Advancing Age-Friendly Communities in Canada
Keywords:
age-friendly communities, supportive environments, healthy aging, active agingAbstract
The “age-friendly cities” concept proposed by the World Health Organization (WHO) is a multi-sectoral policy approach to address demographic aging in urban settings. Canadian governments at all levels, seniors’ organizations and non-governmental organizations have embraced this model for creating environments to support healthy, active aging. This paper describes how Canadian governments and partners have advanced the Age-Friendly Communities (AFC) initiative starting with the original development by WHO in 2006-07 to its current status five years later, involving the federal government, eight provinces, and 850 municipalities. With evidence of actions taken at the three levels of government, it is argued here that the successful evolution of AFC in Canada is the fruit of the national, collaborative leadership role played the Public Health Agency of Canada, the commitment of provincial partners to implement AFC fully in their jurisdiction, and the engagement of municipalities in creative and comprehensive community development with and for seniors..
Le concept de « villes-amies des aînés » proposé par l'Organisation mondiale de la Santé (OMS) est une approche politique multisectorielle qui vise à répondre au vieillissement démographique en milieu urbain. Tous les ordres de gouvernement au Canada, les organismes s'occupant des aînés et les organismes non gouvernementaux ont adopté ce modèle pour créer des milieux propices à un vieillissement actif et en bonne santé. Ce document décrit comment les gouvernements canadiens et leurs partenaires ont fait progresser l'initiative des communautés-amies des aînés, depuis sa création par l'OMS en 2006-2007 jusqu'à la situation actuelle, cinq ans après, avec la participation du gouvernement fédéral, de huit provinces et de 850 municipalités. Compte tenu des mesures mises en place par les trois ordres de gouvernement, ce document explique que le développement réussi des communautés-amies des aînés au Canada est le fruit de plusieurs facteurs : le rôle moteur national et collaboratif joué par l'Agence de la santé publique du Canada, l'engagement des partenaires provinciaux à mettre pleinement en place le concept de communautés-amies des aînés sur leur territoire, et l'implication des municipalités en faveur d'un aménagement créatif et global de leur collectivité pour et avec les aînés.
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