Creating an Age Friendly Community
Through an assessment, seniors identified medical needs, financial assistance, help at home and service accessibility as essential to independent living, but not fully addressed through existing services.
In the scope of human history, the past 85 years were but a blip in time; however, when experienced over the span of an individual’s lifetime, they were witness to some of the most significant social changes the world has seen. This time was marked by conflict and peace, division and unity, social and civic revolutions, and unprecedented shifts in technology at a pace so rapid it seems impossible.
The generation that lived this reality is the catalyst for yet another shift, this time altering the nation’s census in unprecedented ways. As the median age of the population and life expectancy increases, the fastest growing group of individuals, both nationally and locally, is seniors.
As this trend takes hold, care systems must adapt to meet the unique needs of an aging population. In 2015, The Community Foundation set out to better understand the needs of seniors in Herkimer and Oneida counties.
The Community Foundation embarked on a new initiative with support from the Health Foundation of Western and Central New York—the Community Assessment of Senior Needs for Herkimer and Oneida Counties—to engage stakeholders from the two counties in a process of information-gathering and consensus building called “concept mapping.”
Nearly 250 seniors, service providers and community members participated in focus groups and surveys. Their feedback helped to determine what steps The Community Foundation and its partners might take to help the aging population to remain living independently.
Through the assessment, seniors identified medical needs, financial assistance, help at home and service accessibility as essential to independent living, but not fully addressed through existing services.
In response, The Community Foundation solicited applications for programs and projects that promote independent senior living in the two-county region. Applicants were asked to propose a solution or an enhancement to an existing program that advances seniors’ self-determination and relates to a need identified in the assessment study.
“Identifying programs and services that allow our aging population to remain living independently is essential to becoming an age-friendly community,” said Jan Squadrito, senior community investment manager at The Community Foundation. “Guided by data, The Community Foundation is better able to direct its investments to programs that best serve the needs of seniors.”