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Age Friendly Edmonton
Community Newsletter
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We hope you have had a wonderful holiday season! Now, it is January and that time when many of us reassess our busy lives and think about what we want to accomplish or do to balance our lives during the next year. We are excited to find new ways to work with you - to lead, influence, connect and mobilize for an Age Friendly Edmonton.
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January 2018 Featured Stories:
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GeriActors
"Ladies and Gentlemen, please enjoy our play…
We write plays based on true stories and issues from our lives
We are the GeriActors & Friends, an intergenerational theatre company"
Well... we don’t have a title yet, but the GeriActors & Friends are developing a brand new play!
Using stories from our lives, a wide range of interviews, and feedback from our audiences, we are developing a new play that explores what it means to be a senior in Edmonton. It touches on many aspects of our lives: family and family history, love and dating, culture, downsizing, ageism, and maintaining health and independence.
Every September we are joined by student volunteers enrolled in the Intergenerational Theatre course at the University of Alberta Drama Department. This fall we welcomed a dynamic group of 11 students, who collaborated with our 16 seniors, to develop 6 new stories exploring such ideas as: giving up driving, online dating, ‘coming out’, the stress and worries we all experience, and learning from other generations. These stories will be incorporated into our new play, premiering April 2018.
“It’s like a tapestry, we’re always making collages of our ideas and stories; somehow we are all one.” – A GeriActor
The GeriActors & Friends have been sharing stories with Edmontonians since 2001, performing our original plays including: Am I Invisible?, Trains We Remember, and We Decide (based on King Lear). We are excited to share our newest play with you this spring!
Interested in having the GeriActors & Friends perform? Contact us at 780-248-1556 or geriactors.friends@gmail.com
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Photo by Jen Shaw
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Ageing to Sageing (A2S)
Islamic Senior Women’s Group Cookbook Project
The Islamic Seniors Women’s group has been meeting for over two years, and one of the main organizers, Selma, soon realized that a lot of these women did not speak English and that many of their personal stories of immigration were captured in their cooking. This is when Selma had the vision to have the senior women in their community create a cookbook; through the process of sharing their recipes from their home countries, the senior women would be able to tell their stories of how they came to Canada and share their own resilience and strength.
In December 2017, the Islamic Senior Women’s group of Al Rashid Mosque received a Knowledge to Action (K2A) micro-grant to undertake this project. After the first group meeting called by Ageing to Sageing (A2S) with a team of five other partners in attendance, Selma looked at the A2S Animator as tears welled up in her eyes and said, “Thank you. My idea is finally going to happen, isn’t it?” to which the A2S Community Animator said, “Yes."
Through the involvement of A2S Animators, the original idea has evolved to become an intergenerational project; the Islamic Senior Women’s group is now going to approach girls and young women from the Al Rashid Mosque’s Youth Group to invite them to be involved in documenting the cooking process and older women’s stories. Selma’s cookbook project is now a year-long intergenerational initiative that will engage young Islamic youth, the Edmonton Film and Video Association, world renowned artist Eva Colmers, Al Rashid Mosque, and wonderful new comers from all over the world.
For more Sage resources please visit their website:
www.mysage.ca
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Snow Removal - Tips and Tricks
Edmonton is a vibrant winter city with Edmontonians celebrating and embracing daily living in a cold climate. Keeping our sidewalks free of snow and ice is critical in keeping Edmontonians moving safely and enjoying winter.
But shoveling can be difficult, and even dangerous, for many citizens -- especially those with limited mobility or certain health conditions.
If you are not physically active or have an ongoing health condition, check with your doctor to make sure the physical strain of clearing snow and ice is okay.
Dress in multiple layers of warm clothing. You should also wear supportive boots with a good grip. Warm up and stretch your muscles before you start shovelling or chipping by walking around the block. Be sure to take frequent breaks while you work, at least once every 10-15 minutes.
Immediately Stop Shovelling and Seek Medical Attention If You Experience
- Discomfort or heaviness in the chest, arms or neck
- Unusual or prolonged shortness of breath
- A prolonged dizzy or faint feeling
- Excessive sweating or nausea and vomiting
- Excessive back pain
Shovelling
The best shovels to use have a small blade and ergonomic handle with a gentle curve. Push the snow as you shovel; it's easier on your back than lifting the snow out of the way. Don't pick up too much at once. Use a small shovel, or fill only one-fourth or one-half of a large one.
Lift with your legs bent, not your back. Keep your back straight. By bending and "sitting" into the movement, you'll keep your spine upright and less stressed. Your shoulders, torso and thighs can do the work for you. Spray the shovel blade with cooking oil if the snow is sticking to it.
Clearing snow soon after it falls prevents it from being packed down and becoming ice, which is harder to remove. Applying sand to your sidewalks improves traction for pedestrians but is only a temporary measure - clearing right to the sidewalk is always best.
Spread sand or gravel on icy patches to make your sidewalk safer for pedestrians. Free Sand is available at the City’s roadway maintenance yards and participating community leagues or for purchase at your local hardware store.
Check out our webpage for more information.
Consider helping a neighbour. Many citizens need help due to mobility or health issues and might not always ask for help.
Winter can be a challenging time for people to get around, and often more so for those with mobility and balance issues. A stretch of sidewalk can be clear of ice and snow, but the lower temperatures sometimes mean that concrete and asphalt can be hard and sometimes slippery.
If an area that you feel should have been plowed/cleared but wasn’t (or wasn’t done up to a safe standard), contact 311. Operators at the Call Centre will log your complaint and dispatch the call directly to the district responsible for maintaining the transportation infrastructure in that area.
For more information about the Community Standards bylaw, tips for clearing your sidewalks and the process for reporting a concern, visit Maintaining Winter Sidewalks.
If you are in need of additional support for snow removal:
The Seniors Home Supports Program gives seniors referrals to snow removal services in their area. Seniors are not charged for referrals but they will pay a fee to the service provider for completing the work.
6 seniors organizations are working together to provide this coordinated system that serves all parts of Edmonton. Seniors contact the organization that serves their part of the city. When seniors contact the organization that coordinates the program in their area of the city they are given referrals to a number of service providers.
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SENIORS HOME SUPPORTS PROGRAM - DISTRICT SERVICE AREA
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January 2018 Upcoming Events:
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Speechreading and Coping Classes
Canadian Hard of Hearing Association – Edmonton Branch
Wednesday afternoons starting January 10
Location: North Edmonton Seniors Association (7524 139 Avenue)
$175 for ten sessions
Learn the basics of speechreading, plus many coping skills and communication strategies to make living with hearing loss more manageable for everyone. You'll also find a community of people with whom you can share the challenges, and, yes, the laughs, of hearing loss. Learn more.
Seniors Program
Catholic Social Services - Immigration Services
Thursdays, 1-3 p.m.
Location: 8212 118 Avenue
Free
At this drop-in program, seniors can enjoy activities, games, art, crafts and knitting and practice English in a fun and interactive way. The flyer has more details. Contact Ockhee Kang at 780-391-3279 or by email at ockhee.kang@cssalberta.ca for more information.
Laughter Yoga
Westend Seniors Activity Centre (9629 176 Street)
Tuesdays, Jan. 23 – Feb. 20, 9 – 9:45 a.m.
$28
Laughter Yoga is a new wellness activity that combines theatre arts, stretching, yoga breathing and laughter exercises. Continuous laughter over a minute stimulates our natural healing systems and provides a range of health benefits. It produces a combination of stimulation and relaxation. Please register in advance at least one week prior to the class start date either online or in person at the front desk. Call 780-483-1209 for more information.
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