Health and wellness are underpinnings of the age-friendly movement.
Working to make a community more livable for people of all ages, therefore, can and should align with efforts to make a community’s residents healthier.
That’s why the next in-person meeting of the Age-Friendly NJ alliance will explore ways that age-friendly communities can align their efforts with the statewide Mayors Wellness Campaign (MWC), a nearly 20-year-old initiative that offers tools and strategies for mayors and town leaders to improve overall health and wellness in their communities.
The April 14 meeting in Fair Lawn will feature a presentation from Katie Bisaha, Program Officer for the New Jersey Health Care Quality Institute, which leads the Mayors Wellness Campaign in partnership with the New Jersey State League of Municipalities.
“Our goal in hosting this meeting is to bring together community leaders, age friendly advocates, and local changemakers for an energizing in-person session focused on how we can better integrate our efforts to create healthier communities,” said Dr. Cathy Rowe, executive director of New Jersey Advocates for Aging Well, which coordinates the AFNJ Alliance. “We hope to spark ideas, strengthen partnerships, and inspire action.”
About 435 communities in the state have participated in the campaign – some taking the annual Mayors Wellness Campaign Pledge, others going beyond that to develop innovative programs promoting mental health, social inclusion, wellness education and other community-specific goals.
“Every community’s needs are different,” Bisaha said. “How each community structures its Mayors Wellness Campaign generally reflects those different needs”.
In that manner, the Mayors Wellness Campaign operates similarly to the 33 New Jersey communities and counties participating in the AARP Network of Age-Friendly States and Communities, each of which develop action plans stemming from surveys and data collected about their community’s specific needs and characteristics.
Bisaha will share with those in attendance some examples of MWC programs that have focused on supporting older adults and promoting healthy aging through evidence-based, community-driven strategies.
Although it was initially launched as a response to rising obesity rates, the Mayors Wellness Campaign has broadened its focus to “all aspects of health and the many factors that impact health,” Bisaha said.
“Health isn’t just an aspect of what we eat or how we move, it’s also connected to the places where we live – whether we have access to mental health services, safe streets and walking paths, affordable and accessible housing and many other community factors,” Bisaha said.
The Quality Institute regularly updates a handbook and tools for communities to use in their campaigns. Those tools are grouped into four categories: physical health and nutrition, environment and health, education and health, and arts and health. Many of the specific programs and initiatives mirror some of the World Health Organization 8 domains of Age-Friendly Communities framework as well as the principles and ideals in the New Jersey Human Services Age-Friendly Blueprint.
“Age-friendly work and the Mayors Wellness Campaign do have many similar goals, and there are opportunities to build community partnerships around those common goals and to put ideas into action,” Bisaha said. “I’m eager to share some examples of how other communities in the state have used the Mayors Wellness Campaign tools to make their communities a better place to live, work, age and play.”
The April 14 meeting will be held from 10 am to 12 pm at the Fair Lawn Community Center, 10-10 20th St, Fair Lawn. Click here to register to attend.