In this Global Local newsletter, we explore how local authorities are successfully adapting to become age-friendly across a range of sectors. Read here.
Collection: Age-friendly communities
Widespread increased longevity, usually coinciding with lower fertility rates, means that the world’s population is ageing. By 2050, the majority of the world will likely live in high- or hyper-ageing societies (20-30%+ over 60). However, while we might be living longer, our age-related health is not predicted to improve as significantly.
Older people require supportive, inclusive environments to compensate for age-related changes, so adapting environments to support healthy ageing and continued participation in society is urgent work. Local authorities who embrace this and enable older populations and wider communities to benefit from increased longevity are also likely to see the valuable contributions older people make to society in areas such as civic participation, employment, caring, and sharing expertise.
This collection showcases a wide range of LGIU work that explores all things age-friendly communities, including housing, planning, care and service delivery. From exclusive LGIU member content to our Global Local newsletters, plus articles free for anyone to read, we provide resources to support better policy and practice for your communities.
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Global Local: Age-friendly communities
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Housing
Limerick City & County Council’s ‘Putting your house in order’: winner of the Chambers Ireland Age Friendly Initiative award 2020
In late 2019, following discussions between Limerick Age Friendly Programme and The Irish Hospice Foundation, Limerick City & County Council decided to launch “Putting Your House in Order”; a series of workshops for attendees to explore end-of-life preferences for topics such as care, finance, and legal arrangements. Read here.
Age friendly homes – designing homes that suit everyone’s needs across the lifecourse
This briefing explores the need for greater consideration of age-friendly homes when it comes to designing homes, as part of Ireland’s Housing for All policy. Read here.
Housing and Ageing Seminar: Scotland 2030
As part of the Scotland 2030 programme, run by the think tank at the Scottish Parliament, Scotland Future’s Forum, a seminar about recent research into housing and ageing was held in January. LGiU’s Isla Whateley attended, and blogs about what she learned. Read here.
Planning
Age-friendly towns in Ireland
As a country affiliated with the World Health Organization’s ‘Age Friendly Programme’, Ireland has been working to develop age-friendly towns across the country. This briefing outlines the type of work being carried out by councils as part of the initiative and signposts some helpful resources for those looking to make their area more age-friendly. Read this briefing (free access).
Meeting the challenges of an ageing society
The UK is an ageing society with a rising number of older disabled people. This briefing looks at the challenges that this poses and explores case study examples of what local authorities are doing to meet those challenges. Read here.
Croke Park and local government – Advancing age-friendly Initiatives in Ireland
At the heart of Ireland’s comprehensive age-friendly coverage is a range of partnership arrangements between the country’s local authorities and local and national bodies, including sporting organisations. This briefing looks at the designation of Croke Park – one of Europe’s largest stadiums – as an age-friendly facility, the first such anywhere in the world. Read here.
Care
Limerick City & County Council’s award-winning ‘Putting your house in order’ initiative
In late 2019, following discussions between Limerick Age Friendly Programme and The Irish Hospice Foundation, Limerick City & County Council decided to launch “Putting Your House in Order”; a series of workshops for attendees to explore end-of-life preferences for topics such as care, finance, and legal arrangements. Read this article here (open access).
Building dementia friendly communities from the pavement up
In the article, Dr Sue Northrop, Director at Dementia Friendly East Lothian, shares insights into the work they are doing in partnership with the Council to improve the lives of those with dementia by aiming to make their communities more dementia friendly overall. Read here.
The challenge of an ageing society: how to be a dementia friendly council
The challenge of dementia is growing for society, linked to an ageing population. This briefing highlights the major leadership role of councils in meeting the needs of people with dementia and in creating communities where people can live safely, independently and well. Read here.
Engagement and delivery
Local Government’s engagement in service delivery for older people
Recognising that local government’s engagement with older people extends far beyond aged care and accommodation, this briefing provides examples of a number of different ways in which local governments in Australia engage with older people. Read here.
Reconnect older people through the Age Friendly Ireland programme structures
The following briefing looks at one critical pillar of embedding age friendly thinking into our local policy processes and how this is making a substantive difference to how councils across Ireland approach the opportunities of having an ageing population. Read here.
Going digital to save lives – Falkirk, Scotland
Pauline Waddell, Team Manager, Mobile Emergency Care Service (MECS) explains how Falkirk Council safeguarded a lifesaving service and became the first local authority in Scotland to enable end-to-end digital telecare. Read here.
