Addressing Food Insecurities with Older People
In this webinar we heard about a large farm cooperative that grows and donates fresh fruits and vegetables, a multi-generational lunch program, and a unique collaboration between a food pantry and independent living facility. Representatives from these three innovative programs talked about how these programs provide nutritious food and meals for older people in our communities. Additionally, we learned about traditionally available food programs that help older adults live without hunger, like Meals on Wheels and SNAP.
Age Friendly Healthcare
Tune into this webinar to hear how health care systems in northern New England are transforming the way care is provided to include an emphasis on what older people want and need.
Age Friendly Summer
Hear creative and simple ways to make the most of summertime opportunities to benefit your lifelong community work.
Beyond Books: Libraries as Community Connectors for Older Adults
Libraries are often considered a central part of a community, especially in rural areas. At their core purpose, a library offers resources to its patrons, but what those resources are and how they are offered can vary from one library to the next. In this webinar, we hear about how libraries are tailoring their resources and building community partnerships to meet the unique needs and interests of older adults in their communities.
CHEF Webinar: Building Community Through Intergenerational Programs
Intergenerational programming can improve both the physical and mental health of older adults. Implementing program-based and place-based intergenerational activities supports and contributes to social relationships across generations, creating positive perceptions and benefits for all ages involved. How are organizations engaging people in different generations to interact in meaningful ways? How are we creating opportunities and spaces for folks of varying ages to learn from one another and see each other as resources?
Connecting the Dots – Addressing the Challenges of Hoarding Behavior
Public and private agencies and inter-disciplinary task forces across Northern New England are tackling the issue of hoarding through educational workshops, public awareness campaigns, and peer and individual support. For those who have friends, family or neighbors who exhibit hoarding behaviors, the challenges of assisting an individual are well-known. What is less well-known is how to assist people with hoarding behavior and what underlying issues trigger this behavior.
Creative Aging
Creative expression has helped to enhance the quality of life and promote lifelong learning for many older adults. Learn how community programs around our region promote creative aging by engaging older adults in participatory arts programs.
Difficult Conversations
Older people, like the rest of us, struggle with challenging situations and tough choices. Often, lifelong communities and age-friendly organizations are asked to help when an older person faces one of the tough decision points in life. The panelists will share stories, tips, and strategies for engaging in difficult conversations regarding driving cessation, alcohol use, and elder abuse and exploitation. All three of these issues can have a negative impact on the health and well-being on older folks. Age-friendly organizations have a role providing resources, connections to services and programs, and support for family members who are supporting an older person through one of these difficult conversations. Lifelong communities are a go-to source for information and connection and may actually be brought into one of these difficult conversations. Join us to learn how to navigate the choppy waters of a difficult conversation and help people get the support they need to enjoy their best possible life.
Digging Deeper into Difficult Conversations
This webinar took a deeper dive into the navigating the difficult conversations that age-friendly organizations and lifelong communities may be asked to help facilitate. Rudy Fedrizzi shared how he has used deliberative dialogue to lead conversations about isolation.
Empowering Our Wellbeing: Supporting Mental Wellness as We Age
As we get older, we face transitions like retirement, loss of loved ones, or health concerns. These can trigger feelings of isolation, grief, or anxiety. Supporting mental wellness throughout the lifespan, including in older age, is necessary to help us navigate these challenges. Join us as we explore different mental wellness supports for older adults.
Evidence Based Fall Prevention Programming
Falls are the leading cause of injury among older adults. Participants in this webinar heard how different fall-prevention strategies are reducing health care costs and improving the well-being of older adults. You’ll also learn how to bring these effective evidence-based programs to your own community!
For the Love of Fido: Older Adults and Pets
Hear from programs that help older adults enjoy their pets and that bring older adults and pets together.
Getting Outside and Getting Moving
It is hard to deny the benefits of getting outside and getting moving. Some experts call “lacing up your shoes, opening the door and heading outside” a “magic cure” that can improve mood and sleep, strengthen relationships and even lower the need for pain medications. Together we explored the many ways we can help facilitate the benefits of getting outside for members of our communities…including ourselves.
Healthy Living with Technology
For those of us who want to age in our own homes as safely and comfortably as possible, today’s technology is more than just convenient—it can be a huge boost to both our health and our quality of life. We also heard how virtual reality is helping medical professionals understand what it is like to experience illness and death. If you have ever gone to a medical appointment and wished the professional could experience your symptoms, this tech has made it possible.
Innovations in Medicare Advantage that Support Healthy Aging
Tune into this webinar to hear the innovative ideas medicare advantage plans in northern New England have implemented to support healthy aging.
Intergenerational Gifts: Higher Education and Healthy Aging Initiatives
Colleges and universities across Northern New England are getting involved and making important contributions to how we age in our communities. Hear from a variety of higher education institutions about how they bring students and older adults together to learn from each other. Featured initiatives include friendly-visitor programs, social work programs designed to address workforce challenges, and community-based wellness events.
