Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
Public Health Agency of Canada | Agence de la santé publique du Canada
How Age-Friendly is your community?
Developing indicators to measure Age- Friendliness
Dr. Heather OrpanaPublic Health Agency of Canada
Public Health Agency of Canada | Agence de la santé publique du Canada
Acknowledgements• AFC Team and colleagues at PHAC: Cathy Bennett,
Mitulika Chawla, Marie-Lynne Foucault, Maggie Linton, Kathie Paddock, Drs Louise Plouffe & Arne Stinchcombe
• Age-Friendly Communities Reference Group• Contractors: Drs Elaine Gallagher, Dawn Nickel,
Denise Cloutier Fisher, Danielle Maltais– Activity One: Environmental Scan and Document
Review – Age-Friendly Communities (AFC) Outcome Indicators
• All the communities who have committed to becoming Age-Friendly!
Public Health Agency of Canada | Agence de la santé publique du Canada
The AFC Story• Healthy Aging in Canada:
A New Vision, A Vital Investment
• WHO Age-Friendly Cities Project
• Age-Friendly Rural/Remote Communities Initiative
Public Health Agency of Canada | Agence de la santé publique du Canada
Age-Friendly Communities in Canada
33
38
328
30
8586
v. May 2012
Over 600 AFCs in Canada
Public Health Agency of Canada | Agence de la santé publique du Canada
Why an Outcome Indicators Project?
• AFC Milestones– Council resolution to embark on an AFC initiative;– Establishment of an advisory committee (with
active engagement of seniors);– Development of an action plan;– Public posting of the action plan;– Commitment to measuring activities and
reporting publicly on action plan outcomes (e.g., ongoing or every 3-5 years).
Public Health Agency of Canada | Agence de la santé publique du Canada
Current activities• Goal – a coherent set of outcome indicators that
communities can chose from based on their specific activities related to becoming Age-Friendly
• 1 year project to develop, categorize and prioritize a set of outcome indicators for Age-Friendly Communities in Canada
• Literature review and environmental scan• Stakeholder consultations• Categorization and prioritization process
Public Health Agency of Canada | Agence de la santé publique du Canada
AFC Domains
• Outdoor spaces and buildings• Transportation• Housing• Social participation• Respect and social inclusion• Civic participation employment• Communication and information• Community support and health services
Example of potential indicators• Outdoor spaces and
building– “Proportion of housing
within walking distance (500 m [550yd.]) of public transportation”
– “Average distance between pedestrian resting places (for example, benches) along sidewalks”
Public Health Agency of Canada | Agence de la santé publique du Canada
Source: Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation. (2008). Community indicators for an aging population. p. 3.
Example of potential indicators• Social Participation
– “Proportion of residents 65 years old or older who engage in social activities at least once a week.”
– “Proportion of residents 65 years old or older who are able to access a dedicated senior centre or other place of interest”
Public Health Agency of Canada | Agence de la santé publique du Canada
Source: Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation. (2008). Community indicators for an aging population. p. 4
Public Health Agency of Canada | Agence de la santé publique du Canada
Promising indications
• Increasing interest in the topic by provinces, municipalities and NGOs
• Increasing number of Canadian researchers focussing on AFC– http://www.cagacg.ca/ Resources / Age-Friendly
Communities• WHO Community of Practice on Outcome
Indicators
“In spite of geographic and other diverse variations across the country and internationally, it was remarkable the extent to which agreement and convergence of issues emerged.” (Gallagher, 2012, p. 4)
Public Health Agency of Canada | Agence de la santé publique du Canada
Source: Gallagher, E. (2012). Environmental Scan and Document Review. Gerotech Research Associates.
Public Health Agency of Canada | Agence de la santé publique du Canada
Challenges• Great diversity of communities across Canada: One
size does not fit all• Varying evaluation capacity in communities• Overwhelming number of potential indicators• Some domains are better developed than others• A variety of methods and data may be desired
– Qualitative/quantitative, primary/secondary data, administrative data, etc.
• Some data are not readily available
Public Health Agency of Canada | Agence de la santé publique du Canada
Conclusions• The Age-Friendly Initiative has seen increasing
attention over recent years in both Canada and globally
• High interest in developing ways to measure progress towards becoming age-friendly is increasing as communities have progressed in implementing their plans
• Number of challenges in measuring progress towards outcomes
• PHAC looks forward to providing leadership and support in this area of indicator development
Public Health Agency of Canada | Agence de la santé publique du Canada
Contact Information
Heather Orpana, PhDDivision of Aging and SeniorsPublic Health Agency of [email protected]
