Survey to Kick Off Age & Dementia Friendly Initiative

By David Dunbar

The effort to make Bellingham more “Age & Dementia Friendly” moved forward last month with plans to mail a community assessment survey to some 4,500 town residents over the age of 55.

Age & Dementia Friendly communities number nearly 800 across the U.S. (and Bellingham is one of them). Their objective is to make communities friendly, safe, desirable places for seniors to live.

Fourteen members of the Bellingham Age & Dementia Friendly Task Force gathered at the Senior Center to learn about plans to release a 40-question survey that will ask about seniors’ experience in housing, transportation, social participation, care giving, health, employment, and retirement plans.  Cornerstone at Milford Assisted Living provided lunch.

The community assessment is part of larger project by University of Massachusetts (UMass) Boston to assist cities and towns to become more sensitive to the needs of residents as they age. 

“We’re promoting active aging,” explained Caitlin Coyle, the Director of the university’s Center for Social and Demographic Research on Aging. “We want to contribute to communities to help their residents age in home.” She was in Bellingham last month to talk to the Task Force. She added, “An age friendly community enables people of all ages to actively participate in community life and treats all of us with respect, regardless of our age.”

Coyle says results from the survey will serve as “a conversation starter and advocacy tool.”

On March 4, yellow postcards were mailed to all 4,500 qualified residents asking them to be on the lookout for the survey. The survey itself was mailed the following week. Hopefully, folks will take about 15 minutes to answer the mostly multiple-choice questions and send it back by April 7.  Coyle says a 25-50% response rate is typical.

The link to the survey will open on March 11 at www.bellinghamma.org for those who want to complete the survey online. 

Meanwhile, plans are being made to hold three focus groups and to continue interviews with “key informants” including the police and fire chiefs and the town manager.

By the end of the year, Coyle will present findings from the research and issue a final assessment of where Bellingham stands – and where it can go – to make the town as “Age & Dementia Friendly” as possible.

Present at the recent Task Force meeting were members including Dave Cutler, Principal of Bellingham’s Middle School. “We have a lot of grandparents whose kids are in our school and who are involved with the school system. They should feel welcomed and included.”

Also present was State Representative Mike Soter. “This is a great start! We have a lot to do. I think more older residents would stay in town if there were affordable places to downsize.”

Coyle, who has experience helping towns across Massachusetts on their paths to becoming Age & Dementia Friendly, points out that “slowness is often associated with success.” And Bellingham has begun the journey to a community where you can “Grow Up and Grow Old.”