Neighborhood and Built Environment
104 - Neighborhood and Built Environment: Age-Friendly Communities: Research and Local Examples
Monday, July 16
1:15 PM - 2:30 PM
Location: Regency Ballroom-Lower Level
Speaker(s)
-
-
-
JZ
Moderator(s)
-
Sandra Howard, B.A.
Senior Policy Advisor
Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health, US Department of Health and Human Services
Jennifer Raymond, JD, MBA-Creating Age Friendly Communities Through Collaborative Practice and Policies: The Massachusetts Model
Barbara Laymon, MPH, PhD-• Planning for Healthy Aging: Local Health Departments and Community Health Improvement Plans
Sophie Tentrop, MA-Shared Housing : A New Approach to Address Isolation, Lack of Affordable Housing and Poverty in a Growing Aging Population
Jamie Zwerin, BS, SSW-Active Aging: A Collaboration Between Public Health and Aging Services
To create a context for healthy aging, a community must attend to the social determinants of health in the lives of seniors. The task may seem outside the bounds of any local agency. There may be no single organization capable of solving the challenges of social isolation in later years, or a built environment hostile to the needs of frail elderly, or the lack of health literacy that will affect seniors. Panelists in this session will focus on examples of collaboration among local agencies and partner organizations that promote “age-friendly” communities.
• Barbara Laymon will describe community health assessment and community health improvement planning, two processes in place at most local health departments across the country. They provide an opportunity for concerned partners to collaborate on long-term strategies to address the complex factors that can support healthy aging.
• Massachusetts has a rich history of embracing an “aging in all policies” approach. Jennifer Raymond will present the Commonwealth’s current effort to systematize its approach through the growth of “age-friendly communities.”
• Jamie Zwerin will demonstrate that Public Health and Aging Services can collaborate and combine staff and funding to support Healthy Aging in communities. In 2013, Tooele County Aging Services was combined with Tooele County Health Department, providing a unique opportunity to develop innovative strategies to reach the senior population, including evidence based programs to promote wellness, and providing resources and transportation options for seniors and public health clients.
• Sophie Tentrop will introduce Shared Housing – a new approach to address isolation, lack of affordable housing and poverty in a growing aging population. The program was initially established through a partnership between the YWCA and Home of the Sparrow, a Pennsylvania non-profit that prevents homelessness for women and children in Chester County.
Learning Objectives:
- Describe community health assessment and improvement planning related to Healthy Aging, according to the five categories of the Social Determinants of Health Framework.
- Articulate the strategic priorities for advancing an age friendly state.
- Discuss how Public Health and Aging Services can collaborate and combine staff and funding to support Healthy Aging in the community.