City Council Agenda - November 26, 2012 - City of Guelph

Attachment 1Change Foundation, 2011). Given the significance of this data, the City can and should be a leaderand a partner in discussions of strategy to address the coming needs of its residents.The vast majority of Guelph residents will likely prefer to age successfully in their own homes and inthe community. A comprehensive and innovative Older Adult Strategy will provide a planningframework to ensure that the community is ‘age ready’ and ‘age friendly’. The Strategy will ensurethat Guelph is a community that is a great place to grow up and grow old.There is a myriad of programs and services that are either designed for older adults or at least arecritical to the quality of life of older adults. From a resident’s perspective, it is not always clear who isproviding which service and how services are accessed. Appendix E provides a listing of Cityprograms and services that may be relevant for older adults, and a listing of some of the programsand services offered by other levels of government. The key points of this listing are the following:1) The work of most City departments impacts older adults in some respect. The success of anOlder Adult Strategy will require engagement and involvement of a broad representation ofCity departments and staff.2) The City has multiple roles to play in supporting its older adult residents. These roles rangefrom directly delivering service, to working in partnership with other providers andstakeholders, to using its influence to advocate for policy and programs at the provincial orfederal level.3) Locating and navigating the range of services, programs and providers can be daunting forolder adults who may not be familiar with the levels of government and the various systemsresponsible for delivery of services. System coordination, support for navigation and clearcommunication will be important contributors to a successful Older Adult Strategy.DefinitionsTo ensure common understanding of the scope and interpretation of the Older Adult Strategy, wehave utilized the following definitions:‘Age-friendly’An Age-friendly community is a community that supports older adults to live in security, maintaintheir health and participate fully in society. An age friendly City has adapted its structure and servicesto be accessible and inclusive of older people with varying needs and capacities.‘Age-ready’Age ready is the process of preparing to be an age-friendly city. In this process, the City of Guelphwill:• Identify assets and challenges affecting a community with a growing population of olderadults• Set goals for the City of Guelph to ensure a healthy community for an aging population• Provide direction to ensure policies serve individuals with changing needs due to agingOlder Adult Strategy for the City of GuelphPrepared by The Osborne Group, October 201211