About Age Friendly

Everything you need to know about Age Friendly

• What is Age Friendly?

  The World Health Organisation (WHO) defines Age Friendly as a key strategy to include older persons and make our world more age friendly. ‘An Age Friendly world enables people of ALL ages to actively participate in community activities and treat everyone with respect, regardless of age. It is a place that makes it easy for older people to stay connected to people that are important to them’.

• Who are the target audience?

  Every day, everyone is ageing however, the NI Commissioner for Older People defines an ‘older person’ to mean a person aged 60 or over. However, in particular circumstances people aged 50 and over can also be categorised as an older person.

• Why is this work important?

  Globally there has been a shift in the population towards older ages. This in turn has a considerable implication on goods and services, housing, transport etc. as well as changes to family structure and intergenerational ties to meet the needs of an ageing population. Locally, by 2030, it is predicted over 27,000 residents will be over 60 and 5,313 will be over 85. This work is important to make our Borough a safe, accessible and desirable place to age well.

• How will we carry out this work?

  The World Health Organisation has set out 8 domains to help address Age Friendly in the communities we live.

  WHO Age Friendly Flower

  

  The 8 domains explained:

  Outdoor Spaces and Buildings	The outside environment and public buildings have a major impact on mobility, independence and quality of life of people in later life. Characteristics of the built environment which contribute to age-friendliness means they can be used by people of all ages. These include access and safety, green spaces, walkable streets, outdoor seating and accessible buildings (lifts, stairs with railings etc.)
  Community Support and Health Services	Community support is strongly connected to good health and wellbeing throughout life, alongside accessible and affordable health care services. Both criteria are vital for maintaining health and independence as people age.
  Communication and Information	Staying connected with events and people and getting timely, practical information to manage life and meet personal needs is vital for active ageing. Rapidly evolving information and communication technologies are both welcomed as useful tools and criticised as instruments of social exclusion. It is important to have relevant information that is accessible to older people with varying capacities and resources.
  Civic Participation and Employment	An age-friendly community provides options for people in later life to continue to contribute to their communities. Those options can include paid employment or voluntary work, if they so choose, and to be engaged in the political process.
  Respect and Social Inclusion	Older people from all background are valued and respected. Older people report experiencing conflicting types of behaviour and attitudes towards them. On the one hand, many feel they are often respected, recognised and included, while on the other, they experience lack of consideration in the community, in services and in the family. Intergenerational activities are a great way for younger and older generations to learn from one another.
  Social Participation	Social Participation is strongly connected to good health and wellbeing throughout life. It is important to enable people to exercise their competence, enjoy respect and esteem, and maintain and establish supportive and caring relationships. Enabling accessibility, particularly for those with mobility issues, is also key.
  Housing	Housing and support that allows people in later life to age comfortably and safely within the community to which they belong are universally valued. Most people want to age om the place of their choosing.
  Transportation	Accessible and affordable public transport is a key issue for people in later life. Being able to move about the community impacts on participation in and access to services. Looking at every aspect of transport infrastructure, equipment and service is an integral part to creating an age-friendly community.

  The eight domains are vital to contribute to Active Ageing. The 8 interconnected domains overlap and interact to help identify and address barriers to wellbeing and participation of older people.

• Age Friendly Antrim and Newtownabbey

  Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council is committed to making our Borough one where older residents are supported to age well, enjoy good life and participate fully in their community.

  To date, we are members of the Age Friendly Network NI, UK Network of Age Friendly Communities and in 2019, Council became a member of the World Health Organisation’s Network of Age Friendly Cities and Communities. Currently we are preparing a Three Year Age Friendly Action Plan which will use a co-production approach to achieve actions in partnership with residents and representatives from the Statutory, Community and Voluntary Sectors.