Thriving Older People

Leaders from diverse sectors of the aging field were invited in 2018 to participate in MaineCF's Reframing Aging Initiative. MaineCF photo

Vision: All older people in Maine are valued and able to thrive and age in their workplaces and communities with health, independence, and dignity.

We are all living longer and healthier lives, which presents exciting new opportunities as well as challenges. Maine’s older adult population is increasing—and is projected to do so into the next decades. Our research showed there wasn’t an understanding that we needed a public response to our demographic changes. Agism—the prejudice against and discrimination against older people —is endemic to our society and worsened with the COVID-19 pandemic. Our communities often lacked productive conversations about aging and the adjustments they could make to take advantage of their residents' increased lifespans.

To ensure that Maine’s status as the oldest state in the nation is seen as an asset, not a liability, we needed to adjust our attitudes and assumptions about what it means to grow older. We also needed to adapt our homes, workplaces, and communities to enable healthy aging and active engagement.

What MaineCF did

We knew we needed to change how we and others think about aging and support communities in building resources for their residents.

The Reframing Aging Initiative was about changing the conversation about aging in Maine. We worked with the FrameWorks Institute to train leaders in the aging field to use evidence-based communications recommendations when talking about aging and older people. As part of the training, MaineCF offered mini-grants to support “reframing” organizational communications around aging.

Over 90 percent of participants reported that the training was beneficial and that they are using Reframing Aging principles. They are continuing to use their new knowledge and skills and are actively sharing framing knowledge in their personal and professional lives.

“Frameworks helped me to see some of the society, the cultural stuff, how deep that goes, and how much words make a difference. Yeah, that was enlightening. And it helped me to change my own language.” – Reframing Aging Participant

To complement the statewide work, we helped communities support their aging residents in two ways.

The Lifelong Communities Mini-Grant Program offered grants to support community-based initiatives that worked to support older residents’ health, well-being, and ability to age in the community. The grants supported community planning and development and implementation of programs that increased opportunities for people over 60 to stay in their communities as they age.

The Lifelong Communities Fellows Program, implemented in collaboration with University of Maine’s Center on Aging, connected older adult volunteer leaders with communities that needed assistance with their lifelong community efforts. The program included training, stipends, and support for Fellows as well as learning opportunities for both Fellows and communities. Communities that hosted a Fellow were three times as likely to make progress toward their lifelong community goals as lifelong communities in Maine that did not host a Fellow. Having Fellows in place also helped communities pivot during the COVID-19 pandemic.

"I am so grateful to [Fellow] for sharing her experience working with a steering committee and helping me get the committee more involved. I cannot wait to see what can be accomplished with the help of the committee. tips from [Fellow], I was confident running the meeting and had ideas to share for what we can accomplish this summer." --Lifelong Communities participant

More information

MaineCF partnered with other foundations in New Hampshire and Vermont to fund the Tri-State Learning Collaborative on Aging (TSLCA). The TSLCA connects people and communities across northern New England through shared learning opportunities and resources to support healthy aging. More information can be found here.

You can read more about Lifelong Communities, their fellows, and projects in our 2020 annual report and at this site.

MaineCF’s Maine Charity grant program funds community-based transportation programs. That grant program will continue and more information can be found here.