HADLEY — Housing, transportation and health and caregiver services will be prioritized over the next five years as the town commits to using an age and dementia-friendly lens in decisions that affect senior citizens.

The Select Board recently voted unanimously to accept the Age & Dementia Friendly Hadley Community Assessment and Action Plan developed by Council on Aging Director Hayley Wood, with assistance from community members and town staff, and the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission through the Age Friendly Pioneer Valley Initiative.

The 40-page report gives a series of recommendations and advisories on how the Select Board and other town leaders should approach matters affecting those 60 and older. In one part, it states, “increase programming and improve environments that encourage active living and social interaction for older adults in buildings and outdoor spaces in Hadley.”

“What it does is analyze the town of Hadley as a place for aging in place, assessing its vulnerabilities and strengths,” Wood told the board in January.

Wood said the work that went into the report began in June 2021, with a commitment to the AARP of Massachusetts, and then Becky Basch, a senior planer at PVPC, helped put together the Hadley Livable Community Survey. The final plan was done by November 2022.

Select Board Chairwoman Jane Nevinsmith said the action plan paints an “in-depth picture of the challenges facing Hadley seniors, (and) some of these are already being addressed.”

In addition to making future decisions through an age-friendly lens, the Select Board is joining the Pioneer Valley AARP Network of Age and Dementia Friendly communities.

Residents over the age of 60 make up 32.5% of Hadley’s total population, or 1,731 residents, while approximately 26%, or 1,382, are over the age of 65.

Wood said many policies and decisions the Select Board sets have an affect on livability in town, including the top concerns of housing, health care and transportation.

Wood added that the report broadens awareness and training on how to better respond to needs of elders and increase competency in interactions with them.

“Even though our Senior Center is designed to be age friendly, we struggle to support the true needs of people who have debilitating memory loss and the people who care for them,” Wood said.

The survey, though, showed that 89% went to the Senior Center for information on services for older adults, and 72% relied on family or friends for this information. The Senior Center as a resource more than doubled the 44% who said they had the ability to conduct internet searches or the 44% who relied on a doctor or other healthcare professionals.

Select Board member Molly Keegan thanked Wood and others for the tremendous work. “I think the outcome is great,” Keegan said.

That Hadley undertook and approved the community action and assessment plan indicates its support for senior residents, said Linda LaDuc, a volunteer communications assistant at the Senior Center.

LaDuc points to the periodic cooking and serving of lunch to senior citizens by municipal employees and town officials.

One recent occasion was a Christmas luncheon in the Senior Center dining room in December under the “Lunchbox with Friends” program. That is a Friends of the Hadley Council on Aging initiative that raises funds to help with center activities, and members volunteer to cook and serve a lunch once a month.

During that meal, Town Collector Susan Glowatsky, Human Resources Manager Jennifer Trovato and the Select Board’s Nevinsmith prepared the meal, and then Police Chief Michael Mason and Lt. Mitchell Kuc, with other Hadley police officers and senior center volunteers, brought the food to tables.

LaDuc said the breadth of programs at the Senior Center is continuing to expand.

“As wonderful as this kind of regular event is, the entire program expansion is what we are very proud of — lots of new and different activities, classes, and presentations, plus all the regular offerings,” LaDuc said.

Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.]]>