State of Maine Print
Joined the AARP Age-Friendly Network:
10/29/2019
Lead Agency: Health and Human Services - Office of Aging and Disability Services
Government Agency
Action Plan Download
Maine developed its statewide age-friendly action plan by highlighting a collaboration between Maine's Office of Aging and Disability Services, Department of Health and Human Services, and Public Allies, a national organization dedicated to advancing social justice. Maine formed two major statewide committees that created specific Maine-focused domains, identified existing organizations already doing important work in the age-friendly arena, and drafted domain-specific goals, referred to as Strategic Objectives. The plan focuses on helping Mainers remain in their homes and communities by promoting support services, strengthening the infrastructure for healthy aging through new partnerships, leveraging volunteers, promoting creative and integrated methods of transportation and communication to reduce social isolation, increasing access to goods and services, and building and maintaining safe and affordable housing options.
Action Plan Highlights
Outdoor Spaces
Promote outdoor recreation areas by evaluating the accessibility and demand of outdoor resources, supporting community and statewide efforts that expand access to Maine's outdoor recreational spaces and increasing public information on trail conditions and features to support recreation decision-making, and enhancing and increasing interpretive information for older recreationists on cultural, historic, and wildlife resources.Housing
Promote affordable and accesible housing by expanding the availability of accessible, affordable multifamily housing coordinated with services and community supports such as transportation, health care, and social amenities, exploring novel approaches to housing that provide options for individuals to remain in the communities of their choice and in settings such as shared housing or accessory dwelling units, and supporting the development of housing that is integrated, enhances and supports the community in which it is located and builds strong relationships with municipalities to remove the barriers to its development.Health and Community Services
Protect access to healthcare by promoting coordinated access to health and supportive services for older adults, including those who are dually eligible for Medicare and MaineCare, developing and testing models for sustainable health care in rural Maine and adopting measures to track the availability of health care in rural parts of the state and building on the efforts of the University of New England, the University of Maine Center on Aging and others to incorporate Age-Friendly Health Systems principles into Maine's health care delivery system.
