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Consumer
Newsletter – June 2014 Canadian Edition; By Elyse
Umlauf-Garneau |
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Age-friendly Cities
By Elyse Umlauf-Garneau
Between 2000 and 2050, the proportion of the world's population
over 60 years will double from about 11 percent to 22 percent, according to the
World Health Organization (WHO). During that period, WHO expects the number of
people aged 60 years and over to swell from 605 million to 2 billion.
How well those seniors will live depends
greatly on the environment both inside their houses and outside. By
incorporating universal design principles, people can prepare their houses for
aging in place. But if the larger community doesn’t provide an environment and
services that are conducive to ageing in place, seniors’ quality of life can be
diminished.
The World Health Organization’s (WHO) Age-Friendly Cities
Initiative has established comprehensive guidelines to help cities assess their
age friendliness and make certain that they’re providing an environment where
seniors can live a full, engaging, and high-quality life.
WHO’s program addresses eight categories:
- Housing
- Outdoor Spaces and Buildings
- Transportation
- Community and Health Services
- Civic Participation and
Employment
- Communication and Information
- Social Participation
- Respect or Social Inclusion
Across the globe, cities – including New York
City, Udine, Italy, Ponce, Puerto Rico,
Ponce, and Himeji, Japan -- have embraced WHO’s concepts and have
developed programs to ensure that their cities are ready for an ageing
population.
They’re working to eliminate
barriers--whether those are related to housing, medical services,
infrastructure, or social activities--to ageing in place.
Some efforts are broadly supported and funded
and managed by cities and provinces and others start with small grassroots
efforts through an aging-related community group, for instance.
Across Canada, cities and towns have
established age-friendly initiatives. Among them are Alberton, P.E.I., Gimli,
Man., Halifax, N.S., Lumby, B.C., and Sherbrooke, Que.
Staying ahead of the curve
The city
of London, Ontario, for one, has developed a comprehensive program that started
in 2010, when it applied for and was accepted to WHO’s Global Network of
Age-Friendly Cities. It was the first Canadian city to do so.
“We learned that older adult demographic for London is growing at a higher rate than any other demographic. We’re also a top destination point for retirees in North America,” comments Paul D’Hollander, London’s Manager of Area Services.
To service that population and keep them
coming and staying, the city of London saw that it needed to deliver a more livable, walkable,
senior-friendly community.
Community engagement, bottom-up strategy
In
developing its strategy, London took a bottom-up approach. So rather than the
government identifying the needs and dictating projects, the city turned to
residents to assess seniors’ experiences, uncover age-friendly features they’d
like to see, and where the environment was falling short. “It was important for
us to engage the community in building our plan,” comments D’Hollander.
Based on those interviews and focus groups, the city, in 2013, developed a three-year action plan.
It included addressing strategies from all eight
of WHO’s categories, and the city established working groups devoted to
identifying and planning projects in each category.
Some goals of the groups include:
·
Improving pedestrian safety
at crossings by installing
countdowns and longer crossing times in areas where older adults live or access services.
·
Boosting affordability of public transit.
·
Investigating new housing
opportunities, such as co-housing or shared housing.
·
Delivering better home support, especially
for isolated seniors. That could entail check-in services and
seniors-helping-seniors initiatives.
·
Making businesses, such as restaurants and
retailers, friendlier to seniors.
Success on a shoestring budget
Because
of budget constraints, London started with small initiatives.
One
recent project, for example, entailed improving the age friendliness of parks
by increasing number of washrooms open all year and increasing the number of benches in park and
along paths.
The park accessibility project is an example of a no- or low-cost
project that improves lives without busting budgets.
Moreover, participants on task forces are encouraged to tap their
professional networks to find donation of goods, services, and advice. In light of budget constraints, D’Hollander
sees such donations as essential in moving the plans ahead. Moreover, it
benefits everyone who lives, works, and has a business in the city, he points
out. “It’s
all about making London a better place,” he comments.
Ensuring economic vibrancy
Later on, D’Hollander expects to tackle some big-ticket items,
such as an improved transit system that features accessible buses and more
stops. He thinks every Canadian city would benefit from examining how to become
more age-friendly and says, “To stay economically vibrant, every province needs
to pay heed to this phenomenon of ageing.”
“Also, Canada
has long been a country of social programs, equality and fairness and has had a
focus on inclusiveness. So it’s not a jump to move the bar on helping this ageing
demographic,” he comments.
D’Hollander envisions a
future for London that one day doesn’t entail an age-friendly strategy at all.
“My hope is that at some point all of this isn’t a plan but that it’s just part of regular
business and that seniors’ needs are fully integrated in London life.”
Additional resources
If you’re interested in making your hometown more age
friendly, you don’t need to start from scratch, nor do you need to create a
comprehensive plan that addresses all eight WHO categories.
“Maybe
just pick the top two categories that are important to your community and
something that works for your residents and budgets,” suggests
D’Hollander.
It
doesn’t necessarily require government leadership either. Academic, health and
community groups all can collaborate to launch a program.
There are vast resources, networks, and guides to help
you get a program off the ground.
They include:
·
Age-Friendly
Communities Canada Hub (http://afc-hub.ca) – Find
research, Webinars, events, and networking.
·
London,
Ontario (http://www.london.ca/residents/Seniors/Age-Friendly/Pages/default.aspx) – Learn
about London’s age-friendly plan.
·
Ontario Seniors’ Secretariat (http://www.seniors.gov.on.ca/en/about/index.php) –A resource for Ontario
government policies and programs for seniors.
·
Public Health Agency of Canada (http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/seniors-aines/publications/public/afc-caa/rural-rurales/index-eng.php) – It provides resources to
learn about healthy aging and Age-Friendly Communities across Canada. Scroll
down to find province-specific information. The site also features information
unique to the needs of rural communities, (http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/seniors-aines/publications/public/afc-caa/rural-rurales/index-eng.php.
WHO
Global Network of Age-friendly Cities and Communities (http://www.who.int/ageing/age_friendly_cities_network/en/) – Learn about WHO’s
age-friendly initiatives. Also download the guide, “Global age-friendly cities:
a guide,” at http://www.who.int/ageing/age_friendly_cities_guide/en/
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