On Saturday, April 23rd, the Center on Aging and Community Living hosted the Age of Champions, an exciting community event that empowered older adults to remain engaged, active, and healthy.
Participants gathered at the University of New Hampshire’s Field House to listen to Mary Lou Fuller speak during the Opening Ceremonies. After her keynote, Ed Perkins, Donald Clark, and Marilyn E Flynn received Inspiration Awards because of their engagement in healthy, active aging. Participants then were able to explore a health fair containing University and Community resources as well as attend a film festival showing two films: Age of Champions and Young@Heart.
Students and faculty presented research, performed assessments, (e.g., Recreation Management and Policy students conducted leisure assessments), and taught skills for developing or maintaining active living. Community vendors shared resources and promoted healthy aging activities available in the area. The intention of this event is to bring together a variety of stakeholders dedicated to optimizing the experience of older adulthood and empowering older adults to remain engaged, active, and healthy.
Group Photo from Age of Champions Event
You can learn more about the event and check out pictures on the Center on Aging and Community Living’s website. You can also read an article from Foster’s Daily Democrat about the event.
The Center on Aging and Community Living (CACL) is a collaboration between the IOD and The Institute for Health Policy and Practice (IHPP). These two institutes have been actively engaged in projects related to aging and long term care for many years. Jointly, the IOD and IHPP provide ongoing support to the Bureau of Elderly and Adult Services, the ServiceLink Resource Center Network, and various other partners in the Aging Network, in designing, implementing, and evaluating systems change initiatives. In light of these efforts and the need to assure that the state will benefit from an integrated center for applied research, evaluation, and training on issues related to aging and long term care, the CACL was established to coordinate the work of both institutes, maximize the resources available, and provide optimal benefit to the state of NH.
