Optimize Health, Wellness, and Mobility

Older Marylanders have a lot to look forward to. Ensuring we have access to proper nutrition, health literacy, outdoor spaces, and reliable transportation within our communities can help keep us active and socially connected throughout the lifespan.

Track Progress

Objective 1: Improve equitable access to holistic health care that addresses physical, behavioral, emotional, and cognitive health.

Strategies

  • Implement the AHEAD model to expand Maryland’s focus on primary care, population health, prevention, and health equity across age groups.
  • Explore policies that incentivize enhanced care delivery models in the home and community that collaborate with community-based organizations, care navigators, and community health workers, such as the Neighborhood Nursing model.
  • Expand access to, and utilization of, community-based behavioral health services that address long-term care needs.
  • Implement a person-centered, trauma-informed approach across publicly-funded programs to ensure older adults and adults with disabilities can effectively make decisions about their care and wellbeing.
  • Leverage existing state infrastructure to target shortage areas for health providers and direct support professionals to increase access to care among older adults in underserved communities.
  • Increase access to technology that will enhance the ability of all Marylanders to pursue their best life as they define it through the Technology First initiative by increasing access to the internet and providing resources for digital literacy education, accessible telecommunications equipment, telehealth, assistive technology, and durable medical equipment.
  • Explore policy reform opportunities that incentivize small home alternatives to residential nursing institutions.
  • Identify policy opportunities to incentivize equitable delivery of medical innovations that impact healthy aging.

Outcomes

Short Term (1-3 Years)
  • Launch the AHEAD model
  • Identify and promote programs and policies that advance person-centered, trauma-informed care
  • Advance awareness of assistive technology and digital access programs
Mid Term (4-6 Years)
  • Improve systemic coordination to address social determinants of health
  • Identify opportunities to incentivize enhanced care delivery models across state partners
Long Term (7-10 Years)
  • Enhance holistic health of older adults through coordinated care and long-term services and supports

Objective 2: Increase access to healthy food and physical activity.

Strategies

  • Promote free and low-cost community wellness and fitness classes through targeted communications, partnerships with local organizations, and the utilization of public spaces.
  • Engage communities in enhancing the safety and accessibility of community spaces through improvements to the built environment.
  • Embrace a food-is-medicine approach by developing policies that support access to healthy food, home-delivered meals, and medically-tailored meals through cross-sector collaboration.
  • Screen for and cross-promote food assistance programs, including SNAP, the Commodity Supplemental Food Program, The Emergency Food Assistance Program, Senior Farmers Market Nutrition Program, and locally-operated programs.

Outcomes

Short Term (1-3 Years)
  • Cross-promote food assistance programs
  • Promote community-driven infrastructure, wellness, and fitness programs
Mid Term (4-6 Years)
  • Implement a multisector food-is-medicine program
  • Reduce malnutrition, and increase access to culturally appropriate and medically tailored meals

Objective 3: Increase investment in services and transportation infrastructure that promote safety, accessibility, and mobility.

Strategies

  • Reassess the administration of state programs that fund human services transportation to better align resources focused on older adults and adults with disabilities, including Older Americans Act and Section 5310 grants.
  • Analyze non-emergency human services transportation efforts in other states for consideration in Maryland, particularly those that have coordinated or consolidated funding programs administered by different agencies.
  • Build out a sustained Model Complete Streets building initiative to improve connectivity between land use planning and community transportation, fill in gaps in active transportation networks, and support accessible and walkable communities.
  • Leverage technology (e.g., ride-hailing services, self-driving cars) and community-based services to enhance transportation options and operability for older adults, especially in rural communities.
  • Expand outreach and assistance to increase access to available transportation options.

Outcomes

Short Term (1-3 Years)
  • Publish the five-year human services transportation plan
  • Improve cross-agency transportation services
  • Increase awareness of mobility options
Mid Term (4-6 Years)
  • Enhance coordination between land use and transportation planning
Long Term (7-10 Years)
  • Increase innovative transportation options
  • Increase walkable communities

Objective 4: Enhance a culture of social connection.

Strategies

  • Promote policies that enhance social connection across sectors.
  • Promote the adoption of health care screenings and referrals to programs that address social isolation and loneliness in partnership with community hubs.
  • Reform state-funded social connection programming to better integrate with local programs and resources, including from AAAs, Villages, libraries, parks and recreation, and other community-based organizations.
  • Infuse social connection into core programming using a person-centered approach, including ensuring home-delivered meal participants may participate in group meals and other in-person health and wellness activities when feasible and available.
  • Educate the public about the prevention of, detection of, and response to negative health effects associated with social isolation.
  • Promote innovative opportunities to connect Marylanders across all ages through technology, programming, and community spaces.
  • Promote the adoption of initiatives that increase intergenerational connection to reduce age-related bias.

Outcomes

Short Term (1-3 Years)
  • Promote social connection programs and implement enhancements to state-funded programs
Mid Term (4-6 Years)
  • Increase integration between national and local programs
  • Integrate social isolation screening into clinical referral services
Long Term (7-10 Years)
  • Increase awareness of risk factors of social isolation and benefits of social engagement

Potential measures of impact:

  • Increase healthier lifestyles for older adults
  • Improve access to holistic health care across populations and geographic regions
  • Increase participation in community-based services that promote healthy living
  • Decrease the negative health effects associated with social isolation