INNISFAIL - Local seniors say they are satisfied with the community's outdoor spaces and buildings as well as the respect they receive from other citizens, but improvements ought to be made with housing, transportation, communication and a sense of inclusion.
Those were the major findings from the Town of Innisfail's recently completed Seniors' Needs Assessment.
The project's 30-page report, which began last September and was completed in December at a cost of $9,000, was formally presented to town council on Jan. 23 by consultant Linda Yargeau. Council unanimously adopted the report as information.
"Addressing these issues will require additional time, effort and resources focused on solutions to address the challenges and barriers, to build a more age friendly community for older adults to age in place," said the report's executive summary.
The goal of the project was to identify existing assets - people, places and services, and potential concerns to better understand what should be put in place to prepare the town to become an "age friendly" community.
The process for the report, which noted that 29 per cent of Innisfailians are 55 years and older - 2,306 seniors out of a total population of 7,953 -- relied on extensive seniors' input, as well as service providers from 12 organizations, focus groups and a detailed survey sent out to the community.
Karen Bradbury, the town's community and social development coordinator who spearheaded the project, said the report and its findings will be part of an ongoing process towards a goal of ensuring seniors have the support and infrastructure needed to have healthy and happy lives without ever having to leave town.
In the meantime, the report outlined several actions underway or in progress towards that goal, including ongoing meetings and research, particularly to address transportation issues. Three volunteers, who will have facilitator training through the Canadian Mental Health Association, have been recruited to offer a mental health support group. Bradbury is also in the process of securing a federal grant of $25,000 to run a Friendly Visiting Program, as well as a $10,000 provincial grant to host a provincial arts/culture/recreation subsidy program. She is also targeting a $7,500 local program for seniors' transportation initiatives to encourage community inclusion and participation in local events and activities. There are also plans to develop partnerships between local seniors' services providers to enhance the quality of existing programs.
As Yargeau detailed to council, Bradbury noted there are multiple needs that seniors and service providers pointed out during the three-month project. She said that while transportation, housing and communication were identified, inclusion was a "big one.
"We have a core group of seniors that are connected to the drop-in centre, which is fantastic," she said, noting that while the community has about 2,000 seniors there could be between 1,500 and 1,800 of them isolated in their homes and not connected.
"There are still a lot that are not accessing those additional programs. A lot of that again comes back to transportation," added Bradbury. "Transportation is definitely a big issue but I also think there are a lot of isolated seniors in the community. It is trying to target some kind of program that will connect with the seniors in their homes, because there are still a large number of seniors that may not necessarily be linked to programs that are currently running in the community."
In going forward to ensure there is long-term substance for seniors from the ambitious report, Bradbury said the town will start by "prioritizing" what can be done now to kick-start the process of addressing their most pressing needs.
"It is prioritizing what we can do now to at least start because I think we need to at least start somewhere," said Bradbury. "I think looking at the transportation, reviewing it, and how that is going might enable more of that senior population to access those other programs and services.
"We know that once they access it they are building those connections and relationships in the community," she added. "Sometimes that improves overall mental and physical health. They are more active."
To review the full 30-page Seniors Needs Assessment report go to the Town of Innisfail website, under the news section, at http://innisfail.ca/news
Seniors' Needs Assessment executive summary
"Addressing these issues will require additional time, effort and resources focused on solutions to address the challenges and barriers, to build a more age friendly community for older adults to age in place."
