The Belmont Council on Aging is a municipal office charged with “advocating on behalf of the seniors of Belmont and ensuring that their social, financial and healthcare needs are met. Services provided to seniors living in the community range from transportation support to nutrition services and social services, along with a range of programs and activities meant to enhance well-being and quality of life. Similar to many Councils on Aging, the Belmont COA also provides leadership in the community, as the community as a whole addresses the growing number and changing needs of senior residents.
As a means of learning more about community concerns and values relating to aging in place, Nava Niv-Vogel, Director of the Belmont COA, arranged for two public forums to be held at the Belmont Senior Center. These events were held on May 18, 2016, at 1:15PM and 5:30PM. The forums were moderated by Jan E Mutchler, PhD, from the Gerontology Institute at the University of Massachusetts Boston. Ceara Somerville, a doctoral student in Gerontology at UMass Boston, served as note-taker. The purpose of these forums was to introduce the community to the age-friendly community framework, as outlined by the World Health Organization; to present selected demographic features of Belmont relevant to planning for an age-friendly future; and to elicit input from the community about Belmont as a community in which to age in place. The purpose of this document is to report on each of these elements of the forums
