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What is an Age Friendly Community?
When community members were asked what an age friendly community meant to them, the following words came to mind:
Who could use these tools?
These tools are designed for any individual, organization, or community that would like to initiate changes to become more age friendly
Why use these tools?
- Value-based principles guide all decision making and can help identify and address the unique needs and strengths of different communities
- The three Building Blocks will help you think systematically and creatively about building strong, supportive communities
- This approach places strong importance on collaboration, active participation, and community engagement
- This website contains tools, resources, and specific examples to help you achieve your age friendly goals
Who was involved in the development of these tools?
These tools were developed in partnership with community agencies and municipalities committed to building communities that are sensitive to the needs of older adults and ensuring that all citizens continue to be active contributing members.
- Murray Alzheimer Research and Education Program, University of Waterloo
- Alzheimer Society Ontario
- Halton Region and the Elder Services Advisory Committee
- Ontario Professional Planners Institute
- Homewood Health Centre Geropsychiatry Community Education Program
- Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge District Health Unit
- Ontario Seniors’ Secretariat
How were these tools created?
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Using a variety of research and resources provides a comprehensive and holistic approach to becoming more age friendly. This tool has been built upon the following resources: |
Benefits of an Age Friendly Community
An age friendly community can provide a range of benefits to help older adults, organizations, businesses, and the community.
An age friendly community:
- promotes the sharing of resources, talents, and gifts of all citizens
- promotes physical, mental, social, and spiritual well-being of all citizens
- ensures older adults are able to thrive throughout the life course
- ensures that older adults continue to be contributing members of the community
An age friendly community:
- encourages organization policy, practice, and behaviours that meet the needs of older adults
- striving to become age friendly may help your organization to obtain funding from the government or other agencies that expect inclusive and accessible practices
- helps to mobilize strong collaborations and partnerships
An age friendly community:
- meets the needs of your customers and increases access to your services for all citizens, possibly increasing sales
- has a competitive edge over those that are not friendly to all citizens
- includes older adults in decision making which may strengthen your capacity to understand and better meet the needs of a growing market
Congratulations for taking this step to become an age friendly community!
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