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ESCC Updates November 2019
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Conversation cafe: Learning from B.C.’s approach to raise the profile of community-based seniors organizations .
As conversations are happening around Alberta to explore the creation of a provincial community-based seniors serving sector, we have been looking to British Columbia which has already established this type of network.
Kahir Lalji, Provincial Director of Population Health with the United Way of the Lower Mainland, has led the development and coordination of British Columbia’s initiative. Through a community development and network-based approach, this work has led to increased awareness, funding, collaboration and policy development for the community-based sector at the local and provincial government levels.
ESCC, with the support of the City of Edmonton, is pleased to bring Kahir to Edmonton to share his insights with seniors serving organizations at our December conversation cafe and seasonal gathering.
Kahir will speak about the process and how the initiative evolved, where British Columbia is at now, and what difference it is making for the seniors sector. There will be opportunity for questions and answers following his presentation as well as facilitated table discussions.
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The conversation cafe and seasonal gathering will take place:
December 5, 2019
9:30 a.m. – 12 p.m.
Ital-Canadian Seniors Drop-In Centre (9111 110 Avenue)
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Registration for the conversation cafe is free. From noon to 1 p.m. there will be festive lunch for those who choose to purchase this option via the event registration. The meal will cost $25 and will include:
- Maple roasted ham
- Scalloped potatoes
- Corn with roasted bell peppers
- Freshly baked rolls
- Spinach salad with a cranberry vinaigrette
Alternate meals are available for those with dietary restrictions.
Parking is available in the lot west of the centre. Overflow parking is available in the Commonwealth Stadium Parking Lot.
Closed captioning will be available.
We hope you will join us to talk about raising the profile of community-based senior serving organizations and celebrate the season.
Register by Friday, November 29, 2019.
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Stewardship Round Table charting way forward for
healthy aging .
If someone asked you to be part of a change network what would you say? That’s a pretty big ask. It’s bold… audacious even. You might be hesitant to jump in.
This is essentially what the Edmonton Seniors Coordinating Council is asking from the Stewardship Round Table (SRT) which has emerged from the Connecting Edmonton Seniors initiative.
The Stewardship Roundtable is a multi-stakeholder forum for strategic discussions about the needs and opportunities for better serving seniors in our communities. This involves addressing barriers faced by people as they age and helping everyone make appropriate connections that support healthy aging.
The idea of a change network might sound daunting, but at its heart is a group of organizations and people who want to make the experience of aging better for Edmonton seniors and know that system changes need to occur for that to happen.
The longer-term goal of the stewardship group is to sustain a broad network of people and organizations working intentionally together to improve quality of life for Edmonton seniors.
This might sound like the group is only for senior leadership and big thinkers, but network coordinator Tim Henderson sees a need for people from all levels within organizations to be involved. “Members of the SRT are being asked to work together at grass roots levels providing services directly to seniors; at neighbourhood and community levels to nurture mutual, caring connections; and they are being asked to work strategically to support social and cultural change that will result in ongoing improvement in services and quality of life for all seniors,” says Tim. The initiative needs people who are big picture thinkers as well as those who are interested in grass roots actions.
Tim encourages organizations to view their involvement as an organizational commitment with the flexibility for different staff to attend. “It’s important to have leaders at the table because they are the people within organizations with the most influence on the agenda, resources, and culture of their organizations,” says Tim. “However, few people have the time to participate in these discussions all the time. So within organizations there needs to be an ongoing commitment to an ongoing conversation so that whoever is at the SRT can share the ideas and opinions with the larger group on behalf of their organization,” he adds.
To advance change, this movement needs involvement from organizations within and outside of the seniors sector. Tim would like to see the following people get involved:
- Social, political, economic, and academic thinkers and leaders who will lend their attention to the challenges that face us individually and collectively.
- Elected officials from all orders of government who will take an interest and get involved.
- Service providers from all walks of life who will share their knowledge and experience, and continue to work directly with people to help them be connected, resilient, and healthy.
- Funders who can see the bigger picture and are willing to change the way that we think about our investments in people and communities.
- Individuals who are willing to give their time and energy to the many different aspects of identifying, understanding, and addressing the challenges and barriers to social inclusion and well-being.
The Stewardship Roundtable meets once a month. If you can’t attend meetings, then get on the mailing list because information from the meetings will be shared with you and you can share your thoughts via email or phone.
We believe a network of people and organizations working together in sustainable, proactive, and mutually-supportive ways will create impactful changes that will improve quality of life for Edmonton seniors and enable them to age well.
We urge you to become part of this change network. Contact Tim Henderson at tim@seniorscouncil.net to get involved.
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Conversations begin about provincial community-based senior serving sector .
The needs of seniors cross sector boundaries between community services, health systems, housing systems, municipalities, and government programs. In all of these sectors, Community-Based Seniors Serving (CBSS) organizations deliver programs and services that support healthy aging.
The Edmonton Seniors Coordinating Council (ESCC) recognizes the crucial role CBSS organizations play and that’s why our 2019-2024 strategic framework includes objectives around articulating what is meant by a community-based seniors serving sector, developing a common agenda for providing community-based services to older adults, and creating awareness of the value CBSS organizations provide.
This is why ESCC’s executive director, Sheila Hallett, was so excited to be involved with a new province-wide initiative. Four organizations (with support from the Alberta Government Ministry of Seniors and Housing) have partnered to facilitate initial conversations about the value of a CBSS sector in Alberta. ESCC along with Sage Seniors Association, carya and Age-Friendly Calgary are hosting engagement sessions across Alberta to explore the potential for a coordinated provincial CBSS sector.
The aim of the conversations is to:
- Validate the strengths and challenges for seniors for healthy aging in community across the province
- Identify the concerns organizations have as they respond to these strengths and challenges
- Identify where collaborative action can enhance service effectiveness and impact
- Identify the level of support for a community-based seniors serving sector and first steps for developing a sector
“ESCC knows how important senior serving organizations are when it comes to supporting a senior’s wellness,” says Sheila. “The time is right to help raise the profile of their value and promote their role on a larger scale to enable systems to connect and serve seniors in a coordinated way.” An example is that the Health sector has expressed the desire to work more collaboratively with CBSS organizations, but a key question is “How to do that?”. The creation of a coordinated CBSS sector will enable system-to-system cooperation and innovation.
Similar initiatives in British Columbia and Ontario have resulted in strengthened capacity of CBSS organizations, more collaboration between organizations, and increased investment in the sector as a whole. The four partners leading the Alberta initiative hope to see similar outcomes here. They also anticipate being able to demonstrate the value of a coordinated sector to a provincial government that is encouraging organizations to collaborate and innovate to support Alberta seniors.
ESCC is coordinating discussions in the greater Edmonton area. ESCC members and stakeholders were invited to attend engagement sessions in October and November. The three remaining sessions facilitated by ESCC are:
- Nov. 20, 9:30 a.m.-12 p.m. at the St. Albert United Church Friendship Hall
- Nov. 21, 9:30 a.m.-12 p.m. in Camrose at The Heritage Building (Old Rosehaven)
- Nov. 22, 9:30 a.m.-12 p.m. in Leduc at the City Civic Centre
A teleconference will be organized late in November for CBSS organizations that were unable to send a representative to an in-person session. If you wish to be advised of the date and time for the teleconference, email sheila@seniorscouncil.net.
For more information on the community-based senior serving sector initiative, review the backgrounder document and contact Sheila at sheila@seniorscouncil.net.
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