Over 100 people gather at the Halton Region Age-Friendly Communities Forum

On Thursday, June 2, 2011 the Halton Region Elder Services Advisory Committee (ESAC) hosted an Age-Friendly Communities Forum at the Halton Regional Centre. The forum was attended by over 100 Halton seniors, business representatives, and community stakeholders who worked together to develop ideas on how to continue to build age-friendly communities in Halton.

“Over the next few years, the population of Halton Region will reflect a significant increase in residents who are over the age of 65,” said Halton Regional Chair Gary Carr. “It is important that we work together towards making our communities more age-friendly so that Halton seniors can feel safe, maintain their health, and can participate fully in their community.”

Participants divided into working groups to discuss the results of focus group research recently conducted by ESAC. These groups were organized by themes that represent the core principles of age-friendly communities. The group members were encouraged to generate ideas on how communities can support seniors through the challenges they face and tap into their knowledge and skills as key members of our communities. The information collected at this forum will be used to develop opportunities for action that will be shared with Regional Council and the Halton community

The ESAC age-friendly project is based on an approach developed by the World Health Organization that seeks to engage older citizens in making their communities better, healthier and safer places for seniors to live and thrive. In an age-friendly community, businesses, policies, services, and structures related to the physical and social environment are designed to support and enable older people to continue to be contributing members of their community.

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