International Age-Friendly Project

Nova Scotia seniors have identified health, safety, independence and participation in the community as important issues in age-friendly cities.

Themes such as leisure programs, affordable and accessible seniors' housing, accessibility to public and private spaces and employment opportunities were also recognized as concerns in the Age-Friendly Cities: Halifax Project study released today, July 26.

Nova Scotia's capital city is one of 33 cities across the globe to join the World Health Organization's Age-friendly Cities Project.

The project draws attention to environmental and social factors that contribute to active aging in urban areas. The aim of the project is to encourage cities to make communities more age-friendly.

"An age-friendly city ensures that a culture of inclusion is shared by people of all ages and ability levels," said Carolyn Bolivar-Getson, Minister of Seniors. "This project closely aligns with our work on the Strategy for Positive Aging. It is a progressive approach to responding to demographic aging and community development."

The Seniors' Secretariat jointly funded the project with Halifax Regional Municipality. The research was conducted by the Nova Scotia Centre on Aging at Mount Saint Vincent University.

"We want HRM to be a leader in finding creative ways to serve our ever-expanding senior population," said HRM Mayor Peter Kelly. "This study provides important insights into needs and possible solutions that will help us become the age-friendly municipality we strive to be."

"We look forward to learning even more when the full WHO report is released this fall."

The researchers asked seniors what they consider to be an age-friendly city, based on a series of nine questions formulated by the World Health Organization.

Cities in the project include Tokyo, New York, Rio de Janeiro, and Istanbul. Participating cities used the same protocol to conduct the research on age-friendly environments in their communities.

The World Health Organization compiled the results from each city into a practical age-friendly guidebook, which will be released on Oct. 1 in London, England.