Over the next decade Alberta鈥檚 senior population is expected to increase by 50 per cent and Jasper is no exception.
To prepare the community for the silver wave that is coming, Community Outreach Services (COS) has aspirations to create an elder link centre that would provide community-based support services specifically for seniors.
The idea would be similar to parent link centres, which provide support services to families with young children across the province, however an elder link centre would offer programs and activities geared towards connecting seniors to each other, to community life and to community resources.
The idea was conceived by Kathleen Waxer, director of Community and Family Services.
鈥淏eing a senior is often a time of vulnerability,鈥� Waxer said during a recent interview.
鈥淚n my experience working at the community level having services that are easily accessible can reduce vulnerability, but for some reason there aren鈥檛 resources allocated in Alberta to do that for seniors.鈥�
According to Waxer there is a lack of funding for community-based services for seniors in Alberta and the services that do exist are only available in an ad hoc manner. As a result Jasper doesn鈥檛 have a seniors outreach worker, the only age group in town without a dedicated outreach worker.
To change that she recently pitched the idea of creating elder link centres across the province as a way to have consistent, community-based services available to seniors regardless of where they live.
The idea was adopted by the Family and Community Support Services Association of Alberta during its annual general meeting in November 2016. This means the idea will now be brought to the highest levels of government for further discussion.
While the idea itself is new, developing community-based services for seniors isn鈥檛.
For a brief period between May 2010 and December 2011, Alberta Health launched a pilot project which enabled COS to hire a seniors outreach worker for Jasper.
According to Waxer, the outreach worker significantly enhanced the community鈥檚 ability to provide services for seniors and improved their quality of life.
While provincial funding for seniors is inconsistent at best, last year the Jasper Community Team Society received a $30,000 grant to enhance the community鈥檚 capacity to address elder abuse.
After meeting with the Seniors Community Action Team and consulting with its members on the nature of the grant, the team agreed that the best way to address elder abuse in Jasper was through a broad-based approach.
鈥淲e鈥檝e had success in the past using a very broad-based approach so we鈥檙e doing the same thing we鈥檙e just looking at developing a service for seniors that will address any issue,鈥� said Liz Olson, team coordinator for the Jasper Community Team Society.
Both Waxer and Olson envision an elder link centre as a drop in space where there would be access to an outreach worker, who would provide information, referrals and advocate on behalf of seniors. The outreach worker would also help organize activities, fill out forms and research other services that are available for seniors in the province.
鈥淭his won鈥檛 just be for seniors, but for their caregivers as well,鈥� said Olson.
Waxer emphasized that each centre wouldn鈥檛 necessarily look the same or even offer the same services. Instead it would be up to each community to decide how best to use the resources to support its senior population.
鈥淚 believe strongly that if you build services that make sense in the context in which they鈥檙e embedded it makes it more engaging, whereas services which are just sort of parachuted in and not grown organically tend to be less engaging for the public,鈥� said Waxer.
While the government debates the best way to help seniors, Waxer said COS will continue to support seniors with the resources that is has.
鈥淐ommunity Outreach Services is here for any resident in Jasper.鈥�
Paul Clarke
[email protected]
