative (MHAC) is working to make Massachusetts a national leader in vibrant and inclusive age-friendly communities. MHAC is a network of leaders in community, health and wellness, government, advocacy, research, business, education and philanthropy who have come together—combining their expertise, experiences and resources—to rethink how communities support healthy aging. MHAC recently released the 2018 MA Health Aging Data Report, which serves "as a roadmap helping to identify strengths and needs in communities across the Commonwealth." The data report offers a detailed picture of the health of Massachusetts residents town-by-town. The MHAC website has a wealth of free resources, tool kits and information on how to join the Age-Friendly Network.

Alzheimer's Association of MA/NH

The Alzheimer's Association is the leading voluntary health organization in Alzheimer's care, support and research. Their mission is to eliminate Alzheimer's disease through the advancement of research; to provide and enhance care and support for all affected; and to reduce the risk of dementia through the promotion of brain health. They provide information, tools, a 24/7 Helpline and support for caregivers and adults. Honoring Choices is delighted to be collaborating with the Alzheimer’s Association to offer all Health Care Planning Ambassadors extended tools and resources to engage adults with memory concerns in planning conversations.

Dementia Friends Massachusetts

Dementia Friends is a global public awareness program that teaches five key messages about dementia and the simple things that every community member can do to make a difference. You can become a Dementia Friend by attending an hour-long information session in your community, or online, and join over 17 million people worldwide who are changing the way people talk, act and think about dementia.

Dementia Friends 2 minute video
“Find a Session” to join in an hour-long information session near you
Become a Dementia Friend online
TED TALK : "Memory cafes: making space for dementia and joy” by Beth Soltzberg | TEDxWaltham

Massachusetts Memory Cafés

Memory Cafés are welcoming places for people with forgetfulness or other changes in their thinking and for their family and friends. Each memory café is different, and you are welcome to attend as many as you wish. Some cafés invite guest artists, some offer education about memory changes, and some are just for relaxing and chatting. All are free of charge, and all cafés share one goal: to help guests feel comfortable and to know that they are not alone. The Percolator Memory Café Network helps to coordinate Memory Cafés in Massachusetts.

Memory Cafes 1 minute video English and Spanish
Massachusetts Memory Café Directory
National Memory Café Directory
Memory Café resources, including Café Toolkit
TED TALK : "Memory cafes: making space for dementia and joy” by Beth Soltzberg | TEDxWaltham

Dementia Friendly MA — Massachusetts Councils on Aging

Dementia Friendly Massachusetts (DFM) is an initiative of the Massachusetts Councils on Aging and a member of Dementia Friendly America. The state-wide grassroots movement, generously supported by the Tufts Health Plan Foundation, is comprised of organizations, individuals, and municipalities growing dementia friendly communities. The goal of DFM is to increase the number of municipalities around the Commonwealth that commit to supporting those living with dementia, their families, and care partners, by signing the DFM pledge. They host Idea Exchanges, which are quarterly, regional meetings held in all nooks, corners and crannies of the state. The 2 hour meetings provide a networking opportunity for people in that given area to come together to learn about DFM in general and to build their DF network; provide direct technical assistance in the form of Q and A and group discussion; and discuss a challenging topic that has been identified by the group at a prior meeting.

Dementia Friendly MA Introductory Flyer (English) (Spanish)
Register for Idea Exchanges
Dementia Friendly Massachusetts Map

Tufts Health Plan Foundation

Tufts Health Plan Foundation’s mission is to improve the health and wellness of the diverse communities they serve. Their vision is that all communities are vibrant and healthy because they integrate older people, view them as a critical asset in the community, and embrace transformational policies that lead to integrated best practices and improve individual health and wellness. The Foundation has given more than $32 million to Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island nonprofits that improve healthy living with an emphasis on older people, and will begin funding in Connecticut in 2019. The Foundation funds programs that move communities toward achieving age-friendly policies and practices that are relevant, focus on the most vulnerable, and include older people in the process.

Massachusetts Alzheimer Disease Research Center (MADRC)

The Massachusetts Alzheimer Disease Research Center (MADRC) mission is to support new research and enhance ongoing research by providing support and bringing together behavioral, biomedical, and clinical science investigators together to enrich the effectiveness of Alzheimer disease research, ultimately improving health care delivery. Conducting multi-disciplinary research at multiple sites including at the Center for Alzheimer’s Research and Treatment (CART) at Brigham and Women’s Hospital; training scientists and clinicians across institutions; and teaching and/or transferring new information concerning Alzheimer disease and related disorders within the community and among our collaborators is critical to our goals.

MADRC/CART is rolling out the Aging & Memory Loss Road Map Education Series at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and the second and third parts are scheduled for January 3, 2020 and February 7, 2020. Open to the public. Everyone is welcome! Email hhustead@bwh.harvard.edu or call 857 307-0708 for more information.