The Center for Healthy Aging serves as a trusted advisor to partners working to harness the opportunities associated with an aging population.
Age-friendly: Go Local
Age-friendly: Go Local is an initiative of the Health Foundation of Western & Central New York in partnership with CHA to advance the age-friendly framework and improve the lives of older adults and others at a hyper-local, neighborhood level. This program funds and convenes 20 grassroots organizations for a year-long learning collaborative that equips grantees with the skills and support to successfully implement innovative age-friendly programs in their communities. CHA maintains an engaging curriculum that includes technical assistance, capacity building workshops, office hours, and guest speakers representing a range of content area expertise.
Geriatric Technical Assistance Center for the NYS Office of Mental Health
NYAM serves as the Geriatric Technical Assistance Center (GTAC) for six geriatric service demonstration programs funded by the New York State Office of Mental Health’s "Partnership to Support Aging in Place in Communities Severely Impacted by COVID-19" (PSAP). These programs identify, support and serve older adults age 55+ whose community tenure is at risk due to unmet needs for behavioral health and aging services, and helps them to successfully age in place in the communities of their choice. As the GTAC, NYAM is responsible for training and technical assistance focused on programmatic and fiscal strategies to support the planning, implementation, operation, and evaluation of these service demonstration programs.
Older Adults' Equity Collaborative (OAEC)
NYAM is the Coordinating Center in the OAEC, and in this role promotes collaboration and coordination among five Minority Aging Technical Assistance & Resource Centers (TARCs), their partner organizations, and the Administration for Community Living (ACL). The overarching goal is to support their work in effectively responding to the needs of diverse older adults and their caregivers.
One way that the OAEC does this is by providing an equity lens to the national family caregiving strategy. To learn more about caregiving in diverse populations, view OAEC's presentation and slides.
Strengthening Community Resilience
In 2022, with support from the New York Community Trust, the CHA began an examination into community resilience and the experiences of older adults in NYC during the COVID-19 pandemic. This project serves to update the landmark 2014 Resilient Communities: Empowering Older Adults in Disasters and Daily Life report that described the challenges and successes experienced by older adults and frontline responders during and after Hurricane Sandy. This update utilizes a similar methodology to the original report: an examination of the emergency response and community resilience literature, focus groups with older adults, and key informant interviews with experts in the aging services and disaster response fields. The findings will culminate in a set of recommendations and best practices that local governments and communities can employ to better support older adults during future natural disasters, extreme weather emergencies, and infectious disease pandemics.