Seniors Hub Model
The South Vancouver Seniors Hub (an Allies in Aging project) is a community development approach that connects seniors and organizations at the neighbourhood level with the purpose of supporting seniors’ independence and active participation in the community.
Extracted from: http://alliesinaging.ca/get-involved/seniors-hub/
More Information and the Toolkit: Seniors Hub Toolkit
Download the Model: Seniors Hub Model
Welcoming Seniors’ Spaces
The Welcoming Seniors’ Spaces (an Allies in Aging project) works to enhance services and accessibility for seniors. Trained outreach volunteers help connect seniors to community spaces that are actively working to remove barriers to participation.
The focus is on assessing seniors’ needs and challenges, providing appropriate information and services, providing ongoing engagement and support, and helping seniors to foster social connections.
Welcoming Seniors’ Spaces was built and funded on the premise that although seniors’ programs, services and gathering spaces already exit, seniors 75+ are often excluded from participation on the basis of barriers such as income, language or culture, physical or mental health challenges. To reduce isolation in this target group the following four approaches were implemented.
1. Build capacity of the existing seniors’ outreach programs, increase the focus on seniors’ needs and create opportunities for seniors to make intentional connections
2. Collaborate with partners, share resources and best practices
3. Train seniors as outreach volunteers to reach isolated seniors
4. Collaborate with seniors (volunteers and clients) to shape the seniors’ programs and to help gather quantitative and qualitative data. Local Neighbourhood Committees which are comprised of agency, health and recreation staff. The members of these committees help with outreach strategies, referrals and program recommendations.
For more information about Welcoming Seniors’ Spaces, contact Angela at angelas@burnabyhn.ca or 604-431-0400.
Read More: Welcoming Seniors Spaces
Senior Centres
Senior centre programs play a key role in keeping seniors healthy and independent by providing seniors with opportunities for socializing, healthy meals, and physical activity. This can delay/prevent seniors from requiring more costly health care services. Our Future: Seniors, Socialization, and Health focuses on surveying and reviewing how effectively municipal seniors’ centre programs are meeting the holistic needs of older adults living in the community. Programs offered by the eight centres in the study have been categorized into six different types: food and nutrition programs; health and wellness programs; fitness and sport programs; creative programs; educational and information programs; and recreational programs. A brief summary of each type of programming is provided and a select few innovative programs are described in more detail.
Read More: Our Future – Seniors, Socialization, and Health
Neighbourhood Toolkit
This document, aimed at neighbourhood associations, community groups, faith communities and interested individuals, provides ideas about how connections in neighbourhoods can be increased between seniors and others:
Read More: Neighbourhood
Yoga and Tea
This successful project aimed to explore the potential of using yoga class and post-yoga tea for seniors as a platform for social engagement. A series of 6 free Beginner Chair Yoga & Tea sessions were offered at the Seniors Connect Centre (no longer in operation) in Nanaimo, BC. The class design was based on Integrated Yoga Therapy format and included guided body awareness and guided meditation along with a brief roundtable sharing at the beginning of each class to allow participants to get to know each other better. There was a theme for each class along with a handout(s) for participants to work on throughout the week. A feedback survey was administered at the end of the 6 weeks. A summary of the project and samples of the handouts, the yoga class plans and a poster to promote the classes are provided. Contact: Lynne Henshaw
Contact: Lynne Henshaw – lhenshaw@telus.net
Download the Materials:
Seniors Yoga Session #2
Seniors Yoga Session #3
Seniors Yoga Session #4
Seniors Yoga Session #5
Seniors Yoga Session #6
CommuniTEA Yoga – Session 1 Homework
CommuniTEA Yoga – Session 2 Homework
CommuniTEA Yoga – Session 3 Homework
CommuniTEA Yoga – Session 4 Homework
CommuniTEA Yoga – Session 5 Homework
Summary Report – CommuniTEA Yoga & Tea Program