Community Engagement
For Health Among
Older Adults

A strategy for aging in place

Aging in place means having the choice to live safely in your own home for as long as you want to, with access to the support you may need. 

The Province of New Brunswick and the Public Health Agency of Canada’s Healthy Seniors Pilot Project Program, have funded a community engagement project as the first step in developing new options for aging care that support seniors remaining in their homes as well as the advancement of intergenerational programming in St. Andrews.

Passamaquoddy Lodge, is working to broaden its support to those on the aging journey, both those individuals residing in care and those remaining at home. As a result, they are looking to design a new space that feels residential and is a part of the community.

This vision includes a Community Partners’ Space for community members and organizations to be able to host programs, services, and activities. And in order to ensure that this community space is developed to fulfil local needs and reflect community interests, a community engagement process is being hosted from July 2022 to March 2023 to gather community input and co-create an action plan for the new space.t

Community Engagement is a way to ensure that programs and services are developed by the experts – the people who want them and will use them.

The project objective is to build on the work of the Age Friendly Committee and develop program models for the Community Partner’s Space that will serve the community of St. Andrews and surrounding areas while identifying processes that allow seniors to use their knowledge, skills and voice to support aging in place.

There is also a research component to the project that explores the impact of community engagement on participants and evaluates the community engagement process. While anyone can be involved in the community engagement activities, the research evaluation is limited to participants aged 55+. The research is voluntary.

The Research

The project will examine the community engagement process, including participants’ expectations and experiences with the community engagement sessions.
 

In addition, the research evaluation will consider the impact of community engagement on individual participants. Involvement in the process is expected to impact purpose, connection and well-being positively.

If you wish to learn more about the research component, please contact the Research Lead, Dr. Andrea Trenholm: [email protected]

Silvermark

The Community Engagement

Creating Community Engagement in Saint Andrews

On July 6, 2022, a 10-months community engagement process was kickoff through The Healthy Seniors Pilot Project at the New Brunswick Community College in St. Andrews.

75 people attended the initial brainstorming session about what the community space might look like, feel like, and services or activities it might offer.

On Saturday, October 1st, 2022, a second community engagement session was held based on the ideas generated at the kickoff session. The community meeting led to some great discussions about the potential aging in place (aging at home) programs and services that could be developed in St. Andrews, leading to six main themes.

At the November 2nd and 15th engagement sessions, participants worked together to develop 6 action plans through researching, identifying collaborations and potential partnerships within the St Andrews Greater Community:

  • Adult Day Program
  • Activity Space
  • Community Kitchen
  • Pool
  • Resources for Healthy Aging
  • Workout Space

The Results:

On February 9, the learnings harvested from the previous 4 engagement sessions were presented in the form of the 6 Action Plans, including a Community Asset Map, and the research findings to date. Please click the links to view the full documents.

Next Steps:

  • The community will continue discussions to move along the Action Plans.
  • Research – next set of interviews & surveys will be conducted.
  • Final report to be finalized.

If you wish to learn more about the project, please  contact: