Fresh Takes: A Decade-Long Investment to Promote Healthy Aging in New Hampshire
Fall 2026
For the past 10 years, the NH Alliance for Healthy Aging (NHAHA) has brought together people and organizations across the healthy aging landscape around a shared vision: to make New Hampshire a great place to live as we age. What began as a diverse group representing many disciplines has grown into a statewide network of more than 600 members working to promote community engagement, policy change, and access to resources that support healthy aging.
Jennifer Rabalais, director of NHAHA, has been working with a team of dedicated volunteers to grow the Alliance since it was formed in 2016.
“We want to lift up the voices and value of older adults and advance policies and practices that make it possible for every one of us to live life to the fullest as we age,” Jennifer says. “What we’ve built together is something much bigger than any one organization or discipline.”
Older adults represent the fastest-growing demographic in the nation. Nearly a fifth of people in New Hampshire are aged 65 years or older, according to the 2025 New Hampshire Healthy Aging Data Report. And by 2030, this age group will comprise roughly a third of the state’s total population.
Despite shifting demographic trends, stereotypes perpetuate negative attitudes about aging and ultimately segregate older people from their communities and families. This disparity is also systemic; during later years of life, people begin to experience social barriers such as lower accessibility to employment, see limited representation, and difficulty accessing services.
To overcome these barriers, New Hampshire needs to ensure residents of all ages have a reliable transportation system, adequate housing, social and civic engagement opportunities, and access to the right care in every community, Jennifer says. Not only will these systems support us as we age, but they serve as the basic support structures for fostering vibrant, multigenerational communities.
“We are working to change the way we feel, think, and talk about aging and older people, and inspire action to combat ageism in the institutions and systems in which we operate,” Jennifer says.
Age-Friendly Solutions
The Alliance has been hard at work reevaluating its core strategic priorities for its 10th anniversary. These priorities are organized into five distinct workgroups: advocacy, caregiving, housing, transportation, and workforce. NHAHA’s Steering Committee, comprised of leaders across NH organizations and communities, helps guide the Alliance’s vision and build infrastructure to form solutions to issues such as transportation and affordability.
“It always struck me that it was critically important that we create a forum where we could come together, communicate, cooperate, and consolidate—where possible—our services and our efforts to create something more powerful,” says Dick Chevrefils, chair of NHAHA’s Steering Committee.
Dick’s work focuses on the Caregiving Workgroup, which promotes workplace policies and raises awareness about resources that help support family caregivers. Most of the caregiving done for older adults today is carried out by family members, he says, but many don’t consider themselves caregivers and don’t know what resources are available to them. The workgroup aims to help them understand their vital role in the system of care and where they can locate help.
Because many caregivers also have full-time jobs, the Caregiving Workgroup strives to collaborate with businesses to foster caregiver-friendly workplaces.
“The more understanding businesses and organizations have of the role that they play—or could be playing—in supporting their employees, then we create a healthier environment,” Dick says.
The Alliance’s Advocacy Workgroup, made up of a team of policymakers from various organizations, engages and trains older residents to advocate for state policies that promote healthy aging. Member Martha McLeod is vice president of community engagement with New Futures, a nonpartisan organization that advocates for policies that improve the health and well-being of all Granite Staters, which includes promoting healthy aging. New Futures is also a partnering organization with NHAHA.
“One of our major goals is to help let people have that choice of where they age—whether it's in their community or if they need more supports than that,” Martha says. “And most people want to stay in their own communities and in their own homes.”
Martha says one of the state’s most critical issues is lack of public transportation. NHAHA’s Transportation Workgroup was formed to promote accessible and reliable transportation for older adults. Its goal is to elevate the importance of initiatives that promote reliable and accessible transportation, such as the Volunteer Driver Initiative. The New Hampshire Commission on Aging recently released the Community Transportation Needs Assessment and concluded that residents of all ages can better contribute to their communities, live fuller lives, and age in place if they have access to reliable transportation.
Housing affordability is another concern. New Hampshire’s rising property tax rates put older residents, particularly those on fixed incomes, at risk of losing their homes, Martha says. The Advocacy Workgroup is working to increase eligibility for the state’s Medicare Beneficiaries Savings Program to address affordability. Martha notes that many Americans aged 65 and over choose to pay their monthly Medicare plans through Social Security benefits, which serve as some people’s sole source of income. Expanding the savings program will help people stay within their communities of choice, she says.
“We feel like that $200 would benefit those older adults tremendously,” Martha says. “They would be able to cover their rent or their property taxes or something that's going to keep them in their house.”
A Model for Others
Many issues that persist in NH—food insecurity, social connection, and transportation—exist in nearby states like Maine and Vermont. These mutual needs have formed pathways for the Alliance to engage in multistate problem-solving and learning.
The Tri-State Learning Collaborative on Aging (TSLCA) is a regional coalition of stakeholders and community members of all ages primarily serving New Hampshire, Vermont, and Maine. The program, which is part of the Maine Council on Aging, brings people together to learn from one another and form community-centered solutions that other states can model for in decades to come.
“We're experiencing what the rest of the country is going to experience over the next 30 years,” says Jess Maurer, executive director of the Maine Council on Aging. She notes that the median age of residents in northern New England is around 44 years old. “We're experiencing it first, and we're solving for it.”
The Alliance and TSCLA both strive to highlight successful community programs with the intent that other communities create something similar. For instance, TSLCA recently completed a webinar series titled “Healthy Aging on the Seacoast” (Part 1 and Part 2). One program in the series was the Seacoast Village Project, born out of residents’ desires to help one another through a neighbor-helping-neighbor framework. The initiative allows residents to provide free services like in-person wellness checks, handyman and yard work, transportation, and help with other health-related needs to fellow community members. As the program has gained traction and recognition, cities such as Dover, Exeter, and Portsmouth have adopted their own versions of the project.
“We try to live what we're talking about,” says TSLCA Project Manager Willow Dansbury. “We're trying to lift up the things that are working to build health and wellness within communities.”
A Shared Vision
People have much to offer to their states and communities as they age; they’re mentors, leaders, volunteers, and offer a well of wisdom to younger generations.
This is the ethos that NHAHA has been operating upon since its inception. Over the course of a decade, the Alliance has worked to convene professionals across industries to learn and share with one another, build capacity for caregivers and volunteer programs, and engage stakeholders across states lines for educational opportunities between the Alliance, TSLCA, and similar organizations.
“We’ve spent the past 10 years building a shared vision for what healthy aging can look like in New Hampshire,” Jennifer says. “Now our work is about carrying that vision forward. All of us, no matter our age or where we live, want to feel seen, welcomed, and supported with the choices and connections we need to live life to the fullest.”