Targeted Health Initiative:

Seniors Count of the Seacoast

In November, 2006 the Foundation for Seacoast Health convened the Seacoast Senior Coalition. This group included a handful of health and human service agency representatives who were concerned about serious unmet needs that present significant problems for seniors. With seed money from the Foundation, the group made a successful application to the Institute on Disability at UNH (www.iod.unh.edu) for a Community Partnership to Support Older Adults grant. This grant provides the Seacoast with $25,000/year for two years (2008-2010) to establish a community partnership based on the Seniors Count of Manchester model (www.seniorscountnh.org). Today the group is known as Seniors Count of the Seacoast with leadership representatives from Rockingham Community Action, Portsmouth Regional Hospital, Wentworth Connections, Service Link, Living Innovations, New Hampshire Bureau of Elderly and Adult Services, health and human services agencies, and senior advocates.

Seniors Count of the Seacoast (SCS) is a community partnership that serves as a catalyst for community-based outreach and action to redefine and ensure independence for older people and, in doing so, create a better life for all. Initiatives are aimed at taking into consideration the unique challenges facing those frail and at-risk elderly residents in and around the greater Portsmouth area.

In recognition of this vision, SCS is proud to be the 2011 recipient of the Seacoast Women's Giving Circle grant. This aware will help to insure that all Seacoast seniors have access to the support they need to live full lives, safely in the least restrictive environment possible.

Accomplishments to date include:

• completion of a community assessment;
• establishment of a Flex Fund, a wonderful resource that comes into play when no other funds are available for an item or serve needed by a frail senior; 
• placement of a Community Liaison, who can provide ongoing support for non-medical needs to seniors who otherwise are "falling through the cracks"; and the
• creation of a long-term sustainability plan

Seniors Count is working collaboratively to "change the face of aging" for Seacoast area seniors by creating a systemic change in public perception and the way we care for frail older adults.

              








Step It Up Seacoast (SIUS), a coalition of educators, health care providers, and community volunteers came together in 2003 to address the growing obesity problem. Early accomplishments included the 2005 publication of the "Walking Passport: Eleven Beautiful Walks in the Seacoast". The goal of the Passport is to encourage families and neighbors to walk together. In addition the group created the Physician''s Resource Guide to Local Physical Fitness Programs which was distributed to Portsmouth physicians' offices, town halls, Chambers, hospitals, libraries, etc. from Kittery to Exeter. To download the Walking Passport or the Resource Guide, visit www.stepitupseacoast.org.

Currently, with funding from the United Way, SIUS is leading 5210 Steps Up!  This effort promotes a message for healthy eating and active living: 5 fruits and vegetables a day, 2 hours or less of screen time, 1 hour of physical activity and 0 sugar sweetened drinks.

The group's coordinator works with area community health centers, after school programs, recreation facilities, and physician offices to promote healthy behaviors in children and their families. Interventions taking place include:

• motivational interviewing training for providers;
• development of wellness groups for overweight children and families;
• 5210 trainings provided for each sector; and
• community nutrition talks to spread the 5210 message effectively.

In addition, 5210 Steps Up! has joined with Portsmouth, Newmarket, and Somersworth schools to include 5210 in their existing wellness programs.

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