Isolation: Innovative Ideas from Northern New England
We highlighted some of the great ideas that are “popping up” in lifelong communities and aging in place initiatives in northern New England. The format will be a little different from some of our other webinars. New England is famous for its ingenuity. The lifelong communities and aging in place initiatives develop innovative ideas to address needs. During this webinar, we celebrated those innovative ideas that encourage people to enjoy social participation, especially during the winter months when getting out can be challenging. We will be “seeding” the conversation with several “kernels of corn” that are already popping in northern New England.
Let’s Talk – Starting, Facilitating and Promoting Conversations about Care in our Later Years
Age-friendly organizations and lifelong communities shared innovative strategies to help facilitate conversations about late-life care and needs with folks in our communities. Whether you want to learn how to facilitate this conversation among your friends and family, within your age-friendly community or your organization, or across systems in your region, this webinar will offer examples of ways to get the conversation started, and build initiatives and programs to help facilitate that conversation across your community or organization.
Libraries as Leaders
Research shows that libraries are trusted sources of information and that they are often the social hub of a community. During this webinar we will hear how libraries in our region are transforming their spaces into age-and dementia-friendly centers where older people can socialize, learn new skills, have fun, and access a range of public and private services.
Life Planning Conversations: Preparing Staff and Volunteers
Advanced directives, powers of attorney, health-care proxies, and end-of-life plans: all very useful and important life planning tools, but it can feel overwhelming and scary to try and create them on our own. We all need support from a trusted person to help us use these tools to give voice to what matters most to us as we age. Often, direct service staff and volunteers are in a position to offer this support. In this webinar, we’ll discuss best practices to successfully engage in these important conversations.
Northern New England Response to Covid-19
This special Covid-19 webinar discusses challenges and promising practices to support the health of older people in northern New England. Learn how the different shelter-in-place orders effect the work in age-friendly organizations and lifelong communities. We will also share some emerging practices developing to meet the needs in communities across northern New England.
Partnering for Better Health
Community initiative leaders, volunteers, and partners told us about the ways they are partnering with other organizations to bring more opportunities for older adults to maintain or even improve their health. Many age-friendly communities partner with a range of providers to promote healthy aging in their communities. From evidence-based classes to community nurses, and nutrition tips to health fairs and adaptive tool tables – great things are happening.
Starting Over: Grandparents Raising Grandchildren
In the United States, more than three million children are being raised by their grandparents or other relatives. When grandparents assume this responsibility, they often take on added financial and legal responsibilities with little outside assistance. About 25% of those kinship families are in rural areas where it can be even more challenging to find needed resources and supports than it is in large cities. During this webinar, we will hear how age-friendly organizations in northern New England are supporting grand-families and helping to meet the economic, social, and health needs of grandparents who are raising their grandchildren.
Supporting Community Health Webinar
This webinar highlighted three innovative and successful initiatives: the SASH Model in Vermont, the Enhanced Options Counseling Program in Maine, and the Upper Valley Community Nursing Project in New Hampshire.
Supporting Older LGBTQ Adults Webinar
Many older LGBTQ adults face unique barriers as they age. In addition to the same aging challenges we all experience, fear of bias and actual bias and discrimination can make it difficult for older LGBTQ adults to access the supports and services they need to remain healthy and active in their communities.
Staying Connected: Promoting Social Connectivity During COVID-19
It is no secret that the COVID-19 pandemic has severely escalated the risk of loneliness and social isolation for many people. Necessary protective measures such as quarantine and physical distancing help keep everyone safe and prevent the spread of the virus, however, in northern New England particularly, our geography plays a role in social isolation as well. Many small towns with limited services and long rural roads with scattered homes make connecting with others more difficult as we age. As we are approaching the winter months and holiday season, many communities and organizations continue to develop ways to maintain connection with people with diverse needs in the community.
Stronger Together: Building Intergenerational Programs to Support Healthy Aging
According to a survey, 92% of Americans believe activities bringing together children/youth and older adults can reduce loneliness across all ages. Creating opportunities for social connection among mixed aged groups helps to cultivate a sense of purpose with benefits for all generations involved. During this webinar, we heard from a variety of programs that are offering mixed age opportunities to encourage connection, joy, and address community needs through art, nature and companionship.
Tackling the Challenge of Social Isolation
Social isolation increases as people age; factors such as disability and loss of loved ones can put older adults at risk of experiencing social isolation. In Northern New England, our geography plays a role in social isolation among older people; small towns with limited services and long rural roads with scattered homes make connecting with others more difficult as we age. The good news is that individuals and groups across our region recognize the importance of social connection, and are employing creative and effective strategies to address this health issue.
Tools for Courageous Conversations: Older Adult Substance Misuse and Suicide Prevention
This critically important conversation covers programs and resources across Northern New England that help older adults with substance misuse, mental health, and suicide prevention. Suicide is one of the leading causes of death in the U.S., and older people are especially vulnerable for a number of reasons. Talking about these topics is hard, and deeply ingrained ageist beliefs can get in the way of taking action. But we can shift our mindset and leverage simple, yet powerful tools and resources to save lives. You’ll leave with concrete strategies to overcome the stigma of talking about substance misuse and suicide with older people.