Healthy Aging Report Published!

HEALTHY AGING FOR ALL

Kawartha Lakes City Council will be receiving age-friendly suggestions May 1st. Age-friendly advocates plan to present the new 'Age-Friendly City of Kawartha Lakes: Report to the Community to City of Kawartha Lakes municipal council Tuesday to build support for creating an age-friendly community.
The new age-friendly report is laying out the 'roadmap' by which services and supports can be improved to enhance healthy aging in the City of Kawartha Lakes.

With a growing seniors’ population in the area, the Age-Friendly City of Kawartha Lakes: Report to the Community urges local politicians, municipal officials, service providers and area residents 'to improve our current polices and practices to accommodate and celebrate an aging population.' The just-released report, based on extensive public feedback, outlines eight key areas in which to create a more 'age-friendly' City of Kawartha Lakes. These areas include: transportation, housing, community support/health services, outdoor spaces and public buildings, and social participation.

'An aging population represents challenges and opportunities,' says Doreen Boville, a Health Promoter with the Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge District Health Unit. 'This report is intended to serve as a roadmap by which the City of Kawartha Lakes can become a more age-friendly community.'

According to Boville, an age-friendly community is a healthy, active place where people of all ages and abilities enjoy enhanced quality of life. By providing programs and support services that assist older adults, an age-friendly community helps all its citizens, including families, young children and persons with disabilities. Locally, the Health Unit initiated the age-friendly project in 2010 with the assistance of local service providers and older adults. After two years of promoting, and gaining feedback on the concept of an age-friendly community, the Report to the Communityis intended to turn words into concrete action. “With the support and direction from local residents, we want to get down to work,” says Boville.