Age Friendly draft Strategy & Action Plan p3
3. The journey so far
The Age Friendly Strategy, alongside our Community plan, will build upon the existing work in the sector and the solid foundation of existing relationships, partnerships and programmes already in place to further its aspiration of becoming an Age Friendly Borough where citizens have opportunity to live, long, healthy and fulfilling lives.
Notable achievements to date include working with MEAAP and the Loneliness Network to provide support to the borough’s older residents, including during the pandemic.
This work has been vital in developing an Ageing Well model for the Borough and has highlighted the benefits of partnership working to encourage innovative service development and delivery.
Through MEAAP, Community Planning has actively supported and resourced an Ageing Well model, engaging with older people in a variety of ways to reduce isolation and promote health and wellbeing.
Through practical support such as Good Morning calls, Handyman service and home security measures, the Ageing Well model has impacted positively on the wellbeing of the borough’s older people.
MEAAP has also facilitated community engagement and activities such as Inter-generational Parliaments funded by NIHE which provided a platform for discussion and development of community connections.
This grass roots engagement further highlights the benefit of a community planning led partnership model of delivery.
Continuous Improvement Cycle
So far we have
- Launched both Chatty cafés and benches alongside MEA Loneliness Network
- Assisted the consultation process for Department for Communities (DfC) Active Ageing Strategy, Department for Infrastructure (Dfi) Concessionary Fares Review and Age NI Pensioner’s Parliament
- Facilitated bookings for several Council events for those not on-line
- Delivered Positive Ageing Month
- Established MEA Age Friendly Internal Working Group, delivered Awareness Training to Group and completed Service Self-Assessments with recommendations made.
- Facilitated Age Friendly events such as Tea Dances, Movie Screening MEA Age Friendly_Strategy & Action Plan Consultation 2024 16
- Provided advice to residents and made referrals to partner agencies
- Developed Age Friendly Awareness Reflective Training/Toolkit with MEA Agewell Partnership
- Facilitated bookings for several Council events for those not on-line
- Met with Commissioner for Older People NI Eddie Lynch
- Promoted kindness post box project alongside MEA Loneliness Network
The process of developing an age friendly society is one of a cycle of continuous improvement.
An effective Age Friendly strategy and action plan will provide older people and their stakeholders with the tools needed to tackle issues associated with growing older, better enabling them to play a full role in society where their contributions are recognised and valued.
This includes older people being empowered to participate in community life through removal of barriers and making meaningful contributions to decision making about issues which impact them.
Development and implementation of an action plan will better enable service providers to respond to the needs of older people and improve access to services through directing resources and adopting Age Friendly practices to delivery.
Key to the success of this strategy, however, is monitoring and review.
By evaluating outcomes, measuring progress and identifying gaps, the strategy will remain nimble and relevant to the overarching vision of growing an age friendly society.