presentation - Canadian Public Health Association

How Age-Friendly is your community?
Developing indicators to measure AgeFriendliness
Dr. Heather Orpana
Public 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
Over 600 AFCs in Canada
86
33
85
328
30
38
v. May 2012
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
Public Health Agency of Canada | Agence de la santé publique du Canada
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”
Source: Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation. (2008).
Community indicators for an aging population. p. 3.
Public Health Agency of Canada | Agence de la santé publique du Canada
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”
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
Public Health Agency of Canada | Agence de la santé publique du Canada
“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)
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, PhD
Division of Aging and Seniors
Public Health Agency of Canada
[email protected]
613-957-9940
Public Health Agency of Canada | Agence de la santé publique du Canada