InterAges

Summary

More than a million people reside in Montgomery County, and it is one of the most diverse communities in the USA, with residents from more than 150 countries. Many of the County’s residents age-in-place because of older adult services, proximity to cultural activities, transportation options, and accessibility to world-class health care. Montgomery County has partnered with local non-profits to combat ageism for more than 40 years. Collaborative efforts have created an environment of understanding between residents of all ages, businesses, non-profit agencies, and government. A joint initiative, with the Jewish Council for the Aging of Greater Washington (JCA), to combat ageism started with Interages, whose mission is to create, “[an] age-integrated community by promoting improved communication, understanding, and quality of life for older adults and youth.” The program provides an environment for older adults and youth to interact in a meaningful way fostering understanding. The initiative with JCA to combat ageism also includes three senior-specific employment programs that educate older employees about possibilities in the workforce and help area employers realize the value of older workers.

Website: http://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/senior/summit.html

Key facts

Other target group(s): Everyone in the Community

Sector(s): Social protection

Desired outcome for older people:
Learn, grow and make decisions

Other issues the Age-friendly practice aims to address:

Ageism
Accessibility
Technologies
Disasters and emergencies
Inequities
Intergenerational activities

Other Issues: Communication/many languages spoken; Cultural Diversity; Transportation; Dementia Friendly America; Housing/communities for a lifetime

Contact details

Name: Brunetto, Odile

Email address: odile.brunetto@montgomerycountymd.gov

Preferred language(s): English

Age-friendly practice in detail (click to expand):

Engaging the wider community

Project lead: Volunteers

Older people’s involvement: Older people were involved in the age-friendly practice at multiple or all stages

Details on older people’s involvement: The inter-generational programs, employment programs, and Vital Living Network all receive pivotal input from older adults. Older adults were instrumental in the development of these programs. The inter-generational and employment programs receive feedback from their clients/ participants and volunteers on a regular basis and are constantly improving the services they offer through this feedback. The Vital Living Network led by older adults is constantly seeking feedback from its members of older adults and from the community at large.

Moving forward

Has the impact of this age-friendly practice been analysed: Yes

Please share with us what you found in detail:
The inter-generational program does a yearly survey of both children and older adult participants. Child participants report improved understanding of older adults, and older adult participants say they have a better understanding of children. The employment programs also offer participating employers and employees to offer feedback. In one employment program, participants say that after going through the program they felt better prepared to find a position. The employment programs have also been beneficial for older adults in our community – 61% of adults in the JCA Career Gateways Program have been successful at finding a job or job offer within three weeks of graduation, although, most had been unemployed for 1-2 years. While 98% of those who participated in the JCA Senior Community Service Employment Program report being satisfied with the program.

Feedback:
The most positive feedback the County has received is that our programs portray a positive view of aging. The negative feedback has centered around the need to increase communication about our programs to the community. It is often hard for those who speak English poorly or not at all and those who are computer shy or computer scared to access the many resources available to them.

Expansion plans:
Montgomery County recently was recognized by AARP as an age-friendly community in December 2015. We plan to continue to work on all of the domains, and one of our special focuses in the domain of civic and social engagement is combating ageism in our community. Moreover and closely related to this, Montgomery County has decided to address issues of senior employment as a separate and significant topic in its own right rather than combining it with others.

Looking back

Reflections:
One of the aspects that we find most difficult is data collection about the effectiveness of our programs. Generally speaking, few organizations have the wherewithal to conduct longitudinal research.

Challenges:
We have encountered several challenges as we have implemented our combating ageism initiative. The biggest issues we have faced have been funding, ability to translate into all of the languages spoken in our community, and data collection.