Connecticut Age Well Collaborative

Our #AgeWellAcrossCT staff tour wrapped up at Jonathan's Dream, a fully accessible playground located on the grounds of West Hartford's Mandell Jewish Community Center. A pioneer in its field, the playground helped inspire a national movement towards #inclusive play spaces. Visiting Jonathan's Dream was particularly fun because several of our team members play there with their own kiddos. Great to get the inside scoop on which equipment earned their highest marks! 😉 Visit our website to find all of our local picks — and plan your own tour! https://lnkd.in/ey6PZjbx

The next stop on our team's #AgeWellAcrossCT tour was Parkville Market, a food hall in Hartford that offers an incredible range of cuisines — Brazilian, Jamaican, Mexican, Vietnamese, and so much more. To make our lunch break extra-awesome, we were joined by Parkville's nominator, Marylou! Talking about what makes the market great, she told us, "Parkville Market is very #accessible to all. We have found the staff to be very accommodating and helpful with wheelchair users and people with disabilities. There is always a very diverse crowd of people there." Read about Parkville Market, and all of the AgeWell Across Connecticut local picks, on our website: https://lnkd.in/ey6PZjbx

We were thrilled to have the opportunity to collaborate with Rutgers, the Marin Aging and Disability Institute, and UC Davis on a presentation for the American Society on Aging's annual conference, On Aging 2025! Our presentation is titled 'Bridging Ageism and Ableism to Shift Mindsets and Fuel a National Movement' — Christina Grey, our Community Partnerships Manager will be the lead presenter. The conference will be held April 21-25 in Orlando, Florida. Learn more and register today! https://lnkd.in/erGth-b #onaging #conference

This season, we're encouraging everyone to explore a few #AgeWellAcrossCT local picks, and last week, our team did just that! We spent a gorgeous fall day exploring age, dementia, and disability #inclusive spots near us. We started out at The Next Chapter — a great used bookstore that's part of West Hartford Public Schools, developed to address the ongoing educational, vocational, social, and communication needs of the students and young adults with disabilities. We browsed the shelves, chatted with the staff, and got some terrific reading recommendations. By the time we left, everyone had picked out a treasure or two, from kids' books to cookbooks! Read more about The Next Chapter — and all of the local picks — at https://lnkd.in/ey6PZjbx

Thrilled to be in the midst of this season of celebrating the great work of Connecticut's AAAs!

Today is #AgeismAwarenessDay, sponsored by the American Society on Aging. It's a day to bring attention to the issue of ageism in our society and to reframe how we talk about aging and older adults. Want to get involved? #TalkAboutAgeism with your colleagues, family, and friends! For ideas and inspiration to get the conversation going, check out the ASA's fact sheet about ageism: https://lnkd.in/eEdcKy2S

The word is out on AgeWell Across Connecticut — our statewide list of places and experiences that demonstrate age, dementia, and/or disability inclusivity! Congratulations to two of our community picks, the Bristol Public Library and the Southington Public Library, who were recently featured in their local media. Read about Southington Public Library: https://lnkd.in/eYZyKAFa Read about Bristol Public Library: https://lnkd.in/eCQev9U4 #AgeWellAcrossCT #inclusivity

October 9 is Ageism Awareness Day, an opportunity to draw attention to the impact of ageism and to think about how we can reframe aging in our communities. In honor of the day, the American Society on Aging will host a special presentation with anti-ageism activist Janine Vanderburg - check it out! #TalkAboutAgeism #AgeismAwarenessDay

Falls are the leading cause of emergency room visits for adults 65 and older. But many falls can be avoided — and preventing them is a community effort. In honor of #FallsPreventionAwarenessWeek, check out this collection of case studies from the National Council on Aging, showing how six communities strengthened their falls prevention efforts by engaging their local emergency medical services and fire departments. Read it at https://lnkd.in/emJKtq8f #WeAgeWell #FallsFree

Senior centers have evolved a lot since their beginning in the 1940s, but their core mission has remained: to be a trusted place in the community that connects people to the programs, services, and opportunities they need to #AgeWell. This September, we're joining the National Council on Aging to celebrate the many ways that senior centers create connections in our communities. Get inspired to learn more about your local senior center by watching a few of the short videos NCOA created in honor of #SeniorCenterMonth: https://lnkd.in/ewXF72GW