New Hampshire Legal Assistance’s Justice in Aging Project has published a guide aimed at helping consumers learn about assisted living facilities in New Hampshire.

The publication includes a checklist for evaluating and comparing facilities and an overview of residents’ rights and responsibilities, as well as frequently asked questions about assisted living facilities and a list of helpful resources.

“It’s an industry governed by a convoluted system of laws and regulations, and that can be confusing and complicated for individuals and families to absorb,” said the project’s director, Cheryl Steinberg. “We hope that this guide will be a userfriendly resource to help people make more informed decisions when seeking an assisted living facility.”

The guide is the first product of the NHLA Justice in Aging Project, formerly the Senior Law Project.

“Talking about aging as an issue that only affects older people promotes an us-versus-them mentality. We are all aging, and injustice in issues of aging affects all of us,” said Steinberg of the name change.

The project, serving as lead agency for the NH Alliance for Healthy Aging’s advocacy efforts, helped spearhead the formation of the State Commission on Aging and secure wage increases for home and community-based care providers. And, with a grant from the Tufts Health Plan Foundation, the project is also partnering with New Futures on a multi-year initiative focusing on the state’s long-term care system, so that more people with disabilities, at all ages, can live in community-based settings, as independently as possible.