Hillsborough

Age-Friendly Certification Status:

Achieved AARP/World Health Organization (WHO) age-friendly community designation on October 12, 2023.

Project Status:

The Hillsborough Task Force after five months of planning and soliciting input through numerous focus groups on unmet needs of older adult residents, came up with a variety of proposed solutions. The following are the initial inaugural projects:

    Domain: Transportation

Subcategory: Mobility

Encourage the Got Wheels Program once the wait list has been lifted. Research the possibility of using General Funds to help add Hillsborough residents to the program.

    Domain: Outdoor Spaces/Buildings

  • Perform inventory with Hillsborough Beautification Foundation, staff and/or residents for potential placement of benches and rest areas throughout the town of Hillsborough.
  • Develop a map of the existing benches and disseminate to residents of Hillsborough.
  • Work in collaboration with schools on bond projects to address potential community use facilities. For example, ADA access to all town and school facilities, and pickle ball courts.

    Domain: Social Participation

Social Participation

Subcategory: Socially Isolated Adults

Collaborate with the school district both public and private to see if there is a possibility of utilizing a classroom for potential older adult classes and/or events.

 

Subcategory: Intergenerational Activities

Research and potentially implement technology assistance through offering an APPY and Tech hour once a month.  This could be done by the Youth Advisory Committee.  Schools both public and private could also be involved in assisting older adults with their tech devices.

    Domain: Communication and Information

A popular theme among the members of the task force was to look at communication methods. Improving and expanding how residents receive information is definitely one of the top priorities. Although the city has a Newsletter and an enewsletter, task force members feel there is room for additional efforts to be taken.  For example:

  • When appropriate, collaborate with community partners to communicate about resources, services and activities to older adult residents. This would possibly entail the involvement of the schools, recreation department, and the CCAC (Citizens Communication Advisory Committee) Information would focus on specific age-friendly information.
  • Assess the possibility of including an Age-Friendly Community Corner in the ENews, Quarterly Newsletter, and/or Hillsborough town website.
  • Potentially develop a one-page resource guide that would include older adult resources that can be occasionally placed in the ENews, Quarterly Newsletter, and insert the information in the water bill. Resources could include the links related to:
    • Promote the use of HIP housing where people can rent their rooms in their homes at an affordable rate so they can improve their finances: Hiphousing.org or call 650-348-6660. This is a non-profit organization that creates a place to call home for many people in San Mateo County. A home provider is matched with a home seeker who pays rent and/ or exchanges household duties for reduced rent. This option offers the opportunity to stay in the community and also the opportunity to socialize with others who have possibly had some additional help with household chores and maintenance.
    • Identify and promote organizations in SMC that can help with home maintenance,repairs, and modifications (e.g., handrails, high counter tops, elevators). Rebuilding Together Peninsula serves all cities in San Mateo County. They provide home modifications to improve accessibility, reduce falls, increase independence, and facilitate aging- in-place. (https://rebuilding together.org)
    • Offer technology classes or a phone line to receive tech support. (Note that AARP’s Older Adults Technology Services (OATS) offers many state-of-the-art resources including a train-the-trainer curriculum. Their West Coast headquarters are based at Avenidas in Palo Alto. (See: https://oats.org/licensing/)
    • Publish non emergency police phone number: 650-375-7470.
    • County has recently published an updated Community Information Handbook: https://www.smcgov.org/hsa/community-information-handbook
    • San Mateo County Help at Home Booklet: https://www.smchealth.org/sites/main/files/file-attachments/hath_web_1.pdf
  • Disseminate information at various events such as Memorial Day Parade, Hillsborough Beautification’s Celebrate May and Veterans Day Event.
  • Raise awareness of the e-newsletter and the quarterly newsletter.
  • Explore postcards and mailers as a way to communicate with seniors. 
  • Develop an Age Friendly task force to continue to assess, develop and evaluate on-going projects in addition to communicating with staff and residents. 
  • Work with AARP to disseminate Age Friendly Livability Survey through the Enews and Quarterly Newsletter. It will be important to gather additional data in order to develop an action plan in two years.
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