Ageing in the Twenty-First Century: - HelpAge International

Chapter 2: A fresh look at evidence – Age-friendly environments
Government response
Promoting accessible communities for older persons
by, for example, ensuring barrier-free public spaces,
fostering intergenerational co-residence and providing
support for assistive technologies is important for
ageing in place. The national policies on ageing of
Belize, Indonesia, Kenya, Saudi Arabia and Viet Nam
include provisions on accessible communities.
Legislation in New Zealand (the New Zealand
Retirement Village Act) and the United States
(Mortgage Insurance for the Elderly) also promotes
accessible communities.
Making new homes accessible
In June 2010, ethnic violence in and around the town of
Osh in southern Kyrgyzstan resulted in death, injury and
the destruction of approximately 2,300 homes, with
300,000 people displaced internally and massive
displacement into neighbouring Uzbekistan. United
Nations agencies and non-governmental organizations
launched a multi-sector response to address the needs
of the affected population.
In two assessments of older people’s experience of the
response, older people identified shelter as a priority
need, expressing particular concerns about how they
would be able to repair and rebuild damaged and
destroyed homes.
A review of the plan indicated that houses being rebuilt
by agencies and government were not always accessible
to people with mobility problems, including a number
of older persons. The shelter and protection teams
worked together to ensure that findings from
consultations with older people were integrated into
Shelter Cluster activities.
Other examples of making environments more
age-friendly include:
• In Australia, there is an annual Master Builders
Australia National Lifestyle Housing for Seniors
Award. Two civil society networks, Aged and
Community Services Australia and the Council on
Ageing (COTA) formed the Older Persons Housing
Alliance in 2009 and have created a National Older
Persons Housing Strategy.
• Local governments in Hungary are encouraged to make
environments more age-friendly by the Elderlyfriendly
Local Government Award, set up in 2004.
• In Japan, the Central Traffic Safety Policy Council has
developed a Traffic Safety Programme for Older Adults.
• In Mozambique, the Social Action Policy of 2008
provides for a review of current legislation on shelter
to ensure that it includes reference to older persons.
• The Nicaraguan Law for Older Persons of 2009 provides
for access to an “alternative home for older people at
risk” and free urban public transport. A separate law
provides for preferential access for older people, or
households containing an older person, to social
housing projects.
• The Singapore Building and Construction Authority
has adopted Universal Design Principles to make the
city more age-friendly.
• In South Africa, the Social Housing Act of 2008
addresses the issue of housing for older persons in
rural areas. Subsidies are also available for recipients
of the Old Age Grant and disabled persons to enable
them to build or buy a house.
• In Uruguay, Laws 18340 of 2001 and 2008 provide for
grants to make housing available for retired people.
This led the shelter team to redesign the houses intended
for older people with mobility problems. The new design
adhered to international standards of accessibility and
incorporated wide doorways to enable wheelchair access,
low windows for greater visibility by people using
wheelchairs and at the entrance, ramps and handrails.
Source: HelpAge International, Protecting Older People in Emergencies:
Good Practice Guide (London, 2012).
76 Ageing in the Twenty-First Century: A Celebration and A Challenge