Age Friendly Community Survey

Town Hampstead is assessing needs of older residents

What characteristics make Hampstead a great place to grow up and grow old? Do you have thoughts on how Hampstead can best engage and support older adults? If so, we want to hear from you. The Town of Hampstead is working with the Rockingham Planning Commission (RPC) and Rockingham Nutrition Meals on Wheels Program (RNMOW) on a regional Age Friendly Communities initiative, and is one of six communities in the region conducting local Age Friendly Community assessments.

The term “Age Friendly” is shorthand for communities that enable residents to thrive at every age and every stage of life. The assessment process will look at health services and community support, transportation, housing, design of outdoor spaces and building, opportunities for civic and social participation, respect and social inclusion, communication and information flow.

“The number of older adult residents in Rockingham County will nearly double in the next two decades” noted Scott Bogle, Senior Transportation Planner with the Rockingham Planning Commission. “The goal of the project will be to work with communities to better understand the needs of older residents now and into the future, and how to best address those needs”.

The first step in the assessment is a community survey. We want to hear from residents of all ages. Many younger people live with or help care for aging parents or grandparents, and ultimately, we are all aging. YOUR voice will help us understand what is working now and what if anything is needed in town. Paper copies of the survey are available at Hampstead Town Hall, East Hampstead Post Office and the Hampstead Public Library, and various other locations in town. (There is an attachment for the paper version at the bottom)

To take the survey online go to:

https://publicinput.com/AgeFriendlyHampstead

We will share results from the survey at a local Age Friendly Communities forum to be held later in the spring. The forum will serve as a chance for residents to talk about survey findings, their perceptions of local senior needs and ideas for how the town and residents can help address those needs.  

The work in Hampstead is being led by a local project steering committee made up of town staff, elected officials and community volunteers. The project is funded by a grant from the Tufts Health Plan Foundation and supplemental funding from AARP New Hampshire.

For more information contact RPC Senior Transportation Planner Scott Bogle at sbogle@therpc.org.