"WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION'S GLOBAL NETWORK OF AGE-FRIENDLY CITIES & COMMUNITIES"
International.
Program Description
"An Age-Friendly city is an inclusive and accessible urban environment that promotes active aging."
"A growing number of cities and communities worldwide are striving to better meet the needs of their older residents."
"The global population of people aged 60 years and older will more than double, from 542 million in 1995 to about 1.2 billion in 2025."
-who.int/ageing
The World Health Organization provides guidance to cities and communities that would like to promote age-friendliness along with information in urban planning and environments.
The ‘Global Age-Friendly Cities And Communities Guide identifies eight areas of urban planning which may influence the level of age-friendliness in a city and therefore the health and quality of life of seniors:
Outdoor spaces and buildings
Transportation
Housing
Social participation
Respect and social inclusion
Civic participation and employment
Communication and information
Community support and health services
By creating age-friendly communities the World Health Organization aims to also highlight the targeted needs of seniors and issues affecting of older adults in society such as:
Fighting Ageism and Stereotypes – increasing awareness of older adults, changing attitudes and promoting a culture that values and respects older adults.
Elder Abuse Prevention – elder abuse is a problem, which goes underreported globally.
Senior Safety and Emergencies -in emergency situations seniors are one of the most seriously affected groups and are overlooked when creating public policy or by humanitarian organizations.
Other aging issues The World Health Organization is taking on include Gender and Aging and Long-Term Care.
The Global Age-Friendly Cities And Communities Program also offers an Age-Friendly Communities Checklist for cities which can be used as a self-assessment tool and for charting progress. The checklist is intended involve seniors as partners in planning age friendly cities so that they can help in suggesting changes and improvements.
Cities that are interested in making their communities more age-friendly can do so by submitting a membership application with a letter from the Mayor and municipal administration outlining their commitment to begin the WHO Global Network of Age-friendly Cities and Communities program.
source: who.int/ageing
WATCH VIDEO ON WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION'S GLOBAL NETWORK OF AGE-FRIENDLY CITIES AND COMMUNITIES |
|
| e |