Summary
Age friendly and affordable housing addresses the physical, social and economic environments for healthy ageing while giving the opportunity for people to live with dignity, choice and independence. Our housing portfolio has conducted a global scan on housing models that provide creative options for communities to consider. We are actively disseminating and promoting these models and encouraging the implementation of these models. As our population ages, we need diversity in housing options while engaging us to live, grow and thrive in these homes and communities throughout our life course while ensuring that we maintain our capabilities and capacities to do the things we enjoy and value. The Building with Mission website that we have created also targets civil society organizations with surplus lands. A toolkit is provided for such organizations to assess the needs of their communities and co-design appropriate housing options. To date, hundreds of organizations have accessed these resources. SE Health has also identified several models and co-designed a model with older adult participants. The first feasibility study for this housing project has been completed.
Planning and Implementation
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What was the challenge you were trying to address?
In Canada, we have a lack of age friendly and affordable housing options. There is also a heavy reliance on institutionalized housing and care models which most Canadians have indicated they do not desire as the default option. By identifying alternative models of age-friendly and affordable housing options, we are taking leadership to build alternative housing options as well as supporting others to do the same.
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Who were you trying to impact?
Older people with vulnerabilities
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What sectors were you targeting?
Health, Housing, Social protection
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Who else was involved?
Civil Society Organization, Health Care, Social Care
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How did older people participate?
Older people were part of the process at multiple or all stages
Lessons learned
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Please describe how collaboration worked in your initiative.
The Building with Mission work was a collaboration between the following organizations: SE Health Catholic Health Association of Canada Catholic Health Sponsor of Ontario Cahdco Overlap Associates Covenant Care & Covenant Living. The funding support was provided by Canada's National Housing Strategy under the NHS Solutions Labs.
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What was the impact of your initiative on older people, their families, and/or their communities?
Our housing portfolio has impacted how we envision, plan for and deliver affordable age-friendly housing for older people across communities. Our Building with Mission project has provided guidance and the foundation to support other mission-driven organizations to implement age-friendly affordable housing and provide social impact for older adults and their families in communities across the world. Our initial housing project, when completed, will benefit older people by providing affordable and attractive options to remain in their desired communities to age in place.
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What issues did you face, and how did you address them?
Challenges exist in disseminating new models and developing age-friendly and affordable housing including obtaining stakeholder buy-in and consensus, organizational capacity and readiness, and the existing funding models and sources. As these new models require a shift from traditional institutional models, coordinated stakeholder buy-in and consensus and partnerships across organizations and levels of government is required. In response, we have been committed to engaging diverse groups to support the successful implementation of age-friendly affordable housing. While many organizations are interested in exploring new models, organizational capacity and readiness, as well as the current funding models and sources available can create significant barriers. Our organization has taken steps to build internal capacity and built a consultant project team to support this work. We have also done a scan and partnered with others to identify opportunities to support the scale of affordable age-friendly housing models and continue to advocate for new funding models. At a broader level, collaborating with other mission-driven organizations to produce the free Building with Mission resources created a platform for engagement across stakeholder groups to support starting these conversations, building their organizational capacity and creating a coalition for change.
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What lessons did you learn from implementing this initiative?
Different models of age-friendly affordable housing exist globally that provide new and improved opportunities to better support the health, needs and preferences of older persons to age in their communities, outside of institutions. We must continue work to increase visibility of these models and create a more coordinated approach to disseminating and implementing new models of housing. Well-established partnerships and inter-sectoral collaborations are key to implementation and solving challenges related to increasing the range of options and scale of age-friendly affordable housing. These partnerships can take significant time to develop and mature, must be nurtured and seen as an integral part of the work.
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Do you have any other reflections you would like to share?
The age-friendly and affordable housing project at SE Health is actively contributing to the UN Decade of Healthy Aging. As an accredited organization of the UN, SE Health is committed to achieving positive social impact that aligns with the values, mission, and vision of the Decade. Our focus on housing specifically addresses the Decade's 2nd action area of creating age-friendly environments that is safe, preferable, enjoyed and empowers the strengths of older people. In order to do this, SE Health continues to pursue potential sites of housing development and partnerships, raise awareness for seniors/affordable housing and innovative care models, as well strengthen new and existing networks.