The Cold Lake Age-Friendly Society is hoping to shift the focus when it comes to aging.
“Unfortunately, as you know, we all live in a youth obsessed society. It holds very incorrect assumptions and opinions about what getting old means, what it should be like, and what it is like,” explained Diane Stonehocker during the City of Cold Lake council meeting on Tuesday, April 23.
Stonehocker was hired by the society to develop a strategic program to make the City of Cold Lake a more age-friendly community, which is funded through a $82,000 provincial grant.
“The society started about a year ago, and we were instrumental with assisting the city in applying for the grant, which we’ve called age-friendly as well, so this organization here, can assist, along with FCSS and the city, with the activities that this grant can carry on throughout the year. Then, when the year is over, the grant will peel off and the age-friendly society will carry on with the mission and goals,” she noted.
They're hoping that in the process, they can flip the ideology that getting older is all downhill. The society will be hosting events and bringing the community together to talk about aging.
Cathy Aust, social program coordinator for the Cold Lake and District FCSS, said the society is creating a visiting program with the help of Portage College, in addition to their Stockings from Santa and MenShed projects.
“We have some really wonderful things going on, but one of the things that we’re the most excited about is changing the conversation on aging and ageism, and what it’s like to be a senior and how we can grow and do that in healthy ways, which is really why we applied for the grant,” Aust expressed.
After outlining how age-friendly differs from elderly-friendly, Stonehocker explained how they "want to broaden that perspective and become more positive and inclusive in the idea of what aging is about."
“The basis of what we’re talking about is positive messaging about getting older. We want to reduce some of that fear and angst about getting older and change the conversation about what it means to get older in the community,” she exclaimed.
In order to make that happen, the society plans on spending the next year, which is what the grant covers, educating the public.
Stonehocker explained, "We’re going to essentially talk about three things. One of those is ageism, because how we believe within ourselves and what other people believe about getting older matters a great deal. It matters a lot to how you actually age."
They will also discuss mental and physical well-being and the roles they play as you age.
“The choices we make around those things have a huge impact on how we get older,” said Stonehocker.
Finally, they will look at community supports and infrastructure and whether they meet the "age-friendly" community requirements.
Stonehocker said most of the year will be spreading the word about what being age-friendly really is, while the remainder will be talking about what can be done within the community in order to support people as they age.
“By the end of February 2020, we will be back in front of city council with a strategic plan document that will have taken this broader perspective on getting older, will provide some kind of framework to talk about services that might need to happen for all of us as we get older,” stated Stonehocker.
She continued, “It’s mostly about disability and supporting elderly people as they become frail, that’s mostly what age-friendly has been about in previous years. This comprehensive and broader perspective of planning for all of us as we age in all of our different stages and capacities is new. Cold Lake will have bragging rights when this is all over that you’re one of the few communities who has gone this direction with this kind of plan and conversation."
